A suspect has reportedly been arrested after the coach of the BYU cheerleading team was struck with a water bottle and lost consciousness after Saturday night’s game against Utah.
Cheerleading coach Jocelyn Allan took to social media following the game to reveal what happened and that police were investigating the incident to find the person responsible.
“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,” she said after the game. “I lost consciousness, but thankfully was lowered to the ground by one of my cheerleaders. Police are going over the video footage to identify the seats it came from (we have a pretty good idea).”
On Tuesday, police announced they arrested 18-year-old William Gardner on “a charge of assault, a Class A misdemeanor.”
According to a report from Deseret, Gardner, who is not a University of Utah student, is charged with “throwing a water bottle onto the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium that struck a member of the BYU cheerleading team during the Utah-BYU football game Nov. 9.”
Video of the incident shows the water bottle striking Allan, who collapsed to the ground and was immediately tended to by members of the cheerleading team and police officers who were in the area.
The 22-21 win for BYU over Utah launched the Cougars up the College Football Playoff rankings. On Tuesday night, the playoff committee moved BYU up three spots to No. 6 in the rankings.
The Cougars finish the season with three straight games against unranked opponents: a home game against Kansas, road trip to Tempe, Arizona for a game against Arizona State and then home for one final regular season game against Houston.
Should the Cougars win out, they’ll be a lock for the College Football Playoff.
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OMG! Where did that come from..