Provo • Early in the second quarter Saturday night, Texas Tech tight end Jayden York was ejected for spitting in Tyler Batty’s face.
But after the game, BYU’s defensive end said York wasn’t the only Red Raider to spit on him. Batty said a Texas Tech offensive lineman also spit on him after the final whistle.
“[I] just came up and I was like, ‘Hey man, good game,’ and he just [said] bleep, bleep, bleep and [spit],” Batty said imitating a spitting sound and indicating the lineman cursed at him.
BYU safety Ethan Slade said Texas Tech players were chippy throughout the game, which the Cougars won 27-14.
“There were a lot of words exchanged,” Slade said. “I’m not a big guy that likes to exchange words. I like to keep my mouth closed. But definitely they were chirping. But that is just football. That’s what happens every week. That’s not something that raises eyebrows.”
The spitting part, though, is quite unusual. Officials immediately threw the flag on York when he spit at Batty in the second quarter.
The incident occurred during a point-after attempt. Texas Tech had just scored to cut the BYU lead to 14-7. Batty said he wasn’t lined up with York on the play.
“I bull-rushed one of their guys on a field goal. And I just pancaked one of their offensive linemen, laying on top of him,” Batty said. “I get up and this dude just comes out of nowhere and starts saying all sorts of stuff — and then spits in my face.”
Slade joked about the situation, saying, “That’s how you know you are playing the right way.”
The even-keeled Batty joked about it too.
“They were pretty upset throughout the game,” Batty finished. “We will take advantage of that.”