As his team trudged off Camp Randall last Saturday, something didn't sit right with Northern Illinois Head Coach Joe Novak. Hadn't his team run and passed all over Wisconsin? Hadn't his defense refused to bend against Anthony Davis and a gargantuan offensive line? Hadn't his team, missing six key players, laid their heart on the line and played a wonderful game? Most perplexing of all, hadn't they deserved to win?
\We should have won the football game,"" Novak said. ""They [the Huskies] played good enough to win. You go up and look at those kids' eyes.""
Last weekend's game showed how at times officiating plays a large role in deciding a contest. Sometimes a larger role than the teams' actual performances. Northern Illinois outgained Wisconsin 455 yards to 275 and nearly tripled the Badgers' rushing yards. Although winning the run offense and defense battle isn't always a precursor to a victory, holding the advantage in both the run and pass game should be. It wasn't for NIU.
In the view of Coach Novak, and most others at Camp Randall, the Huskies did everything right, even on the final drive of the game.
""There were some awful bad timing on some of those penalties,"" Novak said. ""I am not sitting here whining and crying. But for a team that is not penalized very often we sure had a lot [of penalties].""
The disputed penalties occurred during the teams' final drives. Beginning with 2:13 remaining, the Huskies punted and pinned the Badgers back at their 25-yard line. However, a holding penalty forced the Huskies to re-kick from deep within their own end zone. The resulting kick gave Wisconsin better field position at its 48. It is difficult to imagine Wisconsin starting at its 25 and scoring when taking into account its offensive performance up to that point.
Nevertheless, the Badgers did begin at the 48 and drove for the winning touchdown ... but not before sustaining their drive through two NIU pass-interference penalties. The first came with Davis being hit by a NIU linebacker prior to receiving a pass from Brooks Bollinger. The principle of the penalty was correct, but the application wasn't. Replays showed that Bollinger's pass sailed right of Davis and probably wasn't catch-able. The penalty gave Wisconsin a much-needed first down, as its drive looked to be stalling.
Two plays later from the 14, Bollinger dropped back and winged a low strike into the middle of the end zone, but failed to connect with David Braun by at least two yards. However, the referee's yellow flag went up, again signaling pass interference. Replays confirmed a defender draped on Braun, but also showed how far he was from the ball. The ensuing mark-off took the Badgers to the two, making the winning score inevitable.
Wisconsin's win over Northern Illinois, like many games, put the spotlight on the referees. Mistakes were made during the course of the game, but few remain as visible as the alleged mistakes of the referees. It's easy to forget that Northern Illinois turned the ball over four times Saturday, negating several scoring opportunities. If Northern Illinois plays a turnover free game, it wins comfortably over a struggling UW squad.
As it turned out, Northern Illinois tempted fate in wasting their chances to build a lead and gave the referees the opportunity to be a factor at the end.
It's easy to blame referees in a close loss. Especially when the losing team played the better game. With three questionable and costly penalties called so close to each other at the end of the game, Northern Illinois certainly has the right to feel wronged. However, in a different sense, the Huskies and all teams that have been or will be in that situation, should take responsibility for the things over which they controlled.
""We turned the ball over four times, and that is too bad,"" Novak said. ""We killed ourselves too.""
Long before the referees had the chance.
