Earlier on Saturday, the Texas Longhorns blew a great chance to upset No. 10 Oklahoma State thanks to a very stupid interception in overtime on third down. Had the Longhorns’ quarterback done anything but turn the ball over, they were in position to at least kick a game-tying field goal. Instead, he just basically handed the ball to Oklahoma State, and that ended the game.
And a very similar situation presented itself in the SMU-Cincinnati game on Saturday evening.
Cincy had a 3rd-and-4 at the 19 in overtime, trailing SMU 31-28 after the Mustangs kicked a field goal on their possession. Bearscats’ quarterback Hayden Moore stepped back to throw, and was quickly joined by several SMU defenders in the backfield. One SMU defensive lineman was even in the process of bringing Moore down to the ground for a sack, and that would’ve still at least kept Cincy in high-percentage field goal range to tie the game.
But Moore decided to try to flip the ball to a teammate at the last second, and what he actually did was flip the ball to SMU’s Kyran Mitchell for a game-ending “interception.”
And that play came after Cincy allowed SMU to convert a 4th-and-26 on the previous drive!
It’s hard to imagine an all-around overtime period being worse than this one was for the Bearcats.
[ESPNU]
What’s really dumb is the writer of this article and anyone else not commenting on the fumble in OSU’s drive that was a Texas TD. OSU receiver took 3 steps with the ball and landed on a Texas player and was not down when he fumbled. No replay at all? Officiating was terrible throughout the game, but that was the worst of all. T Boone Pickens strikes again.