the way.) If you watch the play carefully, you see that the last bounce of the ball was back toward the line of scrimmage, the opposite direction of Taggart's body momentum. So the ball was bouncing TOWARD a bunch of players that included at least one Arizona lineman. Taggart didn't have time to look up and see whether he had time to change direction, scoop and secure the ball before getting rammed into by the players towards whom he would be moving if he scooped it. If the Arizona lineman gets to him first, he strips the ball before Taggart can secure it. How many times do we see a whole bunch of players trying to recover an erratically bouncing fumbled ball, and the guy who gets it is the fifth or sixth guy to touch it? Taggart took the play out of the realm of doubt by controlling the ball.

Besides, if AZ recovers, they're facing third and long. They converted on a whole lot of third and longs against us. If Taggart hadn't secured the ball, coaches would have classified that failure as a "missed opportunity," and told him, "when in doubt, just secure the football and give the offense the chance to score off of the turnover."