Michigan Football: Blown call on Peoples-Jones TD cost Wolverines

Michigan football had a chance to beat Wisconsin Saturday, but a missed call on a potential Donovan Peoples-Jones touchdown changed the game, for the worse.

The scoreboard at Camp Randall showed that Michigan football lost to Wisconsin 24-10 Saturday, but the truth is, the game could and should have been much closer.

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There were plenty of reasons why Michigan football lost, but there is also no doubt, that key calls, went against the Wolverines. And some of those calls, proved quite costly.

One call that was especially damaging for the Wolverines came early in the second quarter. With Michigan trailing 7-0, Brandon Peters connected with Zach Gentry on a pass to the Wisconsin five-yard line. On the next play, Peters threw a fade to Donovan Peoples-Jones. The play was ruled an incomplete pass, but when you look close, Peoples-Jones got his foot down.

From that freeze frame, it looks like a touchdown. The second foot is out, but the first foot lands in just before that, meaning it should have been ruled a catch. The Big Ten officials, who are notoriously conservative with instant replay, upheld the call on the field.

Here’s what Jim Harbaugh had to say about the play following the game, according to MLive: 

“I really thought it was a touchdown,” Harbaugh said. “From the reviews that were on the scoreboard and what the guys said in the press box, it looked like the left foot got down first.”

Michigan Wolverines Football

As any football fan knows, one play can change a game and that call changed it dramatically for the Wolverines. After Peoples-Jones would-be-touchdown was ruled incomplete, Michigan fumbled and got zero points from the drive.

Had the touchdown counted, the Wolverines could have taken the lead into halftime, instead of being tied. Who knows how else the game could have been different, but no doubt it was a big call.

Michigan football was also hurt by a pair of pass interference calls in the third quarter. One came on the go-ahead drive when the Badgers went ahead 14-10. That drive was kick started by a pass interference call on a pass that could not have been caught.

And with the Badgers in front 21-10, a phantom pass interference call deep in their own territory killed Michigan. Wisconsin got a free first down and even though it didn’t score, the field position flipped, ending any hope of a score and a comeback.

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The Wolverines could have played better. But some bad calls cost them too. And who knows, if Peoples-Jones was ruled in, maybe we would be having an entirely different conversation right now.