Another week of college football, another week of controversial officiating.
The latest controversial officiating call came in Orlando in double overtime of No. 3 BYU and Central Florida.
Following a successful field goal to briefly go up 34-31 in the second overtime period, officials called BYU defensive end Kendal Wall for roughing the kicker after he fell into him, a penalty that Fox's broadcast crew disagreed with.
That penalty provided the Knights with a fresh set of downs, which they took full advantage of, as backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins hit Grayson Brousseau for a 4-yard touchdown pass. UCF followed up with a successful 2-point conversion to go up 39-31.
Here's a look at the play:
The refs called this roughing the kicker…
— 247Sports (@247Sports) October 24, 2026
Did they get the call right? pic.twitter.com/gPI4VjYjjz
BYU would not be able to respond in the second overtime period to extend the game, as Bear Bachmeier was unable to connect with Walker Lyons on 4th-and-goal. The turnover on downs for the Cougars not only handed them their first loss of the season, but also provided the Knights with the program's first top-five ranked win.
It's an ironic ending to the game for the Cougars, after how last week's game ended for them last week in Provo against Notre Dame, with no defensive pass interference called on the last play of the game, which had a second left on the clock, though officials did not acknowledge it in the moment.
Saturday's ending led to a field storm on the field, which will come with a likely $50,000 fine from the Big 12.
That all said, given the continuous head-scratching officiating calls — both good and bad — in the last few weeks, there were penalties of reactions from those on social media within the college football world:
College football reacts to officiating call in BYU-UCF football game
Here's a snippet of reactions:
Let me see if I got this right...
— Max Olson (@max_olson) October 24, 2026
- UCF lines up for FG with 10 secs left and no TOs. Clock reset to :15, so then Jenkins spikes on 1st down (?) and throws away on 2nd down to get it down to 11 seconds.
- Will Stone's FG try from 46 on 3rd down is blocked. He recovers, his…
That roughing the kicker call was AWFUL.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 24, 2026
And now UCF has a TD.
Can't accuse the Big 12 of protecting BYU on that one.
They're going to teach officiating classes on this ending https://t.co/R5xbSO2cEA
— David Ubben (@davidubben) October 24, 2026
The rule: pic.twitter.com/f8QWHT9Xn2
— Terry McAulay (@tjmcaulay) October 24, 2026
Exactly how did UCF beat BYU pic.twitter.com/VVqzwh4VTy
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) October 24, 2026
BYU deserved that loss, sure, but my mind is still blown on that roughing the kicker call. Running-into-the-kicker? Yeah, that would be a stretch. But roughing? In what universe is that roughing???
— Brandon Gurney (@BrandonCGurney) October 24, 2026
Questionable roughing the kicker call gonna cost BYU the game
— BoxScore (@BoxScore_FB) October 24, 2026
The refs absolutely hurt BYU in this game, particularly at the end with that terrible roughing the kicker call.
— Brigham's Burner (@FiredUpCoug) October 25, 2026
However, we could have been in a position where they would not have been able to impact the game if we had played better on defense.
Leave it up to the Big 12 officials to completely destroy their contenders with bad calls.
— Reagan Harris (@OKSTMart) October 24, 2026
BYU got completely screwed by the worst roughing the kicker you’ve ever seen.
A personal foul ‘roughing the kicker’ on a defensive lineman who trucked his opponent?
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace) October 24, 2026
Wow..don’t know how to feel about that BYU penalty pic.twitter.com/OsrFkmvgmt
This Big 12 officiating crew in Orlando is having quite a performance.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) October 24, 2026
UCF scoring off of the most bogus roughing the kicker penalty anyone has ever seen.#BYU #BYUFootball
— BYU Blue (@BYUbluThru) October 24, 2026
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: BYU football gets brutal taste of officiating karma in controversial loss to UCF
