Emotions were high following BYU’s 22-21 win over Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

After a defensive holding call on Ute cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn negated a fourth-down sack of Cougar quarterback Jake Retzlaff with 1:29 left in the game and gave BYU new life, the Cougars marched down the field and Will Ferrin nailed a 44-yard field goal to seal a comeback victory and keep BYU perfect.

When the clock hit zero, the emotion spilled out of Utah’s leaders. Athletic director Mark Harlan went on the field to give the referees a piece of his mind, and coach Kyle Whittingham did as well.

Some fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium threw water bottles and other trash onto the field at the conclusion of the game, and as Utah trudged off the field after a majorly disappointing loss for them, one player’s actions stood out.

Tight end Landen King hasn’t had the season that he thought he would after emerging for the Utes last season. He still hasn’t caught a pass this season, and on Saturday, appeared to run a different route than quarterback Brandon Rose was expecting, leading to an interception.

“The one interception he had in the second half was not (Rose’s) error, it was a route structure error. Had one of the receivers run the incorrect route,” Whittingham said.

As BYU’s players and fans celebrated, it would have been completely understandable for King to head to the locker room right after the game. Despite the disappointing ending, when some fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium littered the field, King picked up some of the trash on the turf.

“Love our guys, love our players, love coaching this team. We’ve got a lot of high-character players on this football team and they’ve just continued to battle every week,” Whittingham said.

“It’s been one of the most — well, the most — frustrating season of my career and to see how they’ve handled themselves and continue to compete and fight, it’s been awesome to see that happen. The year hasn’t turned out anything like we hoped it would or were expecting, but they’ve continued to stay in the fight and continue to work hard in practice. As I said last week, we have not had a bad week of practice.”

‘When you’re in the moment, sometimes you say or do things that maybe you wouldn’t have otherwise — me included’

Much of the postgame attention was centered on Harlan, who after confronting the referees on the field after the game, sat down at the podium in the press conference room and made his feelings known.

“I’ve been an athletic director for 12 years. This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight, I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed. I will talk to the (Big 12 Conference) commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”

For his comments, Harlan was publicly reprimanded by the Big 12 Conference and fined $40,000.

“Last night following our game against BYU, I made clear my feelings related to the game officiating. However, I recognize that there are more appropriate times and avenues to express those concerns, and I accept the consequences of my decision,” Harlan said in the statement.

“My comments came after having just left our team locker room where our student-athletes were hurting and upset. The University of Utah is proud to be a member of the Big 12 Conference and we look forward to working with our peers to continue to enhance the league. BYU, Coach (Kalani) Sitake and their coaches and student-athletes are having a terrific season and we wish them the very best.”

On Monday, Whittingham was asked if he had any thoughts on Harlan’s actions.

“No, I’ll just say that everyone’s emotions were running high after the game. It was an intense battle and the way it ended got people excited as well. And so it’s just one of those things that when you’re in the moment sometimes you say or do things that maybe you wouldn’t have otherwise — me included,” Whittingham said.

Mycah Pittman leaves the program

Receiver Mycah Pittman has left Utah’s team, Whittingham said on Monday.

“He’s chosen to pursue other opportunities,” Whittingham said.

“I guess there’s maybe a little bit of a question whether he has a year of eligibility left or not, I’m not real versed in that right now or maybe try to go to the National Football League. But he has chosen to, and this was about the middle of the week last week when that happened, to move on.”

Pittman transferred to Utah from Florida State ahead of the 2023 season, but his year was cut short after suffering a season-ending injury in Week 2. This season, Pittman caught six passes for 50 yards. He also returned eight punts for 45 yards.

‘Cam is still mulling over his options’

Utah quarterback Cam Rising, who suffered a season-ending injury against Arizona State, underwent surgery on Wednesday, Whittingham said.

“No definitive word yet. Cam is still mulling over his options. He just had a surgery on Wednesday of this past week, so that was first and foremost on his mind is getting that surgery completed,” Whittingham said.

Now that that’s done, the next big thing is making that decision on which direction he wants to go and expect to have those conversations with Cam starting up probably as early as this week, seeing where he is at,” Whittingham said.

Rising has thrown for 6,127 yards and 53 touchdowns in his time with the Utes, winning two Pac-12 championships, but hasn’t played a complete season since 2022.