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Last weekend’s “Holy War” between BYU and Utah was the latest college football game marred by unruly fans who chucked objects onto the field to protest some questionable officiating. That includes a water bottle that made a beeline for the head of BYU’s cheer coach, and a video of that scary moment has surfaced shortly after she called attention to the incident.
In October, we were treated to a fairly ugly scene in Austin during the showdown between Texas and Georgia when Longhorns fans showered the field with bottles and cans after an interception was negated by an incredibly suspect pass interference call.
That caused a temporary delay that just so happened to coincide with the discussion between the officials who ultimately overturned the crucial penalty, and while I don’t buy the argument the refs were “bullied” into reversing the call, it’s been hard to ignore the copycat incidents that have unfolded since then.
Similar scenes had already transpired courtesy of members of the Ohio State, Clemson, and LSU faithful prior to Saturday night’s showdown between BYU and Utah, and some of the latter’s supporters decided to get in on the action over a defensive holding call that negated a sack that would have essentially ended things and instead extended what turns out to be a game-winning drive for the Cougars.
After the contest came to an end, BYU cheer coach Jocelyn Allan shared a post on Instagram in which she said she “lost consciousness” after being struck in the head by a water bottle that was thrown by an angry Utes fan while asking for people with any potential leads about the identity of the culprit to come forward.
The Deseret News managed to obtain footage of the moment Allan was struck by the bottle, and it’s easy to understand why she went down as quickly as she did based on how fast it was traveling after being thrown from a pretty significant distance.
The Deseret News obtained video of BYU cheer coach Jocelyn Allan apparently being struck in the head by a water bottle thrown by a fan at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Shortly after BYU’s 22-21 win over Utah, video shot by Cougar fan Jessica Hellewell… pic.twitter.com/FEdyR0aUtN
— Deseret News (@Deseret) November 12, 2024
It appears Allan managed to avoid any serious injury, but here’s to hoping they managed to track down the fan who was responsible.