Higdon hold call worst you have ever seen?
That was legimately the worst call I have ever seen in my 20 years of watching college football. Also can we please have someone blast the big ten officials publicly for the lack of holding calls on UM's dline, it is ridiculous at this point. Big ten officials are by far the worst in the country and it is not even close
September 29th, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
It was terrible. But I think the targeting call against Bolden in a game against MSU--when the MSU player threw Bolden down on the MSU QB--was worse. Although both were ridiculous, the targeting call sent Bolden out for the rest of the game. (And for half of the next game, IIRC.) And also, the onfield targeting call was inexplicably upheld by the replay official.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:22 PM ^
Forgot about the Bolden targeting, that was up there too
September 29th, 2018 at 9:39 PM ^
Oh yeah . That was worse. Didn’t they even review that play?
September 29th, 2018 at 10:45 PM ^
Reviewed and upheld. Which was absolutely ridiculous.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:05 PM ^
The Higdon call was inexplicable, but this takes the cake simply because somebody watched replay after replay of it and still decided to be incompetent. Also, it’s how I know who John O’Neill is. Because he’s the one who performed that egregious act.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:07 PM ^
Yes. It was the worst call I can remember.
Still in disbelief.
Had we lost, it would be talked about for years to come
September 29th, 2018 at 9:11 PM ^
FUCK THESE OFFICIALS!
September 29th, 2018 at 9:14 PM ^
The absolute, 100% worst part about the Higdon Holding while he bunched up and got tackled, was they replayed it on the big screen, there was 30 seconds before the next play, and the replay booth had a chance (based on last week's shenanigans) to call down and pick up the flag but did nothing.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:32 PM ^
Don't think replay can overturn holding. Even the worst holding call in the history of football
September 30th, 2018 at 3:09 AM ^
Correct. The replay booth can fix procedural errors -- for example, if the officials marked off 15 yards on a ten-yard penalty -- but they can't call down and say "that wasn't holding."
Although, if you go by last week's new standards for reviewing obvious facemask calls, apparently the officials could have looked at the replay themselves (on the big board) and changed their minds. (Not within the rules, of course, but that didn't stop them last week...)
September 29th, 2018 at 9:16 PM ^
It was a 30 yard penalty - 1/3 of the entire field. If this travesty is not acknowledged, then I will join all those believers that there is a vendetta against UM.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^
Dude, it’s true. Look at ND v Stanford, M was called so many times for holding and they let those same calls go in the Stanford game
September 29th, 2018 at 9:18 PM ^
The refs are chicken shit. We need to leave this disgusting conference. If OSU wins this game we will get fucking killed by the refs in Columbus. If PSU wins I think it's better for us re: calls.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:20 PM ^
Yes, the clearest evidence of ref bias ever!
September 29th, 2018 at 9:31 PM ^
Both are true. The big ten officials are below whaleshit. Let’s not forget how they totally fucked up the national championship game in favor of Alabama last year. And they are beyond fucking biased against Michigan with the O’Neill and Capron crews competing with today’s ass clowns for top billing.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^
I would say that official had to be gambling on the game, but NW was already a lock to cover at that point. I mean no one is THAT bad, are they?
How can you watch football your whole life and ever throw that flag?
September 29th, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^
Quite frankly, I don't know what was called on that play. Higdon took a fake handoff into the line, was that the call?
September 29th, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
Yes, holding on higdon. Apparently his body held the defenders arms who tackled him
September 29th, 2018 at 9:37 PM ^
Worst call in any sporting event I've ever seen...Lakers vs Kings Western Conference Finals level BS. Rewatched the replay about 15 times and saw no evidence of holding on Higdon (obviously), Gentry, Eubanks, DPJ, or any of the 5 lineman. Unless the WR wayyyy away from the play held and they called the wrong number that penalty is atrocious. Inexplicable.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:43 PM ^
Terrible call, but Desmond Howard getting tackled in the endzone gifting State a victory gets my vote. At least the boys won this game.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^
The hold on the Shea Patterson scramble was the worst I’ve ever seen in person. I’m not sure if this is the call you’re referring to. Actually their noseguard tackled our tackle so I’m just frustrated. At the end of the game on the Thorson scramble Winovich was molested and they still have yet to call it!
September 29th, 2018 at 9:54 PM ^
Big Ten officiating... I have no words.
September 29th, 2018 at 9:54 PM ^
It may have been said before but Charles White getting a touchdown against Michigan in the Rose Bowl when he fumbled at the 2-yard line was by far the worst call I've ever seen.
September 30th, 2018 at 12:33 AM ^
As a man I’m comfortable saying as a young kid I cried. I yelled,”Dad he fumbled!” Touchdown!!! Oh well, great Rose Bowl loss! Yeah right!
October 1st, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
That was made all the worse by non other than O.J Simpson acknowledging that while he was biased to USC even he thought it was a lousy call.
But at least that's something that would probably have been reversed in a replay.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
Maybe they meant to call it on gentry (I think it was him out there) and mixed up the numbers? Regardless I saw no real hold there
September 29th, 2018 at 10:08 PM ^
I like Joel Klatt, tells it like it is
September 29th, 2018 at 10:18 PM ^
On the radio, Jansen said it was the worst call he had ever seen. This is quite a statement, coming from him.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
I'm an old man.
I remember, when I was a little kid, eating Little Caesars pizza at coach's house after a ball game. The Lions had just lost at Tiger Stadium, and the announcer on WJR interviewed a player that complained about the refs.
My coach said "Do you hear that? That's the voice of a loser. If you complain about the refs, you are a loser. If you leave a game so much in the balance that a refs call here or there, makes a difference, you have not BEATEN anyone. You should not complain if you then lose, because you did not BEAT your opponent. When you BEAT your opponent, the refs are ball markers and timekeepers. Don't EVER blame refs. Don't EVER think like a loser. Think like a winner, to be a winner.
BE a winner. Let your play define you. Leave ALL YOU HAVE on the field. In defeat, keep your mouth shut, and your chin high. Keep your eyes focused solely on what you need to do, to never feel the pain of defeat again."
That coach was my Dad. And I have benefited greatly from his wisdom. I applied it beyond athletics, to blessed success.
Go Blue!
September 29th, 2018 at 10:26 PM ^
That is BS, UM still won the game. Doesn't mean that we can't call that penalty out for what it is or point out that the lack of holds on the d-line is a definite trend at this point under Harbaugh. And you can throw out all the platitudes or life lessons you want but it doesn't change the fact that the big ten officials are consistently a joke
September 29th, 2018 at 11:00 PM ^
Where's the outrage on the no call Michigan DB holds? ....Crickets.....
September 29th, 2018 at 11:32 PM ^
Yep, M got away with one there for sure. What some have noted is it seems that the refs went way out of their way to do a makeup call for the missed PI to the point of incredulity. Hence the outrage.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:14 PM ^
Yeah, you know what? I'm sure your dad was a great coach. But accepting incompetence doesn't really make you some sort of great person. It just makes you a punching bag.
I understand the general sentiment at the small-time athletics level, where all the officials are basically volunteers and none of the games are on TV. But this is big-time stuff. Every game is on TV. The coaches are being paid millions of dollars a season. The programs rake in millions per game. Accepting incompetence from the officiating and somehow pretending it doesn't affect the game doesn't somehow make you a bigger person.
Every game is going to have some mistakes made. But I think we can expect refs that can avoid making the worst holding call in the history of college football. I've never officiated a game in my life and I guarantee you I wouldn't have made a call that bad.
If Delany and his multi-million dollar salary can't figure out this problem, then find someone who can.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:26 PM ^
could be a compensate call for the no-call PI
September 29th, 2018 at 11:01 PM ^
Exactamundo
September 29th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^
I saw one, the rest were called. Look around the country, all dbs make more contact than they should reasonable get away with. You really think NW defenders were playing clean all game on receivers that you didn't see on replays?
September 29th, 2018 at 10:26 PM ^
So what is it about Michigan that we get scandalously jobbed every single week? Is there something about our program that the B1G hates? Because this is getting unbelievable.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:10 PM ^
Not being the indisputable Alpha team. Not being unquestionably dominant. When your performance is questionable, penalties come more into play.
If you are old enough, remember Jordan. Highlight reels full of dunks where he traveled.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
Jordan was such a massive money maker for the NBA he got away with much more than most. Just goes to show how discretionary reffing can be.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:36 PM ^
To all Big ten Officials who officiate Michigan Games.....don’t drop the brown acid
September 29th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^
The only thing that comes to mind as clearly worse is 5th down.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:06 PM ^
That was an extreme aberration of historical proportions. Routine ref whining is one thing, that event is an entirely different category.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:55 PM ^
Also, on the punt after that call we got flagged for 5 men in the backfield. We didn’t have a shield in that formation, so I’m not sure how that was possible.
September 30th, 2018 at 3:17 AM ^
It could easily have been an alignment thing. Even without a shield, you're going to have players in the backfield on a punt. The announcers pointed out that one gunner was going in motion, so he had to be in the backfield by rule. If there were two personal protectors behind the line, which is a common formation, then all other players would have needed to be on the line. If the opposite gunner were off of the line of scrimmage, it would have been the correct call -- that's five in the backfield. I couldn't see from the replay whether or not that was true, but it's certainly plausible.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:58 PM ^
I thought the Joe Bolden targeting call against MSU in 2015 was pretty bad too.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:06 PM ^
That probably was a ref at a bad angle not understanding what just happened. surprised none of our coaches were going apeshit...
September 29th, 2018 at 11:12 PM ^
if this was on the play i noted below, harbaugh did get after the refs after we punted; for the 2nd time after the illegal formation.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:10 PM ^
was this on the shae keeper early in the 4Q that went for about 30 yards? i just got home from the game. the microphones on the refs were terrible at the stadium. couldn't hear a damn thing. they showed a quick replay and i couldn't see a hold anywhere on that side and the damn side judge threw the flag.