Missed call should have given Michigan State third try at game-tying field goal vs. Arizona State, Pac-12 says

James Crabtree-Hannigan

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Missed call should have given Michigan State third try at game-tying field goal vs. Arizona State, Pac-12 says image

It appeared No. 18 Michigan State and Arizona State were headed to an overtime nobody asked for Saturday, but then a replay review of the Spartans' game-tying field goal found they had 12 men on the field. After backing up five yards, kicker Matt Coghlin hooked a 47-yard attempt wide left and provided an appropriately ugly ending to the Sun Devils' 10-7 upset.

On Sunday, the Pac-12 announced there should have been a third attempt because officials missed an Arizona State penalty on kick No. 2. 

The conference confirmed in a statement and video explainer that Arizona State should have been penalized for an illegal hurdle. 

"There should have been a foul for leaping," the conference said in the statement. "An Arizona State defensive player took a running start and leapt over the kicking team’s line in an attempt to block the kick. In the process, he leapt into the frame of the body of an opponent. The penalty would have been 15 yards from the previous spot and an automatic first down." 

The missed call was not reviewable.

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Michigan State Mark Dantonio told reporters Saturday that he believed a penalty should have been called.

Dantonio, though, also noted his team failed to capitalize on key opportunities earlier in a game in which the Spartans outgained Arizona State by nearly 200 yards. Coghlin missed a pair of first-half field-goal tries, one from 47 yards and one from 31.

And when Michigan State needed a stop, it couldn't get one. The teams combined for three points in the first three quarters before a Spartans touchdown midway through the fourth quarter put them up 7-3. Arizona State took over with less than four minutes to go and put together an unlikely touchdown drive, with quarterback Jayden Daniels scrambling to convert a fourth-and-13 following a false start penalty, and running back Eno Benjamin stretching for a 1-yard score four plays later.

Michigan State responded by driving more than half the field and putting Coghlin in position for a tying field goal. He thought he had redeemed himself for his earlier misses, but the Spartans had forgotten how to count to 11, and officials missed a call that would've given him another chance.

"I'm not sure how [we had 12 men on the field]," Dantonio told reporters postgame. "We had injuries on the offensive line, I think maybe one guy stayed on. I'm not sure. I haven't seen the film."

Now Dantonio will have to wait at least one more week to become the program's all-time leader in wins by a head coach.

James Crabtree-Hannigan