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Utah AD fined for comments after loss to No. 9 BYU

Saturday’s edition of the “Holy War” rivalry between Utah and BYU ended with some slight controversy, something the former athletic director took major issue with publicly.

Mark Harlan spoke at a postgame news conference and ripped into the officials for a holding penalty on a play that would’ve been a fourth down sack and likely ended the game with Utah up 21-19.

Instead, the No. 9 Cougars put together an epic 1:29 drive down the field for the game-winning field goal to stay undefeated on the year.

“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said. “We won this game, someone else stole it from us.”

He went on to say he was “disgusted with” the Big 12 officials’ “professionalism,” prompting a scathing response from the conference on Sunday.

“[Harlan’s] comments irresponsibly challenged the professionalism of our officials and the integrity of the Big 12 Conference,” commissioner Brett Yormark said in part in a statement. “There is a right way and a wrong way to voice concerns. Unfortunately, Mark chose the wrong way.”

The official reprimand was followed by a stiff $40,000 fine charged to Harlan who said he would be speaking with Yormark.

Harlan’s comments appear to be the boiling over of frustration stemming from Utah’s disappointing season to date. The Utes (4-5) were picked to win the Big 12 as part of their inaugural year in the preseason media poll.

Since then, it’s gone 1-5 in conference play and has started three different quarterbacks.

The Big 12 has a history of punishing its members to curb criticism, dropping a total of $75,000 in fines since 2014 (not including Harlan), per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.