One-Timer: Play until the end, then keep going

From a young age you are always taught to play to the whistle and never give up on a game until it is over.
The Idaho Vandals did just that on Friday evening in a 35-34 upset win over the then-No. 1 Montana State Bobcats. Quarterback Joshua Wood connected with Ryan Jezioro as time expired for a touchdown, then ran in a game-winning 2-point conversion. It was the Vandals’ first win over a No. 1 team in school history.
But after the game talk was split between the game-winning plays and a timeout called by Bobcats head coach Brent Vigen, after Idaho completed a pass down to the 25-yard line as it looked like time expired. Officials added one second back on the clock and Vigen took a timeout to gather his defense and set up a play.
“They said they looked at (the clock) and it’s one of those situations, do you call the timeout, do you not call the timeout,” Vigen said to reporters after the game. “We wanted to get grouped up, well, regroup on our defense and ultimately they made the play.”
The question is: should the second have been added back onto the clock?
This is not the first time that an added second has caused controversy in 2026. Back in Week 1, Michigan avoided an upset loss to in-state foe Western Michigan thanks to a second being added back onto the clock. With the additional play, Bryce Underwood completed a Hail Mary to take a 13-12 win.
The following week Iowa and Iowa State were in a similar situation as the Montana State-Idaho game. The Cyclones trailed 16-13 and completed a pass up to midfield as time expired. Officials reviewed the play and said that the runner was down with one second remaining, but since he was taken down in play and the clock would run when the ball was ready for play that they could only add a minimum of three seconds. Since only one second was left the game was declared over.
This example seems closer to the Bobcats-Vandals scenario and former NFL official Terry McAuley stated on X (formerly known as Twitter) that officials shouldn’t have added an extra second.
“Onfield officials are instructed not to reset (the clock) here and let it go to replay,” McAulay’s post said. “Replay would have allowed the game to end at that point.”
The Big Sky Conference however issued a statement in support of the officials in Moscow, stating they made the correct call to add a second.
“As they are taught to do, the deep on-field officials were watching both the game clock and the action on the field to determine if any time remained when the play ended, and they all individually determined that one second should remain on the game clock,” the statement said.
The statement added that the conference reviewed the actions taken and noted that the crew followed “NCAA rules and mechanics.”
You can make an argument for both adding the second back on or not. You can also debate Vigen’s timeout decision for the two weeks until Montana State takes the field again after its bye week.
But it all comes down to what you teach your kids: never give up and play to the end.
Reporter Jon Allen can be reached at 406-758-4426 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.
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