Rece Davis didn’t hide his irritation after the latest officiating mess in the BYU-UCF game, and he made clear where his patience has worn thin.
On the College GameDay podcast, Davis drew a line between the routine misses fans have come to expect and the kind of administrative mistakes that keep changing outcomes in major games.
"I don't want to go to negative town on BYU/UCF," said Davis on the College GameDay podcast. "But I'll say... got to get the officiating cleaned up, the administrative errors.
I realize it's unusual to see a kick cross the line of scrimmage and then a helmet come off. You know you are there, fellas in stripes?
You guys are there for the obscure rules.... Got to get it right."
The controversy in question came in the fourth quarter, when UCF had a field goal blocked that could have won the game. A BYU player lost his helmet during the play, and officials incorrectly enforced a 10-second runoff that sent the game to overtime. The proper ruling, according to the situation described, would have given UCF another shot at the kick.
The game still had another strange officiating wrinkle before UCF came away with the win. In double overtime, UCF lined up for a field goal that was good, but a BYU rusher was flagged for roughing the kicker.
Critics have argued there should not have been a foul at all, and even if there had been contact, the correct call would have been running into the kicker. That would have left UCF with three points and pushed BYU into a third overtime instead of forcing a 4th and goal incomplete pass.
"I can be okay with the missed pass interference, I can be okay with missed holds," said Davis. "But these administrative ones, man, we've had too many misses... clean those up!"
Davis also pointed to another glaring example from earlier in the season: the Week 1 Western Michigan-Michigan game. In that one, Western Michigan seemed to have pulled off the upset, but Big Ten officials put one second back on the clock, and Michigan used the extra snap to hit a Hail Mary and win.
The 2026 season has already produced more than its share of officiating controversy, and the ending of BYU-UCF offered another frustrating reminder. Even in a game full of drama, the wrong ruling can leave everyone talking about the officials instead of the football.
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He later said the football program is strong and praised the student section, but the social media episode clearly left a mark. McAfee said the experience made him uncomfortable, and he went so far as to say he hopes never to return to the university, adding another layer of tension to a rivalry week that already carried plenty of edge. [Read more 🡒]