Luke Fickell calls out 'ridiculous' referee mistake in Wisconsin loss to Oregon

Luke Fickell called out a “ridiculous” mistake made by officials in Wisconsin’s 21-7 loss to Oregon Saturday. On the first play of the second half, Noah Whittington ripped off a 35-yard gain for the Ducks, but the team seemed to get away with a holding penalty.

At the time, Oregon led Wisconsin 7-0 going into the third quarter. Fickell is not one to berate or complain about officiating, but he couldn’t bite his tongue this time.

“I don’t want to complain about calls, but the first play of the second half for 35 yards or whatever it is, I mean, it’s not even, it’s ridiculous to be honest with you,” Fickell said. “Right there on the edge, that they don’t call. But to be honest, even that last drive in the first half. They started to find a little bit of something inside, and I don’t know exactly what it was, but they found some movement up front and did a good job. I  think some of that maybe kind of got a wear and tear on us a little bit there at the end of the first half, a little bit in the second half.”

But in a winnable game, Fickell noted that wasn’t the reason they lost the game. He maintained Wisconsin had to have better discipline.

“We try to pride ourselves on being disciplined, and that was one of those things tonight that we’re not going to win a football game, especially against a team like this on the road if we can’t play more discipline,” Fickell said. “We can’t eliminate some of those big penalties. I think that stands out to me more than anything else. 

“This is a tough one to swallow again. But, tougher because I thought we put ourself in a position where we had an opportunity. And, I thought defensively, you know, our guys came to play. I thought they, from the very get-go of the surprise onside that they recovered, that those guys went out there and didn’t bat an eye and stopped them. Battled their butts off the whole first half. Really battled the whole time.” 

At 2-6, Wisconsin needs to win out in order to be bowl eligible. Fickell’s future has been discussed by those outside the program, despite AD Chris McIntosh’s words of support. But an evaluation could be coming sooner rather than later as the Badgers limp to the finish.