Officiating

[relishingwinning18]

I don't remember a season, where so many huge calls have gone against us. Not just huge calls, but huge questionable calls. I believe Morehouse or someone tweeted this weekend, that the last time a holding was called against an Iowa opponent, was the 2nd quarter of the ISU game. The facemask against CJ yesterday was brutally missed, and the funny thing, was the guy had illegal hands to the face of the Olineman at the same time. The PI call where Scheel was ran into by the linebacker was almost identical to the PI called on Snyder? They weren't just bad calls, they were drive killing, momentum killing calls.

I'm not going to make excuses and say that is why we lost, because our lines have been horrendous and cost us these games, but it has been a bizarre start to officiating against us this year.

 

[David1979]

There has been some horrible officiating this year. i saw at two missed holding calls on Northwestern. But the bigger problem is the play on the field. Strange thing is the seem to be getting worse each week, not better.

 

[thewop]

IMO, the PI against Scheel, while it should have been called, was much less obvious than the one against Snyder. Snyder got there about 1.5 steps before the ball, while Scheels was more bang bang.

But yes, the officiating was not good. It wasn't the reason we lost, but it was poor nonetheless.

 

[denmar81]

Hopefully KF and Barta are talking to the B1G about the officiating. I would guess it improves next week after two consecutive games of inept officials.

 

[David1979]

The TD catch was also very questionable to me it looked like by the time he had possession his other foot was out of bounds.

 

[Lumas Etima]

Maybe the officiating has always been bad, we just don't notice it as much when we're winning.

But yeah, it's been bad.

 

[relishingwinning18]

The TD catch was also very questionable to me it looked like by the time he had possession his other foot was out of bounds.

Agree, it's like they considered possession the minute it touched his finger tips. Looked like his foot was touching the line by the time he had full possession.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

IMO, the PI against Scheel, while it should have been called, was much less obvious than the one against Snyder. Snyder got there about 1.5 steps before the ball, while Scheels was more bang bang.

But yes, the officiating was not good. It wasn't the reason we lost, but it was poor nonetheless.

The non-call against the LB covering Scheel wasn't quite as obvious as Snyder's but it was still extremely obvious. LB wasn't looking back, was face-guarding, and CLEARLY made contact before the ball arrived. It was a total no-brainer.

As for the role the horrible non-calls in NW's favor played in the Iowa loss, none of us can really say. I'll agree that our horrendous play certainly didn't give us a great opportunity to win the game, but the several blatantly horrific calls that went in NW's favor also came at crucial junctures in Iowa drives. Both the facemask non-call and the PI non-call would have been 15-yard advancements of the ball, and we were already near mid-field in both cases. Furthermore, both came on 3rd down, as I recall, and killed drives. Those were two drives where we would have been put very close to scoring position with a 1st down if the proper calls had been made. Considering that we only lost by 1 score, who's to say how the game would have changed?

So I wouldn't declare in any sort of factual manner that the horrible officiating cost us the game, but the fact is that none of us can claim with any certainty that we wouldn't have won had those calls been made correctly.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Agree, it's like they considered possession the minute it touched his finger tips. Looked like his foot was touching the line by the time he had full possession.

Sadly, I think that was absolutely a TD. Of course, typical of how the game went, it was basically a desperation throw, as the QB was under pressure and nearing the sideline. The right foot was dragging, he caught the ball before the left foot came down, and he never lost possession. Had there been a visible bobble, no catch. But there was none. Could have been a bobble that wasn't visible on video review, but there wasn't an angle that showed one. That was one call the refs actually got right.

 

[tomhawk80907]

The TD catch was also very questionable to me it looked like by the time he had possession his other foot was out of bounds.

Very well may have been but the call was TD on the field. There was not enough evidence to reverse the call. It certainly wasn't conclusive and had the roles been reversed I would have been pissed if they had waved it off.

 

[David1979]

Very well may have been but the call was TD on the field. There was not enough evidence to reverse the call. It certainly wasn't conclusive and had the roles been reversed I would have been pissed if they had waved it off.

I disagree. I think it was clear. I would not have had a problem if that was reversed against Iowa.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Maybe Jewell just gets home and completes the sack and this play doesnt happen. Those types of issues are what's killing Iowa, not the officials

 

[relishingwinning18]

Maybe Jewell just gets home and completes the sack and this play doesnt happen. Those types of issues are what's killing Iowa, not the officials

Perhaps, but I think it's pretty obvious that this team is not good enough to overcome some of these questionable calls.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Perhaps, but I think it's pretty obvious that this team is not good enough to overcome some of these questionable calls.

These calls arent even happening if Iowa does their job. They missed the Scheel PI, no doubt, but the CJ facemask doesnt happen if the Iowa OL doesnt get beat once again and the TD that was reviewed doesnt happen if Josey finishes the play. The officiating was terrible, I get that, but a lot could have been prevented by Iowa playing sound football, thats all Im saying.

 

[relishingwinning18]

These calls arent even happening if Iowa does their job. They missed the Scheel PI, no doubt, but the CJ facemask doesnt happen if the Iowa OL doesnt get beat once again and the TD that was reviewed doesnt happen if Josey finishes the play. The officiating was terrible, I get that, but a lot could have been prevented by Iowa playing sound football, thats all Im saying.

I don't think anybody can argue that we've been surprisingly fundamentally weak this year. Not receiving many officiating calls, just adds to the frustration.

 

[#1hawkeyefan1983]

I was really upset about that NW touchdown where it looked like the wide receiver had his left out of bounds on the white and the replay review only took 4 seconds and we never got another camera angle from the play.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

These calls arent even happening if Iowa does their job. They missed the Scheel PI, no doubt, but the CJ facemask doesnt happen if the Iowa OL doesnt get beat once again and the TD that was reviewed doesnt happen if Josey finishes the play. The officiating was terrible, I get that, but a lot could have been prevented by Iowa playing sound football, thats all Im saying.

Does CJ get sacked if the DE doesn't grab his facemask? He was stopped from stepping up as he looked at the pressure by his facemask...

Lots of woulda-coulda-shouldas here. The fact is, a ton of questionable calls/no-calls went against Iowa and we only lost by one score. Included is a fluke big return (note how many opportunities we got in special teams vs other teams have gotten. Coluzzi has to be headed for First Team All B1G at this point). Despite losing, I don't walk away from that as saying Northwestern is the better team, just that they were better that specific day.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Iowa ranks 100th in opponent penalties per game and that stat includes the ISU game where they committed 10 penalties and does not include the game against NDSU (this ranking means 99 teams have had more penalties called against opponents that we did). Including ISU and excluding NDSU both skew our ranking making it look better than it is. In our two losses: 1 penalty for our opponents in each game.

If ISU hadn't been such a hot mess and NDSU would have been included (excluded because they only count games with two FBS teams), our rank would be near the bottom.

The bottom line: other than ISU, our opponents are not getting flagged much. It could be that we just happen to be playing very disciplined teams, but we know there's been some pretty obvious stuff that's been ignored. A stat that, in combination with what we've seen, makes you go hmmm.....

 

[EndzoneSeat]

There was a blatant pass interference called that went uncalled. This was after the BS penalty for running into the kicker.

 

[Hawks1988]

coincidence that the questionable calls were a week after Kirk commented about the big ten rule changes to blocking?

 

[24 so far]

Perhaps, but I think it's pretty obvious that this team is not good enough to overcome some of these questionable calls.

Agreed. I try to refrain from the Ref bashing, as I know it's a damn difficult task, but they were poor in this game, and largely poor against Iowa.

And we for darn sure aren't good enough to overcome repetitive blown calls.

 

[soybean]

Maybe Jewell just gets home and completes the sack and this play doesnt happen. Those types of issues are what's killing Iowa, not the officials

Both are killing the Hawks. Its not always just one thing.

 

[David1979]

Iowa ranks 100th in opponent penalties per game and that stat includes the ISU game where they committed 10 penalties and does not include the game against NDSU (this ranking means 99 teams have had more penalties called against opponents that we did). Including ISU and excluding NDSU both skew our ranking making it look better than it is. In our two losses: 1 penalty for our opponents in each game.

If ISU hadn't been such a hot mess and NDSU would have been included (excluded because they only count games with two FBS teams), our rank would be near the bottom.

The bottom line: other than ISU, our opponents are not getting flagged much. It could be that we just happen to be playing very disciplined teams, but we know there's been some pretty obvious stuff that's been ignored. A stat that, in combination with what we've seen, makes you go hmmm.....

Wow that is pretty crazy.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

IMO, the PI against Scheel, while it should have been called, was much less obvious than the one against Snyder. Snyder got there about 1.5 steps before the ball, while Scheels was more bang bang.

But yes, the officiating was not good. It wasn't the reason we lost, but it was poor nonetheless.

Face guarding allowed in college football? If not, then no it wasn't a bang bang play.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

coincidence that the questionable calls were a week after Kirk commented about the big ten rule changes to blocking?

Thank you. I was going to mention this as well. Funny how Iowa got little to benefit them in terms of calls after that happened. Don't like the way we call it, we'll then we're just gonna let them play.....


Btw missed or blown calls don't affect the game that much....Unless they're on big plays or touchdowns. If a team is breaking the rules and ends up scoring a touchdown as a result....that's a pretty big f***ing deal even if you don't wanna make excuses.

 

[MeetTheFerentz]

Maybe the officiating has always been bad, we just don't notice it as much when we're winning.

But yeah, it's been bad.

 

[butch25uni]

It's a conspiracy, college football is about money. Iowa in the playoffs would not have the ratings of a national followed team, therefore the powers that be have decided to change the results of the games. It isn't just the penalties it is mostly when the penalties happen and the impact they could have on the game. This started long before the NW game this year

 

[Backinthe515]

Has some of the officiating been questionable? Yes. Doesn't make me feel better this team is playing like hot garbage.