Wisconsin lost to Arizona State on Saturday night 32-30 after a controversial ending went against them.
The Badgers converted a 3rd and 3 on a 6-yard pass and their receiver stepped out of bounds with 18 seconds left. Wisconsin had the ball at the ASU 13 with no timeouts left. Quarterback Joel Stave was instructed to center the ball from the right hash to the middle of the field to set the Badgers up for a potential winning field goal. However, Stave was unable to properly execute the play. He looked like he was going to kneel down, but he bumped into one of his lineman and then placed the football on the ground. Perhaps Wisconsin intended to spike the ball to stop the clock and set up for the field goal, but time ran out before they could snap the ball for the next play.
There were a few questionable decisions by the referees on the play. For one, Stave may have kneeled down and they may have missed that.
Two, an Arizona State player was seen covering up the ball and should have been penalized for delay of game, which would have stopped the clock and given Wisconsin a closer field goal try.
Even if the referees missed a few things, I still put this loss on Wisconsin. It’s their fault they lost. They put this game in the hands of the referees when they didn’t have to. First off, with only 18 seconds left and no timeouts, just kick the dang field goal. Don’t mess around with any plays. Why take that risk? You’re not leaving yourself much room with only 18 seconds to run a play and spike the ball on the next one. Secondly, Stave totally botched that play by sticking the ball in the middle of the field. Why didn’t he just kneel down? The guy clearly was lost out there.
“We wanted to center it because it was the best place for Frenchie to kick the ball,” Badgers coach Gary Andersen said after the game. “We felt like we had plenty of time. It wasn’t like it was a stressful situation to get the ball centered and spike it. No way that is stressful play with 18 seconds left on the clock.”
The referees didn’t help the situation, but this loss is Wisconsin’s fault. They royally screwed up, and Andersen better have learned from his mistakes.
