The American Athletic Conference acknowledged Saturday that officials blew a critical call late in Tulsa’s 34-30 win against East Carolina on Friday night.
The league released a statement confirming an “officiating error” occurred after a fumble by Tulsa running back TK Wilkerson with 1:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Pirates linebacker Jireh Wilson stripped the ball and it was recovered by cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian with East Carolina leading 30-27.
The on-field officials called it a fumble, but the replay official reversed the ruling and determined Wilkerson had regained possession and was down before the Pirates recovered the ball.
“After reviewing the video of the play, the Conference has determined that the judgment of the replay official was incorrect,” the AAC said in a statement. “The ball carrier did not regain possession of the ball, and the ruling on the field awarding the ball to East Carolina should not have been reversed.”
The error proved costly to the Pirates (1-4), as the Golden Hurricanes (3-1) went on to score the go-ahead touchdown on the 11-play, 75-yard drive.