Joel Klatt had seen enough early in Indiana’s matchup with Michigan, and he didn’t hide it.
The Fox analyst ripped into a roughing-the-passer call against Wolverines freshman Tariq Boney in the second quarter Saturday at the Big House, a flag that handed No. 6 Indiana 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. The penalty came after Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover threw incomplete to receiver Nick Marsh from the Indiana 26, turning what should have been second-and-10 into a first down at the Hoosiers’ 41.
“Oh, come on, guys. What are we doing?” Klatt said.
His broadcast partner, Gus Johnson, was just as blunt.
“Come on now. My goodness,” Johnson said.
Klatt’s issue wasn’t with the rule itself. It was with the level of contact that drew the flag.
“I understand protecting the quarterback. But when you graze with a thumb across the forehead, like, what are we doing?” Klatt said.
The impact was immediate. Without the penalty, Hoover - who entered Week 8 atop the Big Ten quarterback rankings - would have faced second-and-10 from his own 26 with Indiana already up 3-0. Instead, the Hoosiers kept the drive alive, and Nico Radicic later kicked a 34-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 6-0.
Boney, a 6-foot-1, 243-pound edge rusher, is in his first year in Ann Arbor after a standout senior season at St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., where he recorded 20 tackles for loss and 12 sacks.
The call landed against a Michigan defense Klatt had been praising all week. On his podcast, he described the Wolverines as “No. 1 in the country in yards per play allowed” and said they would “force Hoover to make tight window throws.”
And Michigan had done plenty to that point. With 5:45 left in the second quarter, the Wolverines had held Indiana to 87 total yards and 4-of-12 passing. The 15-yard penalty was nearly as costly as anything Indiana had managed offensively - it came within two yards of the Hoosiers’ longest play from scrimmage.
Saturday’s controversy also fit a pattern. It was the second straight week a roughing call involving Hoover drew scrutiny in one of Klatt’s broadcasts.
Against Ohio State, officials flagged Buckeyes cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. for roughing the passer on Indiana’s final drive with the Hoosiers trailing 19-15. Targeting was waved off, but the 15 yards stayed on the board.
Indiana still lost 19-15, ending its 22-game winning streak.
Klatt had already been sounding off on officiating earlier in the week, too.
“The officiating has been hard,” Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show. “The officials directly impacted results, and that’s not what they are supposed to be doing.”
He pointed specifically to the Notre Dame-BYU finish, where the Big 12 later admitted a clock error cost the Fighting Irish a final play.
Indiana entered Saturday at 6-1, while Michigan came in at 4-2 after a 21-18 win over Penn State.
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