Faysal Shafaat knocked out

Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football player Faysal Shafaat became the ninth houseguest evicted on Thursday night’s episode of the CBS reality show “Big Brother” by a vote of 4-1.

He had one last Hail Mary, but didn’t pull out the win.

After he was evicted, Shafaat competed in a battle back competition for a chance to return to the game with Scottie Salton, Angie “Rockstar” Lantry and Bayleigh Dayton, the past three houseguests evicted before Shafaat.

The competition was called “Big Top Drop,” and the competitors had to be the first to grab four spinning balls of their corresponding color and drop them in a tube. Shafaat started out with the lead but was passed by Salton, who reentered the house at the end of Thursday’s episode.

Shafaat played a loyal game. He was dependable for his alliance and picked up two Power of Veto wins and one Head of Household win. Before the battle back competition, he sat down for an interview with “Big Brother” host Julie Chen and talked about how he played this season.

“Going into this house I didn’t know how I was going to play the game,” Shafaat said. “I just knew one thing. I was going to compete in competitions, not going to throw anything. I was going to be loyal to the people from the beginning, so I didn’t want to turn my back on anybody.”

The problem for Shafaat was that he was part of an alliance that could never get on the same page and trust one another. In contrast, the Level 6 alliance on the other side of the house remained tight, and Shafaat never found out about them.

Chen asked Shafaat what his biggest mistake in the game was.

“After I realized when Angela (Rummans) put me and Haleigh up together that I probably shouldn’t have sent Scottie home.”

Another development this summer for Shafaat was his relationship with Haleigh Broucher, who was nominated next to Shafaat this week. The two were involved in what “Big Brother” calls a showmance. Chen asked Shafaat if their relationship will continue when the season is over.

“We’ll see,” Shafaat said. “I’m definitely looking forward to it, and I hope she is too.”

Shafaat will be back on the season finale and will cast one of nine votes to determine the show’s winner.