Arizona State gets robbed of College Football Playoff upset with targeting no-call

The Arizona State Sun Devils had an upset brewing in the Peach Bowl. Down 16 points in the fourth quarter, Cam Skattebo carried his team back into contention. They were so close...until the refs got involved.

On third-and-15 from around midfield, Sam Leavitt completed a pass to Melquan Stovall over the middle. The wide receiver took a brutal blow to the head as he hauled in the catch. He stayed down for a long time while refs took a look at the play.

Somehow, they determined that this was not targeting:

In such a crucial part of such a massive game, no one wants to see targeting come into play. I feel for the defender. It's a tough spot to be in. But when it comes to the rule, that's targeting.

Targeting no-call on Texas had ASU fans, CFB media in an uproar

Social media was stunned when the refs came back and ruled there was no targeting. Even rules expert Terry McAulay said it should have been a penalty.

With the targeting penalty, Arizona State would have had a new set of downs with under a minute to play. They had been creeping towards field goal range. An opportunity to kick in the final seconds could have ended the game in their favor.

Instead, the Sun Devils were left with a fourth-and-five. They opted to punt the ball away. Since Texas promptly drove down the field into field goal range with time ticking down, it truly looked like the no-call might have decided the game.

However, the ultimate "Ball Don't Lie" moment extended the game as usually-reliable Texas kicker Bert Auburn missed a 38-yard field goal off the left upright. The Sun Devils had new life with the game going into overtime. It was only right, even if they should have had the chance to end it earlier.