Former head coach rips refs over controversial call against Minnesota

The Big Ten and its officials were hearing it from a lot of sides after a controversial ending to Saturday’s ending between the Michigan Wolverines and Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Minnesota had rallied to score 21 points in the fourth quarter and were down 27-24 with under two minutes left when they attempted an onside kick, which they appeared to recover. However, the Golden Gophers were flagged for offside, which nullified the attempt and the recovery.

Despite the call, it certainly did not look like any Minnesota player was offside when the kick left the tee. FOX rules analyst Mike Pereira also felt that the flag was incorrect.

The most stinging rebuke came from FOX Sports analyst and former Washington coach Chris Petersen. Petersen took the officials to task for making this kind of call in such a big moment and not even getting it right.

“I’m sick to my stomach right now, I really am,” Petersen said. “I just hate to see this, when the officials are making something up. I don’t know why they would throw that flag. To me, these are always close calls, but that’s not egregious. What are we doing? Let the kids play.

“We always say one play is never going to lose you the game, (but) one play can win you the game. But when it comes down to an official’s call — do you know how hard it is to execute an onside kick and get it? I think it’s less than ten percent. And they got it, they did it perfectly, and then it’s taken away? I don’t like that at all, man. That is so frustrating. That’s why I’m not coaching.”

If Petersen is this frustrated, one can only imagine how Minnesota must feel. Had the recovery stood, they had a chance to tie the game or take the lead. Instead, they are 2-3, though one could argue they could very easily be 4-1 instead.

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