No. 2 BYU’s perfect season ended in Orlando on Saturday, and one overtime flag has Barstool founder Dave Portnoy fuming. Unranked UCF beat the Cougars 39-31 in double overtime at the Bounce House, and the roughing-the-kicker penalty called against BYU set up a Knights touchdown.
Portnoy took his case to X, and he didn’t leave much room for debate.
The Overtime Flag That Set Off Dave Portnoy
It took two extra periods to settle a game that refused to break. Regulation ended 24-24 after Matthias Dunn’s 47-yard field goal tied it at 12:09 of the fourth quarter.
BYU then stopped UCF on downs at the Cougars’ 1-yard line with 1:42 left, and the Knights’ last shot at a walk-off win came up empty on a field goal try. In the first overtime, Bear Bachmeier found Legend Glasker for a 28-yard touchdown, and Keyone Jenkins answered on UCF’s first snap with a 25-yard strike to Josh Derry.
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Then came the flag. Jenkins hit Grayson Brousseau from 4 yards out in the second overtime and then found Tyren Hornes for the two-point conversion and a 39-31 lead. BYU got its turn from the UCF 25 needing eight points to extend the game, but the possession died on downs when Bachmeier’s fourth-down pass to Walker Lyons fell incomplete in the end zone.
Portnoy opened with a question, “How is this roughing the kicker!!!!” and followed it with a ruling: “Worst call ever! BYU screw job!”
The flag came against a program with plenty to lose. BYU entered Saturday as one of five unbeaten FBS teams, and it had spent the week ranked No. 2 in the country after toppling then-No. 2 Notre Dame in Provo on Oct. 17. The Cougars were favored by more than a touchdown against a Knights team playing its backup quarterback.
That backup, Jenkins, gave BYU trouble long before overtime. He threw for 293 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score, and UCF piled up 463 total yards against a defense that had been allowing 275 per game. The Knights ran for 170 yards, held the ball for 32:35 and converted a third-and-17 with a 56-yard catch by Hornes.
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BYU’s offense had its own empty stretches. The Cougars scored on five of their 12 possessions and went three-and-out four times, and Bachmeier completed 16 of 32 passes for 257 yards. His interception late in the second quarter turned into an 11-play, 78-yard UCF drive that ended with Jenkins’ 6-yard touchdown pass to Landen Chambers four seconds before halftime, putting the Knights ahead 17-14.
What the Loss Means for BYU’s Playoff Path
The loss leaves Kalani Sitake’s team 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play, second in the conference standings. Pro Football Network’s College Football Playoff Meter gives the Cougars a 65.9% chance to make the playoff, a 53% chance to reach the Big 12 title game and a 32.2% chance to win the conference.
The next test arrives quickly, and the meter shows how much rides on it. BYU hosts Arizona State on Oct. 31 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, a game the meter gives the Cougars a 79.7% chance to win. The meter has a win lifting their playoff odds to 74% and a loss dropping them to 33.9%.
A Nov. 7 trip to Utah follows, and the meter gives BYU a 58.6% chance to win there.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.