Lewan Penalty a Bad Call?

Submitted by mvp on

So, I've watched it again, and again.  I can't figure out what the personal foul was for.

It was sort of a cheap shot, but the official comes out and says, "After the play.  Personal foul.  Unnecessary roughness."

But go back and watch it -- Lewan CLEARLY hits the guy BEFORE the whistle.  You can argue that he should have been looking forward and left (to see that the play was basically over), but aren't these guys coached from day one of Pee-Wee football to "play until you hear the whistle?"  Normally we celebrate O-Linemen that get down field and finish with a pancake block.

For something that ended up being one of the (in my mind) critical momentum changers, this is just a shame.  I was blaming the entire game on him (the PF and the two false starts), but now I have to reconsider.

MyUncle played-4-UM

October 17th, 2010 at 3:09 PM ^

and heard the same thing that I heard. The only thing I could think of was maybe a delay on tv that made it seem like it was after the play. The only other option is history(Indiana game) kinda like those fouls they call in basketball. Terrible because it was before whistle blew.

umich1

October 17th, 2010 at 3:11 PM ^

This is defnitely one of them.

The others: 

The Iowa touchdown that was reviewed was directly in front of me, and I thought for sure the ball was bobbled, and he didn't secure posession until his foot was out of bounds.  Sometimes, TV makes it clear - but live I thought for sure it was getting switched.

Kovacs near interception.

The roughing the passer penalties when we played Indiana a few weeks ago.  No video evidence = it didn't happen.

energyblue1

October 17th, 2010 at 3:53 PM ^

Also several plays again the opposing dlineman were lining up offsides and they never called it.  I get tired of this as they have called this a few times against michigan and I am staring at dlineman from umass, bgsu, indiana, msu and iowa clearly with their helmets across the los and they don't throw the flag.......

 

Holding on sweeps... is it just me or do they call this on michigan and never call it on other teams.  Granted our de's aren't good but when olineman have their hands outside the shoulderpads that is holding.....  

 

1 other,  Facemask penalties.  4 times I have seen Denard tackled and a defender graze or grab his facemask and it not be called......

coldnjl

October 17th, 2010 at 3:14 PM ^

I am okay with the personal foul bc it tells us that he has that brawler mentality. Eventually he will be able to channel it, but at this time, I am ok with the mean streak.

Blue Bunny Friday

October 17th, 2010 at 3:24 PM ^

The stream at ESPN3.com at about 23:40. Definitely before the whistle on the broadcast. It looks worse without sound.

My impression: It looks like he's blocking the guy, who gives up, Lewan looks back at the play, realizes the whistle hasn't blown and knocks the guy down.

This was a huge momentum killer as we went from 2nd and 1 to 2nd and 16. The drive stalled and the next 2+ quarters were mostly hell.

fuzeki

October 17th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

I'm sorry, but Lewan is a dumbass.  From what I've heard from fellow students, he's a class A d-bag.  He's not been disciplined at all this season. That idiotic penalty at the end of Indiana was awful, and he was horrible yesterday.  I was really glad to see him out.  Oh sorry.  I forgot the love affair everyone here has with him because of that stupid donkey stuff that Brian made up.  He goes to Michigan.  He needs to wake up and be an adult.  And NOBODY say "Oh, but he's young.  He'll get his act together."  I do not want to hear that.  That's such a stupid thing to say.  HE IS A 20 YEAR OLD PERSON OR AROUND THAT AGE.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE IMMATURITY HE HAS DISPLAYED THIS SEASON.  THE WHOLE AGE THING IS WAYWAY WAY WAYWAY TOO OVERUSED IN SPORTS TODAY.  SO DON'T SAY IT.

fuzeki

October 17th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

I'm sorry, but Lewan is a dumbass.  From what I've heard from fellow students, he's a class A d-bag.  He's not been disciplined at all this season. That idiotic penalty at the end of Indiana was awful, and he was horrible yesterday.  I was really glad to see him out.  Oh sorry.  I forgot the love affair everyone here has with him because of that stupid donkey stuff that Brian made up.  He goes to Michigan.  He needs to wake up and be an adult.  And NOBODY say "Oh, but he's young.  He'll get his act together."  I do not want to hear that.  That's such a stupid thing to say.  HE IS A 20 YEAR OLD PERSON OR AROUND THAT AGE.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE IMMATURITY HE HAS DISPLAYED THIS SEASON.  THE WHOLE AGE THING IS WAYWAY WAY WAYWAY TOO OVERUSED IN SPORTS TODAY.  SO DON'T SAY IT.

fuzeki

October 17th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

I'm sorry, but Lewan is a dumbass.  From what I've heard from fellow students, he's a class A d-bag.  He's not been disciplined at all this season. That idiotic penalty at the end of Indiana was awful, and he was horrible yesterday.  I was really glad to see him out.  Oh sorry.  I forgot the love affair everyone here has with him because of that stupid donkey stuff that Brian made up.  He goes to Michigan.  He needs to wake up and be an adult.  And NOBODY say "Oh, but he's young.  He'll get his act together."  I do not want to hear that.  That's such a stupid thing to say.  HE IS A 20 YEAR OLD PERSON OR AROUND THAT AGE.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE IMMATURITY HE HAS DISPLAYED THIS SEASON.  THE WHOLE AGE THING IS WAYWAY WAY WAYWAY TOO OVERUSED IN SPORTS TODAY.  SO DON'T SAY IT.

fuzeki

October 17th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

I'm sorry, but Lewan is a dumbass.  From what I've heard from fellow students, he's a class A d-bag.  He's not been disciplined at all this season. That idiotic penalty at the end of Indiana was awful, and he was horrible yesterday.  I was really glad to see him out.  Oh sorry.  I forgot the love affair everyone here has with him because of that stupid donkey stuff that Brian made up.  He goes to Michigan.  He needs to wake up and be an adult.  And NOBODY say "Oh, but he's young.  He'll get his act together."  I do not want to hear that.  That's such a stupid thing to say.  HE IS A 20 YEAR OLD PERSON OR AROUND THAT AGE.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE IMMATURITY HE HAS DISPLAYED THIS SEASON.  THE WHOLE AGE THING IS WAYWAY WAY WAYWAY TOO OVERUSED IN SPORTS TODAY.  SO DON'T SAY IT.

oakapple

October 17th, 2010 at 3:32 PM ^

When the whistle blows, you are supposed to stop playing. If Lewan says he didn’t hear the whistle, then I believe him. However, the rules don’t say anything about not hearing.

Even assuming that call and the two false starts were his fault, I would certainly not blame the loss on Lewan, as Michigan had plenty of other opportunities to win.

ndjames86

October 17th, 2010 at 3:36 PM ^

Lewan's 2nd false start, during the 2nd Q when they were in the south end zone in the red zone. I'm watching the game on replay and its hard to see him do ANYTHING before everyone else moves on the line. Anybody else catch this?

energyblue1

October 17th, 2010 at 3:56 PM ^

So yeah it killed a couple drives, it didn't make the defense give up 5tds and a fg....

 

and if this team must have momentum for 60minutes of every game you may as well pack your bags on this season now. 

mvp

October 17th, 2010 at 5:07 PM ^

We went from up 7, having stopped them twice, with a 2nd and 1, moving the ball at will to a 2nd and 16 on which we couldn't convert.  The players and the fans were totally into the game and it was a huge momentum change.

I agree, we won't keep the mo' for all 60, but to have it stopped when things were going so well was bad.  To have it stopped by a bad call was worse.

The combination of the PF and the false starts had me blaming Lawan for drive crushing penalties.  It turns out that we have officiating to thank.

Not to say that plenty wasn't our fault, but we've not had too many fortunate breaks/bounces in the last two games.

jmblue

October 17th, 2010 at 6:26 PM ^

I agree - it was definitely a momentum-turner.  We marched down and scored with ease on our first possession, got a stop, and then picked up a nice gain - only to be put in second and extremely long.  Yeah, championship teams make their own breaks, blah blah blah - but it hurt.

BlueTimesTwo

October 17th, 2010 at 4:53 PM ^

It is hard to fault an O-lineman for blocking too hard, IF the infraction occurred before the whistle.  I don't mind a little fire in the belly of my team's O-linemen, but he does need to learn to direct his aggression in a positive direction.  There is no doubt, however, that he is impressive for a redshirt freshman.  Like the rest of the team, his future looks bright despite the mistakes.

M-Wolverine

October 17th, 2010 at 5:19 PM ^

But I'm sure he will be tomorrow. But in his defense, on the radio yesterday, right after Rich chewed him out for the penalty, Rich turned his attentions to the refs shouting he was playing to the whistle. Which kinda backs up your view.

ChitownWolverine82

October 18th, 2010 at 8:53 AM ^

I was at the game and could hear the whistles.  Even before the flag was thrown on the Personal Foul call, I turned to my brother and said "here comes the flag".  It was definitely a penalty. Everyone around me knew it.  I like that he's aggressive, but he needs to learn some self control.  He almost got a big penalty against Indiana, and he had 3 drive killers Saturday.  He put the offense in bad positions and just played without any common sense.  I watched him on the sidelines after he came out, and he got an earful from just about every coach that went by.  Clearly they think he was in the wrong as well.  Basically my general point is that I am very angry about his perfomance and I expected better from him.  I guess I hold him to a higher standard then what he showed us.

JD_UofM_90

October 18th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^

He was looking at DRob getting tackled.  Right when Denard is fully on the ground, he turns his head, takes a step or two and blind sides the Iowa guy who had already "let up" on the play because Denard was "down".  It was a close play.  If he was just focusing on blocking someone around him, and hit the guy before the whistle blew, that would be a fair and understandable mistake.  The fact that he was looking at DRob on the ground and turned and hit a guy 5 yards away who already stopped playing, made it look like a cheap shot on the slow motion replay....

The Punisher

October 18th, 2010 at 1:31 PM ^

Redshirt freshman with what......2 starts under him? And he is keeping a potential first round NFL draft pick in check most the day? I'm willing to overlook his screwups.

The mistakes and over-aggressiveness can be minimized with coaching and maturity. The fire, the drive, the aggressiveness, the natural strength? Those are hard to come by.

We could use 3-4 guys just like him at LB and DB. Give me guys that are over-doing things all day long.

We have entirely too many that are under-doing things right now. Of course, much of that can be chalked up to youth and inexperience also.