Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz 'frustrated' with officiating, upset over late PI call
Every now and then you’ll hear a coach sound off on officiating during his post-game press conference to divert some of the attention and blame from his staff and team. And it’s not necessarily a good look unless he’s certain there were situational errors by the referee(s) that had a direct impact on the outcome of the game; then, of course, it can spark conference officials to get involved and review the case the next day.
In this case, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz may fit the mold of the latter. Down 36-35 with 1:04 remaining on the clock, Purdue found itself in a 2nd-and-18 hole on the Hawkeyes’ 31-yard line and in desperate need of a solid gain to set up a reasonable field goal attempt — kicker Spencer Evans entered the game 0-for-4 on kicks in the 40-plus-yard category (but 14-of-15 on everything else).
Boilermakers quarterback David Blough decided to take a risk and throw one up into the end zone for receiver Isaac Zico, but he couldn’t come down with the catch due to what appeared to be strong defense from Iowa freshman corner Julius Brents. However, laundry was thrown, and the call was pass interference on Brents — resetting the down to 1st-and-10 at the 16 and giving Evans an easy chip-shot for the Purdue win.
Here’s the play and then Ferentz’ reaction after the game:
https://twitter.com/SchutteCFB/status/1059094902192128000
Kirk Ferentz said he watched the replay on the Julius Brents pass interference call: "It looked like a clean play to me. It looked like a ball overthrown. I don’t mind telling you it was a little frustrating for everybody.”
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) November 4, 2018
Now had that been a no-call, it’s still possible Purdue could have moved the chains the next play or even got a big kick from Evans regardless. But that’s a tough spot in the game for officiating to get involved unless it’s absolutely blatant pass interference.
In this case, it’s not.