Gave this some thought overnight--UofM/NW referees
I think there may have been some actual issues with the referees at the Michigan and NW game last night. I am not saying "ZOMG! They had money on the game", but something wasn't right for a Big Ten crew.
Michigan got a lot of penalties the first half. Holding was popular. In the meantime, NW was allowed to flat out hold big as life every fourth offensive play, with probable holds every other play, for the entire first half. Never a call.
Then the scoreboard was started late on the final play of the first half to give NW a better chance of running the score up, with the referee team reviewing what happened and rewarding NW.
The second half we had the helmet loss issue with the play being allowed to continue--I will say that they did punish NW for their coach's poor behavior, both were in MIchigan's favor. Countering that was the way that they would delay whistles when Michigan stars started getting gang piled with three or four defenders.
In Michigan's favor was also the interception review that could have gone either way.
Taken as a whole, there were some fairly serious issues. If the game had stopped at the half I may have been suggesting some sort of bias. As it is with the second half added in, I suspect very poor refereeing--which is almost as bad.
October 9th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
On the holding calls, 1st half was getting rediculous calling Michigan and not calling Northwestern.......the Michigan faithfull at the game let them know too.....good job fans cause on a big gain by northwestern on an obvious hold they booed the heck out of the referees for a good while......... the good thing about that was it showed nw didn't have or wasn't going to get the home field calls all game......that said Michigan benefited as well in the 2nd half on a couple calls.......
October 9th, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^
October 9th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^
But they were consistently bad, and their ineptness more or less evened out as the game went on. It sure did seem like NW got away with umpteen thousand obvious holds in the 1st and the stupid clock thing, but Michigan got lucky on the Kovacs hit and the INT that were both gray area calls (I still think the INT should have been overturned).
I know refs sometimes have bad games...all I ever ask is that they at least call it consistently on both sides. And looking at the game as a whole, that was true...even if they were still bad.
October 9th, 2011 at 8:40 PM ^
Look, I'll say it if nobody else will.
On the whole, Michigan came out significantly ahead of NW on the benefit of blown calls. It was not 50/50.
It does not always work against us. If we admit that, then we have more credibility when we legitimately complain about bad calls that do go against us.
October 9th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
They were pretty awful (what's holding?), but we got the single biggest call, so whatever. This was more a case of CCHA or Sun Belt officials than bias.
October 9th, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
doesn't make it OK. The win makes it OK but I hope the B1G reviews the performance and demotes those clowns.
October 9th, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^
October 9th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
There was a supreme amount of holding not called on NW. It
<br>Was the reason their offense played so well in the first half. There were so many missed holding calls my friends and I were blown away. And throwing things
October 9th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
"Countering that was the way that they would delay whistles when Michigan stars started getting gang piled with three or four defenders."
If the crew for M-MSU in East Lansing next weekend is equally bad, I worry for the health of our skill players in the backfield. Knowing that the thugs on MSU's defense will be going after Denard especially, late whistles to call plays dead could wreak havoc.
October 9th, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
The Michigan and MAC (Pre WWII name for Michigan State) was always the last game of the season because even back then there were fan calls that the MAC used to cripple Michigan players out of spite.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
Listening to it on the radio, Jim and Frank were yelling at one point in the fourth quarter when NW got away with 12 men on the field. How on earth do you miss that as a Big Ten official?
October 9th, 2011 at 12:26 PM ^
Also, on the end of the half play, I thought the clock didnt start running on the snap in the first place? What a clusterfuck way to end a half
October 9th, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
Honestly, it was pretty bad officiating all around. The refs had a couple of head-scratchers in terms of spotting the ball, the time clock issue, and some incredibly late whistles. I fully expect both coaches to submit tape to the B1G office pointing this out, and I'd be surprised if these refs do not receive a reprimand. It is one thing for an official to miss a hold here or there (though the sheer number against NW that were not called does bobble my mind), but having a late whistle opens kids up potentially to injury. I watched the OSU/Nebraska game right after, and there you had refs calling the play dead as soon as it made sense. With NW, kids were being held up 2-3 seconds before the whistle, which could have led to some serious injuries with guys tackling.
Just a bad job all around, made even worse by some HORRIBLE BTN announcers. I know that they want games to be exciting, but the clear "NW should win" vibe I got out of their calls (from questioning every 50-50 call for NW and against UM, to being over-excited for every positive NW play, etc.) coupled with their inability to actually describe what was happening on the field or perform basic math, makes me wonder why I pay an extra $10/month for this crappy programming.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
though the sheer number against NW that were not called does bobble my mind
I think you mean "bottle."
Like when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
with us on the shittiness of the refs.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
those refs were awful yesterday
I was at the game
that stadium is a dump also, worst in the big ten by far
October 9th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
I appreciated the call on Fitzgerald in arguing the helmet issue. That penalty is not thrown enough. Calm coaches like Hoke (in general) should be rewarded for not going Pellini/Kelly.
Calls are part of the game. Good teams take the refs out early and often.
October 9th, 2011 at 1:27 PM ^
The referrees need to be competent enough to choose to have a bias. They have to be good enough at their jobs to purposely screw a team over. Otherwise, They just suck. These refs were certainly in the suck category.
October 9th, 2011 at 1:45 PM ^
I could see why you'd call a facemask penalty on that play. But it is quite possible to knock off a guy's helmet without grabbing it. Persa crouched as JK flew over his shoulder; the latter's hand/forearm swept across the side of the helmet at an angle that basically took the helmet in that direction. He didn't grab the helmet. And contact was made only because Persa crouched at the last instant. It was a good no-call. And I say this within the context that M seemed to get all the either-or calls in the second-half.