BYU cheer coach knocked out by fan-thrown water bottle to the face after last second win vs. Utah

The Holy War rivalry between the BYU Cougars and the Utah Utes is one of the most intense in college football. This season was no different and it was an emotionally charged game where BYU took the lead on a last-minute field goal to keep their unbeaten season alive.

Frustrations with how the game had gone boiled over for Utah fans at that point and one fan threw a water bottle on the field. There, they struck the BYU cheer coach, knocking her unconscious in the final seconds of the game.

You can watch the scary incident where a water bottle knocked the BYU cheer coach unconscious, here:

🔗: https://t.co/1LWEAekjFD

The Deseret News obtained video of BYU cheer coach Jocelyn Allan apparently being struck in the head by a water bottle thrown by a fan at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Shortly after BYU’s 22-21 win over Utah, video shot by Cougar fan Jessica Hellewell… pic.twitter.com/FEdyR0aUtN

— Deseret News (@Deseret) November 12, 2024

Jocelyn Allan, the BYU cheer coach, can be seen being struck by the object coming down from the stands. In a scary moment, she collapsed while the cheerleaders rushed to her aid around her. Police were also seen in the area.

Following the game, Allan posted to her Instagram story about the incident.

“At the conclusion of tonight’s BYU/Utah game, a Utah fan in the table seats in the south endzone threw a water bottle and hit me directly in the head,” Allan wrote. “I lost consciousness but thankfully was lowered to the ground by one of my cheerleaders. Police are going over video footage to identify the seats that it came from (we have a pretty good idea). If you saw the incident or have any info on the family who owns that particular box, please contact me. Thank you!”

Jessica Hellewell, who shot the video and is a BYU fan can be heard saying, “We’ve got to be careful going home,” at the end of the video.

The game, which was placed at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium, was emotionally charged. It’s been a frustrating season for the Utes while the Cougars are on an unbeaten run and look poised to make it to the Big 12 Championship Game. This game was Utah’s chance to ruin that season and, for a while, it seemed like they were going to be able to do just that.

However, on BYU’s final drive of the game, the Cougars were backed up in their own end and found themselves in a fourth and long. In two different instances, it looked like the Utes had made a stop but in both cases, those were overturned. In the first instance, it was because of a timeout where it was difficult to hear the whistle, and in the second thanks to a defensive holding call that most Utah fans disagreed with.

After the game, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan could be seen berating the referees. He also went on to claim the game was stolen to media members after the game.

“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed. I will talk to the commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”

For his comments and actions, the Big 12 publicly reprimanded and fined Harlan $40,000. As for the incident involving Jocelyn Allan, BYU has announced it is reviewing the matter but had no further comment.