Fresno State overcame a potentially devastating coach unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to beat Houston in the Hawaii Bowl

Fresno State won the Hawaii Bowl against Houston on Christmas Eve, 33-27, in what turned out to be one of the weirdest games of the winter so far.

The play that sealed it was this Jaron Bryant 44-yard interception return with 3:49 left to play, which stopped a potential game-winning Houston Drive and extended a Fresno State lead from six points to 13. It came on a tipped pass:

Houston scored a touchdown in the last minute, but the separation Fresno built on that pick six was enough to win.

With about six minutes to play and Fresno leading, 23-20, the Bulldogs appeared to put the game almost out of reach. Ronnie Rivers carried to Houston’s goal line and dove for the pylon, and it looked like Rivers had a touchdown to make it a 30-23 game.

Rivers was ruled short on the field, and you’re not supposed to overturn calls on the field without indisputable evidence that the call was wrong. That’s probably not much solace to Fresno State, though, given what happened next: Tedford rushed onto the field in an apparent attempt to call timeout and, maybe, ask for a review.

Referee Jason Autrey flagged Tedford for unsportsmanlike conduct. After a review turned up no touchdown for Fresno State, the result was that Fresno’s third-and-goal at the Houston 1 became a third-and-goal from the Houston 15.

The Bulldogs couldn’t convert that. On the ensuing Houston possession, the Cougars got to their own 41 on a circus third-and-14 conversion catch by Steven Dunbar. One could’ve easily gotten the feeling that Fresno State was about to lose by a point because of an incredibly stupid penalty taken by the head coach.

But that didn’t happen, in part thanks to Bryant’s heroics. Fresno State moved to 10-4, completing one of the best bounces back of any program all year. The Bulldogs were 1-11 in 2016 and got to double-digit wins immediately under Tedford. Not bad.

Houston finished 7-5. The Cougars only played 11 regular season games after Hurricane Harvey led to the cancelation of their August opener against UTSA.

Including one sequence where Houston muffed a kickoff at its own 10-yard line and then scored on a 94-yard blocked field goal runback exactly four plays later. Also, the Cougars’ All-American defensive tackle, Ed Oliver, lined up at running back and scored a touchdown days after stepping on a sea urchin.

If you spent your Christmas Eve watching this game, you’re probably a college football person. And if you’re a college football person, you probably felt rewarded.