USC-Utah outcome classic fiasco for books

So who’s to blame?

Conspiracy theorists are pointing to Pac-12 Conference officials as the culprits who mysteriously changed the final score of USC’s victory over Utah on Saturday night from 17-14 to 23-14.

Five days later, the Nevada Gaming Control Board was opening investigations based on complaints, the NCAA was looking into the matter, Las Vegas sports book directors were explaining house rules, and I was answering numerous emails from disturbed bettors.

“I’m sure this is going to be referenced for many, many years,” Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “People are going to say, ‘Do you remember that USC-Utah game?’ “

We’ll remember it as a classic fiasco, because the Trojans were favored by 8½ to 9 points in most places, and some books paid underdog tickets, some paid the favorite, and some paid both sides.

After a blocked field-goal attempt, USC’s Torin Harris — a sophomore from Palo Verde High School — recovered the ball and raced to the end zone. But it appeared an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty nullified Harris’ touchdown after several Trojans ran onto the field to celebrate.

The officials on the field never clearly signaled the TD, and the media reported 17-14 as the final. About two hours later, the Pac-12 announced the penalty should have been enforced as a dead-ball foul and the score was 23-14. What an unfortunate mess.

“I’ve dealt with this thing ever since it happened. It seems to pop up every few hours,” Kornegay said. “Let’s get a clear answer to what happened. It is concerning when they are changing scores. We don’t want any doubts about the integrity of the games.”

Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times contacted Tony Corrente, the Pac-12 coordinator of football officials, and Corrente called it a “miscommunication between the officials and the press box that led to the confusion about the final score.”

“All we did was clarify the score,” he said. “We did not change the score.”

Thus, the Pac-12 is blaming the press box crew for a scoring error and absolving the game officials who did not signal touchdown.

The Hilton is cashing winning wagers on USC because its house rules state the outcome must be determined on the date of event conclusion. “I’m very confident in how we ruled it,” Kornegay said.

A few other books, such as MGM Resorts, don’t recognize overturned decisions and consider 17-14 to be the final. But Corrente and the Pac-12 claim that 23-14 was a clarification, not an overturn.

Who do you believe? Who’s to blame? Who should get paid? We’ll see if attorneys and investigators come up with any answers.

It’s time to look ahead to Saturday’s games:

■ Utah at Brigham Young (-4): Despite being burned by the Utes last week, VegasInsider.com handicapper Bruce Marshall is going with Utah again. The underdog is 15-4 against the spread in the past 19 in the “Holy War” series. Cougars quarterback Jake Heaps is off to a slow start, with a 14-13 win at Mississippi and a 17-16 loss at Texas.

“BYU has had trouble running the ball the past two weeks, and I still wonder a bit about Heaps’ ability to carry the offense on his own,” Marshall said. “Given the misgivings I have about both offenses, and the relatively good work turned in by the defenses, a good case can also be made for under 46.”

■ Oklahoma (-3) at Florida State: The Sooners have been known to stumble on the road in big games under coach Bob Stoops, but Oklahoma-based handicapper Jack Ross (TheFatJack.com) is betting on quarterback Landry Jones to overpower the Seminoles.

“Florida State’s wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Charleston Southern don’t strike fear in those of us who feel Oklahoma is the best team in the nation,” Ross said. “The Seminoles’ offense is the ugly sister to Oklahoma’s juggernaut, and it will be a high-scoring win for the Sooners.”

■ Hawaii (-20) at UNLV: Money surfaced Thursday on the Rebels, dropping the line to 19 at several books, and SystemPlays.com handicapper Doug Fitz also likes the ugly home ‘dog.

“The Warriors are competitive on the road but nowhere near as dominant as they are at home,” Fitz said. “This is too many points for Hawaii to lay. UNLV generally plays well as a home underdog despite its poor overall record.”

■ CLOSING NUMBERS — I took a push on Utah plus-9 to finish 3-1-1 last week, and I’m not filing a complaint. At 6-3-1 for the season, here are six plays for Saturday (home team in CAPS):

IOWA (-3) over Pittsburgh; NOTRE DAME (-5) over Michigan State; UCLA (+4) over Texas; Navy (+17) over SOUTH CAROLINA; Washington State (+5½) over SAN DIEGO STATE; UNLV (+20) over Hawaii.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the “Las Vegas Sportsline” weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.