Michigan-Northwestern highlights (WH style)

I've watched the 2nd half twice now.  Except the phantom call on Higdon, it was enjoyable.

It's worth watching again.  It shows how much we really controlled the game over the last three quarters.

I have no clue what the state of officiating is in the Big Ten today other than bad. Yesterday, two major calls were simply made up against Michigan in the first and second half. Both fouls called were not committed and the evidence is clear in the above highlights.

One was a hands-to-the-face call against Rashan Gary in the first half on a pass play that gave Northwestern new life on one of their scoring drives. The other was the infamous holding call on Higdon who was tackled on a fake carried into the line on a zone read 21-yard run by Patterson.

There was no hold. And Michigan made a point of this by checking with the referee after the penalty was called to confirm the identity of the player who allegedly committed the foull, which the crew then apparently acknowledged as Higdon as the actual culprit.

This play should have primarily officiated by the center official or umpire who had direct looks at the play, not the side judge who apparently threw the flag from his sideline position.

The Gary call was just as awful as the phantom one on Higdon. There is no foul by Gary on the play as he makes a swim move to get to the quarterback and his move forces the tackle to lose his balance and fall. If anything, the blocker loses leverage and starts to fall on his own and is actually falling when Gary gets around him. There is no indication of any helmet or shoulder pad movement of the Northwestern player on the play that would suggest the foul called. And clearly no illegal advantage is visibly gained by Gary in his action.

I am not certain who threw the flag on that play. It had to be either the center official or the referee because the action occurred upfield behind the pocket.

In this game, Northwestern was called for two penalties all game. However, if you watch it's Oline play, they are collectively guilty of holds and tackles in a variety of situations, including one evidenced in the highlights on one of Thorson's final passes. Winovich is held and then nearly tackled on a pass completion that nearly reached midfield with seconds left. The center official was looking right at the play and made no call.

Northwestern is one of the least penalized teams in the nation. Has been for two years. The team is averaging 3 penalties a game while Michigan has been called for more than 30 penalties in its last three games. It is 118th among the 130 ranked in penalties committed. It is being called for 104 yards in penalties over its last three games, two of which were at home.

But in Evanston, the two calls mentioned above, impacted scoring chances for both teams and thus changed the complexion of the contest. The advantage in penalty yards was plus 75 for Northwestern. That's the equivalent of two personal fouls and two holding calls.

Even a call PI call on David Long in the endzone was iffy. And that call gave the Wildcats first down on the Michigan 2 and they scored from there.