What Happened on Fourth-Down ‘Do Over’ Before Johnson Pick-Six?

LARAMIE -- Deonte Gibson may have been the unsung hero of last Saturday night's victory over San Jose State.

With 10:14 remaining in regulation and the visitors facing a 4th-and-2 at the opposing 41-yard line, back-up quarterback Xavier Ward threw a quick out route to the flat to slot receiver Matthew Coleman, who easily picked up the yardage needed before Wyoming safety Justin Taylor immediately brought him to the ground.

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As the visitors lined up to take the ensuing first-down snap, a flag flew. The verbiage that came from the head referee was as confusing as it was bizarre -- "Do over."

Do over?

Facing the exact scenario, Ward reeled in the shotgun snap and again immediately locked in on Coleman, who was running the same route. He made a sharp turn and peered into the backfield. This time he was all alone near the perimeter.

The ball never made it.

Evan Eller crashed off the left edge untouched and extended his hand in the air as he rapidly approached Ward. The senior linebacker got a mitt on the attempt and it fluttered toward the line of scrimmage where it appeared to bounce off the helmet of defensive tackle Lucas Samsula and backward, right into the awaiting arms of Brayden Johnson.

The 248-pound linebacker immediately hauled in the gift and turned up field, and with the help of a three-man convoy, waltzed into the end zone, cutting the Spartans' lead to just seven with a tick under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Wyoming would go on to score two more touchdowns in the final frame, erasing what was once a 21-7 deficit. Running back Terron Kellman eventually put this one on ice, busting out every video-game move in the book and crossing the white stripe from 28 yards out with just 40 seconds remaining.

The Cowboys not only snapped a three-game losing streak with this 35-28 win, they also climbed back to .500 on the season and in Mountain West play.

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So, what exactly happened here?

Coleman, the intended target on what would turn out to be two fourth-down plays, was late getting on the field for the first attempt. The redshirt junior eventually trotted onto the playing surface as the play clock dwindled down under 10 seconds.

That meant, by rule, Wyoming could also substitute a player.

"In college football, the defense can substitute players in response to the offense, but they must do so promptly. The defense has a three-second window to start their substitution after the offense has declared their players on the field. If the defense starts their substitution within this time, they are allowed a brief opportunity to get players on and off the field before the ball can be snapped."

Gibson, the Cowboys' first-year defensive tackles coach, immediately noticed what was happening and tapped Aneesh Vyas to enter the game.

You can see big No. 90 attempting to enter at the top of the screen. As you can see, the senior nose tackle never made it on the field. The initial flag, head coach Jay Sawvel said, was going against the Cowboys for having too many men on the field:

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Turns out, punting in that situation would've likely come with a better result than a game-altering pick-six.

"We only had 10 guys on the field," a clearly dejected SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said postgame. "Better not say much more about it, but yeah, that was the play of the game."

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