The Cincinnati Bearcats were trailing the Arizona Wildcats 10-0 early in the third quarter of their Big 12 game in Tucson when the Wildcats' Antwan Roberts Jr. fumbled at the end of a long run, with UC's Jacob Finley punching the ball loose.
The ball went into the end zone, and UC's Antwan Peek Jr. was penalized for an illegal bat for intentionally sending the ball through the back of the end zone.
Arizona got the ball at the UC 6-yard line, and scored three plays later on quarterback Noah Fifita's eight-yard run.
"This is an interesting play, because yes you have a bat in the end zone by the defense," Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira said during the broadcast. "You cannot bat the ball in any direction in the end zone. … That's an intentional bat,
what he did. And then of course in the end zone, it's regardless of whether you bat it forward or backward. It's still an illegal bat."
Antwan Peek Jr.'s illegal bat in end zone is 'a massive play in this game'
"If (Peek) just does a little scoop out of bounds, then it's a touchback and it's a great play that you're rallying off of," analyst Mark Helfrich said.
"A massive play in this game," play-by-play announcer Jack Kizer said. "With the ball loose, Antwan Peek bats it out of bounds. If he just lets it go, it's a touchback probably!"
"Yeah, if he lets it go, probably is the operative word there," Helfrich said. "Or try to recover it. Or basically just smother it. Kind of legally tap it."
"Make it look less intentional," Kizer added.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Analysts explain costly illegal-bat foul by Bearcats' Peek vs Arizona
