The Wisconsin Badgers football team secured a 27-13 victory over South Dakota on Saturday, but the game wasn’t without controversy.
The team was forced to play the remainder of the second half without one of their key starters and defensive captains, Jake Chaney, after he was ejected from the game for targeting. Of course, this ejection has much larger implications, as Chaney will now miss the first half of Wisconsin’s highly anticipated matchup against the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide.
The play occurred near the goal line when Chaney came downhill and delivered a hard hit to South Dakota receiver Javion Phelps. The big hit initially forced an incompletion, but upon review, officials determined that Chaney had lowered the crown of his helmet and initiated contact to the midsection of Phelps.
The targeting call led to his immediate ejection, and it sparked a wave of frustration among Badgers fans and even head coach Luke Fickell.
"We're wrong in college football, and I'll look everyone in the face; we're wrong in college football to throw kids out of games," Fickell said postgame . "... I'm not just saying that because Jake Chaney got thrown out of the game.
"At some point in time, we try to adopt all these things that the NFL does, but yet we throw out kids that get 12 guaranteed games, to things that aren't malicious," Fickell continued. "I'm not saying that taking the head out of the game is not what we need to do, penalize us, and things like that, but to throw kids out of a game, I think it's the wrong thing. I've said that for a couple of years, they [the NCAA] don't listen."
The call left fans on a national scale divided. Some saw it as a textbook targeting call, while others believed the hit was one of the cleanest hard hits you will see in a game all season.
"That's probably the first time I've seen a guy get thrown out of a game for hitting a guy in the stomach with his helmet," Fickell said. "But to the letter of the law, I'm sure it is what it is."
Regardless of anyone's perspective, the Wisconsin Badgers will now have to face Kalen DeBoer and Alabama without Chaney for the first half. His absence is a significant blow, especially considering his leadership role and reputation as a tone-setter for Mike Tressel's defense.
In Chaney's absence, USC transfer Tackett Curtis stepped in and played a terrific game , recording five tackles, four stops, 0.5 TFLs, and allowing just one completion on two targets that went for four yards in 17 snaps.
UW will need the LB trio of Curtis, Jaheim Thomas, and Christian Alliegro to hold the fort down until the second half when Chaney makes his return.
The Badgers, now 2-0 after victories over Western Michigan and South Dakota, will face their toughest test yet when Alabama comes to Camp Randall . The game kicks off at noon on FOX, and Wisconsin will need to find a way to compensate for the loss of one of their defensive leaders in what is shaping up to be a David vs. Goliath matchup against one of the sport's true blue-blood programs.
Related: Badgers PFF Grades: Best, Worst Players From Win Over South Dakota
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