The Wisconsin Badgers did not have the game they wanted in a 17-7 loss to the No. 12 UCLA Bruins over the weekend, as their offense sputtered and the defense couldn’t get off the field on third downs.
It was not a great performance by the offense, especially in the air, where Colton Joseph threw for 66 yards as Wisconsin couldn’t capitalize on a ton of missed opportunities. However, following the game, one of the main topics was the officiating, which was extremely inconsistent on both sides.
Wisconsin had a ton of questionable calls go against them, including a few that went viral, and others that proved to be game-changing. As a whole, there were 18 flags thrown in the game. Some felt like incorrect calls, where a number of others were uncalled.
How did head coach Luke Fickell feel about the officiating on Monday after going through all the plays again, especially with some of the unsportsmanlike conduct calls?
“We’re getting into a touchy subject,” Fickell said. “Again, we got to be smart. I mean, there’s a discipline thing. Yes, something about the nose wipe. I didn’t see it, to be honest. I had to have them pull it from the TV copy because it’s not on our copies of things. Those are things we got to be better about. I mean, we got a taunting call that, I mean, let’s just be honest, like, on [Mason] Posa’s after an interception that I don’t know that I would say is a problem in a junior high game, to be honest with you.
“There’s a lot more leeway. I mean, guys, you’ve seen guys punt balls, and we can spike the ball now, I guess. We see celebrations, we see choreographed dances. They don’t want to take things away from these guys. I mean, like, the things we see in end zone celebrations, but then we have a guy that maybe hollers and then goes right back to the play, and we get a 15-yard penalty. Check that one, you know. Does she throw the flag, then she picks it up, then she flips it again? Haven’t got an explanation on that. To a blindside block that says it’s not a blindside block now.
“So yeah, I think, again, you got to find a balance there. We got to make sure we do the best job that we can to teach our guys and understanding what’s discipline and what’s aggressive. Malachi’s, so to speak, blindside block is aggressive. It’s not a penalty. I can’t tell him to not do it. So there’s a way to be aggressive and make sure that we’re not trying to make our guys passive. There’s a way to say, hey, 7 seconds after you’re out of bounds to really need to make a signal whether it’s legal or not is is not a good choice. And so we got to do a hell of a lot better job there. But don’t let that mask the other, to me, issues or situations that we have to do a hell of a lot better job of. And I think as a group, as a whole, our league has to do a better job of as well. As political as I can be.”
Joseph had said postgame that he had done the celebration, which has regularly been seen on television, a number of times already this season without repercussion. It has also been a popular celebration throughout college football.
One of the more egregious calls seemed to be a blindside block on Malachi Coleman, and when referencing the play, Fickell acknowledged the team sent in nearly five times as many calls as they usually do for review.
“Well, there is a review process, and you’re only allowed to turn in 10 plays. I called and said I can’t limit it to 10. I tried to limit it to 17, but nonetheless, they’ve come back and said no, that is not pretty wide open,” Fickell said on the blindside block. “It is not a blindside block. It’s a big hit. But I mean, it’s one of those ones where you would tell your guys, this is square guy up, this is what you got to be able to do. And if you actually see it, he doesn’t dive on top of him, which some people can’t fall on quarterbacks, but he actually goes and gets another block. And it’s actually a hell of a play on his part.
“And that’s where there’s some discrepancy. And I know there’s some judgments and things like that that happen, but no, I was told that it was a perfectly legal block. Not the one that they hit on [Tyreese] Fearbry on the crackback on the on the toss play by the tight end. But that’s beside the point. I’m not opening the can over here.”
Now, the Badgers head coach wants it clear there aren’t any excuses with officiating, and he instead uses the calls as a way to better coach his players. But there were a ton of calls the Badgers put in for review this week, far past their usual amount.
“To be honest with you guys, like, look, I don’t want to be a whiner and a complainer,” Fickell added. “Coach [Greg] Gillum is the guy that kind of puts it together and sends it in for us. And I say, look, do not send something until I see it. Like, only the plays I ever want to send in are things that we can coach off of. Like, is this a clip? Is this, don’t call it— is this PI? No. It’s more so, hey, is this a high-low or things like that? Like, is this a blindside block? Because I gotta know if I’m not coaching it right.
“I called last week about the landing on the quarterback, just said give me your explanation so we can coach our guys better. But there is a process to them at least giving you some reviews. And normally I would say maybe send in 3 or 4 at the tops, if we even send in any. And there were maybe 17 to 19, and that’s not [including] Colton on a whatever, you know, that’s not even post on a celebration like that. No, those are different things.
“So, all in all, again, it’s something for us to learn from. Can’t dwell on the past. It doesn’t change the outcome of the game of any sorts. There’s one thing that I’ll end with. My dad always told me, even at a young age, is don’t ever leave it in the hands of the officials. And so whether he was maybe referring to wrestling at the time because it was individual. But the idea that, like, look, we got to play better, we got to do things a hell of a lot better. I think so does everybody else.”
When breaking down the film, I outlined several huge missed calls that could’ve certainly given the Badgers some more opportunities to win that game. But they did have plenty of chances to pull off the upset and ended up the losing team.
Now, it’s onto another tough opponent with USC coming to town on Saturday evening.
