SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah coach Ron McBride, whose team lost a chance to beat Arizona in the final minute Saturday thanks to a disputed fourth-quarter call, is questioning the fairness of the referee in the game.

The Utes had an apparent game-tying touchdown with 38 seconds left in the game taken away when officials ruled that Josh Lyman was out of bounds when he caught a pass. Television replays indicated Lyman was in-bounds.

Two plays later, Arizona took over on downs. The Wildcats won, 23-17.

Jim Fogltance, a Pac-10 referee who lives in Tucson, Ariz. (the home of the University of Arizona), headed the crew that officiated the game. Back judge Mike Aaronian made the call.

"He's a big-time UA guy," McBride said of Fogltance. McBride was quoted in Monday's Salt Lake Tribune.

"He lives there, and has always been a big supporter of theirs," said McBride, a former assistant coach at Arizona. "He's a big booster. I don't know what in the hell he's doing, doing the game. I asked him about it before the game.''

McBride said Fogltance told him: " 'Yeah, it's no big deal. The conference doesn't look at it that way.' "

The Tribune said Fogltance could not be reached for comment.

"That's not a difficult call to make,'' McBride told the Tribune.

He also pointed to several other questionable calls.

"Every time it seemed like we started to take the momentum away in the game, at every point, they seemed to make a call that stopped us from doing that. . . . They're probably laughing about it right now.''