The Oregon Ducks suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday, falling at home to UCLA 17-15. The two-point margin was significant.
With 2:26 remaining, Oregon quarterback Brock Thomas threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Evan Stewart, making it 17-15 UCLA. Naturally, the Ducks went for two points to tie the game. On their first attempt, the Ducks failed to convert the two-point try, but the Bruins were penalized for facemasking on Thomas, giving Oregon a second chance. However, the officials placed the ball incorrectly. They set it at the 1.5-yard line when it should have been at the half-yard line. Oregon failed on the second two-point attempt, which cost it the game. The Big Ten released a statement on Sunday about the two-point conversion.
Big Ten’s Official Statement
“Following the first attempt that resulted in a personal foul penalty for a facemask on the UCLA defense, the ball was spotted for the second attempt half the distance to the goal from the original line of scrimmage of the first attempt. Per rule, the ball should have been spotted half-the-distance to the goal from the end of the run of the first attempt,” the Big Ten Stated, via ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
If the officials had spotted the ball right on the two-point conversion, Oregon could have converted and tied the game. Who knows what could have happened the rest of the game?
This article will be updated with more information.
Big Ten Admits Officials’ Costly Error That Hurt Oregon in Loss to UCLA