Big Ten officials missed a critical call early in the second quarter of Saturday’s showdown between the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines and No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers.
The No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers face their toughest challenge of the season on Saturday afternoon against the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines at Camp Randall, and appeared to have benefited from a missed call early in the second quarter.
Disrespected all season because of their soft schedule, the undefeated Badgers finally had a chance to make a statement in the only marquee matchup of week 12. Defense from both sides dominated the first quarter, with Wisconsin taking a 7-0 lead on a 50-yard punt return touchdown.
Michigan drove down to the goal line five minutes later, and nearly tied the game on a Donovan Peoples Jones catch that was ruled an incompletion. After a lengthy review, referees upheld the call, but it appeared that Peoples-Jones got his right foot down before landing out of bounds, via FanSportsClips.
kevinmcguire: This was not ruled a touchdown for Michigan. Michigan fumb… Fox College Footb… https://t.co/nFbN2z8xu6 pic.twitter.com/D0wtbYcX6k
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) November 18, 2017
The officials determined Peoples-Jones’ feet landed simultaneously, which doesn’t appear to be true upon further review.
Naturally, Michigan quarterback Brandon Peters fumbled on the next snap to deny the Wolverines a chance to tie the game. The officials have been struggling all game long with an earlier missed roughing the kicker call and questionable incompletion ruling on Wisconsin’s next drive.
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Michigan managed to tie the game with 2:24 to go in the first half on a Ben Mason touchdown run to cap an impressive 84-yard drive, but the missed call could certainly play a huge factor in a low-scoring game.