The BYU football program took on the tough task of the Arizona State Wildcats on Saturday. Despite a hard-fought battle, the Cougars fell 28-23 in the road matchup. Of course, Arizona State fans were excited by the game’s conclusions and rushed the field, but they jumped the gun a bit too early before the clock ran out. However, Kalani Sitake was not upset by the fans’ early rush.
BYU’s quarterback threw the ball away with approximately one second remaining in the game, and Sun Devils fans thought the contest was over. Yet, after reviewing the clock, officials determined the Cougars had one play left. BYU’s QB launched a Hail Mary that was caught but came up just short of the end zone. That was when Arizona State fans got the green light to run onto the field and celebrate.
The BYU head coach was highly empathizing
Kalani Sitake gave this classy answer when asked about the fans’ initial premature storming:
“I hate getting mad at the fans. They’re so excited to get the win. it’s two ranked teams that are playing. All we heard was that there might be one second, and I’m going to cling on to as much hope as I can… none of our guys were hurt so there was no bug issue [with the fans coming onto the field]. They eventually cleared it, and we were able to get that one play. I understand the fans’ excitement and energy, and it’s okay,” Sitake said after the game, per Jay Drew of the Deseret News.
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It seems Sitake held no ill feelings about Arizona State fans’ excitement after their football team’s win. As Sitake alluded, BYU entered the matchup ranked the No. 14 football squad in the nation, while Arizona State ranked No. 21.
BYU’s record worsened to 9-2 with their loss, but they have one more game left to end the regular season on a high note.
Christopher Smith is a sports journalist who primarily covers the Chicago Sky, NBA, NCAA Basketball, and the NFL for ClutchPoints. The Aurora, Illinois native received his education from Creighton University, and he has bylines at Last Word on Sports and FanSided.