The Arizona State vs. BYU Big 12 college football game Saturday ended in bizarre fashion Saturday when ASU fans stormed the field, only to have to leave it when officials put a second back on the clock before storming it again.
But the controversy was just beginning for the Cougars, Sun Devils and the Big 12 Conference.
After the game, a video was posted by an anonymous TikTok account from the hallway outside the BYU locker room at ASU’s Mountain America Stadium, recording audio of a profanity-laced speech trying to rally the Cougars, who were behind 21-3.
The speech, which you can hear here, was recirculated on social media after BYU’s 28-23 loss.
More:ASU football bowl projections include College Football Playoff Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal
BYU coach Kalani Sitake addressed the recording at his media availability on Monday.
“They’re reviewing everything that happened in the game, from on the field to the penalties to all these different things, and the incompletion or completion with Chase Roberts (on the final play of the game),” Sitake said. “They’re handling all of that, and even the recording. They’re looking into all of that stuff. They’ll deal with it.
“I trust the Big 12 leadership and will let them handle that. I’m more focused on what can we do this week and what can we do today to make sure we perform a lot better than we did last weekend.”
ASU football vs Arizona tickets:Best prices for Territorial Cup college football game
One BYU player did not like the fact that someone had recorded BYU’s locker room at halftime.
“Obviously, not super appropriate I don’t think, to have an employee of the school you’re (visiting) take a video of a private team moment like that,” senior center Conner Pay told KSL Sports. “But at the end of the day, honestly, we don’t care that much.”
There was no immediate evidence as to the identity of the individual who made the video recording, but the end of the recording did appear to show the recorder wearing a purple wristband, prompting speculation that it was someone working at Sun Devil Stadium.
BYU fell into a tie in the Big 12 with Arizona State, Iowa State and Colorado with the loss. All four teams are 6-2 in conference play entering their final regular-season game.
There are a lot of tiebreaker scenarios, but ASU and Iowa State are in the best shape to make the Big 12 championship game, although BYU isn’t out of the race yet.
A potential ASU-BYU rematch in the conference title game is a possibility, which would be very interesting given the game between the Sun Devils and Cougars on Saturday and the controversy from the video.
Not quite ‘win and you’re in’:Big 12 title scenarios show Arizona State might need help
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
