ESPN take on "The Play" needs mulligan by Mark May

The penalty.

It’s become the story of BYU’s win over Washington.

But what is the real travesty is ESPN’s rattling of the play and error in displaying what actually happened.

I think the rule in which the penalty was called is a dumb one. Emotion should not be taken out of the college game. But having said that, ESPN’s Mark May’s commentary is off base. He “reported” that Jake Locker made a great athletic play and then “flipped the ball over his shoulder” before celebrating the TD with his teammates.

Again, I think the rule is stupid, but Mark May is talking through his shorts. Locker’s “flip” was actually a backhand spin that had enough velocity to sent the ball at least 20 to 25 feet in the air and out of the end zone. It did not just go over his back to the turf. It was a high-flying display with the ball.

I don’t think it should have been called. But since it was, May and the ESPN folks are painting it as a completely different act of celebration that it actually was. I was standing on the sideline about the 15 yard line when this happened.

This call, the penalty and how the game ended is obviously the story and it is what most all reporters wrote about because of the drama of the moment.

But it should be remembered, the winning touchdown was not that play. The winning touchdown was a 15-yard pass from Max Hall to Dennis Pitta, capping a 60-something yard drive. And the big story here is that it came after a BYU defensive stand and a 97-yard Cougar drive that ended with Harvey Unga fumbling just before he went in for a score and a 7-point lead.

Bronco Mendenhall put it this way:

“The penalty didn’t determine the win, there was another play that did.”

It was Jan Jorgensen’s blocked PAT play – or the Pitta TD reception.

“When it came to make one more play to win the game, our players demonstrated their will one more time and that’s a phenomenal thing,” said Mendenhall.

ESPN’s May ought to find some more film to watch. It was not a simply flip over the back by Locker that started all this. To paint it so, distracts from what was a key road win by BYU at a place they’ve never won before. And it does a disservice to players on both sides who played their guts out. It’s a slap in the face of Pitta, Hall, Unga and Jorgensen, who made plays to win the game and any of them would have made a great highlight on their own merits, if ESPN had done some homework.