SALT LAKE CITY — Mackenzie Westfall and her father Bill were standing in the front row of section 22 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The tandem, dressed from head-to-toe in Oregon apparel, had made the five hour drive to Salt Lake City, Utah from their Boise, Idaho home to watch the Ducks take on the Utah Utes — an annual trip for the former University of Oregon student and his daughter.
It turns out that Mackenzie and her father had a perfect vantage point to the biggest turning point in No. 5 Oregon’s 51-27 victory over No. 20 Utah on Saturday night.
On the first play of the second quarter, Utah quarterback Travis Wilson reared back and threw a deep pass to a streaking Kaelin Clay. Clay, a senior wide receiver for the Utes, caught the ball in stride and sped past the Oregon defenders as he headed for the left pylon of the end zone. It appeared that it was going to be a 78-yard touchdown reception for Clay and a 13-0 lead for the host Utes.
Watching the play, Mackenzie thought she saw something. She could’ve sworn that Clay had dropped the ball before crossing the goaline. However, the cheers and hollers from the raucous Utes faithful eradicated her suspicions.
“I thought no way he could drop that ball,” Mackenzie said.
Oregon free safety Erick Dargan couldn’t help but be skeptical, also. He never saw the sideline referee’s hands make the signal for a touchdown. He looked back at the ref and made eye contact with him.
“Me and the ref kind of made eye contact,” Dargan said.  “So, it was an awkward moment. “I was like ‘I’m going to pick the ball up and go with it.’”
After about three seconds of the ball lying in the end zone and three seconds of chest bumping and celebration from Clay and his teammates, Dargan walked over, picked up the ball and gingerly started out of the end zone. After being confronted by a Utah offensive player, trailing the play and looking to celebrate with his teammates, Dargan dropped the ball.
Ducks linebacker Joe Walker, who saw the ref throw a bean bag marking the spot of the fumble, picked the ball up and started running.
At this point, the bedlam in the stands of Rice-Eccles started to die down. Fans began to question why Walker, led by a convoy of Oregon blockers, was running down towards the Utes end zone after Clay had just scored. When Walker crossed the goal line, and the referee confirmed the play with a touchdown signal, the stadium was stunned.
“They were cheering,” Mackenzie said, “and then they were dead silent.”
Byron Marshall had been in a similar situation during the first game of the season when he dropped the ball before crossing the goaline against South Dakota. This time, he was on the sideline, watching the events transpire before him.
“I had that dumb mistake too earlier in the season and luckily mine went out of bounds,” Marshall said. “But you have to keep playing to the whistle. It looked like a touchdown and it smelled like a touchdown, but it wasn’t.”
After Marshall fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone earlier this season, Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich decided to use the play as a teaching example. It turns out the same play would be a pinpoint in a 51-27 victory over Utah that secured the Ducks a Pac-12 North championship.
“It was just a gutty win by our team,” Helfrich said. “Obviously a huge turn of events on the fumble going into the end zone — great lesson for all of us. I’m just proud of our effort.”
Here’s the play that turned the tide in Saturday’s game:

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