A controversial fair catch will forever cloud Minnesota’s win over Iowa. It is one of those calls that could change the entire course of the college football season.
The Hawkeyes were 6-1 entering the weekend. They had barely scored any points, but they found ways to win.
That appeared to be the case again on Saturday afternoon.
Iowa held 10-9 lead over the visitors until the eight-minute and 33-second mark in the fourth quarter. The Gophers hit a field goal to go up 12-10.
Both teams traded punts on the next four possessions. The fourth of four gave the home team the ball back with about 90 seconds.
Defensive back Cooper DeJean scooped up the kick off of the bounce at his own 45-yard-line and took it all of the way back for the go-ahead touchdown. Or so it appeared.
Upon further review, the officials ultimately determined that DeJean called for a fair catch. Video replay showed that he signaled something with his left arm as he approached the punt.
It might have been a fair catch. It might have been a “poison” call for his teammates to avoid touching the punt and causing chaos.
DeJean claimed that it was the latter. The officiating crew decided that it was the former.
Here is the play in question:
Iowa’s touchdown was called back as a result. The Hawkeyes went from being up by four points with about 70 seconds left to down by two with the ball in their own half.
Fans were furious. So much so that they started to chuck all kinds of various trash — beer bottles, sandwich wrappers, chip bags, etc. — on to the field in front of them.
It was a pretty ugly scene, and an even more unfortunate way to lose. The controversial fair catch call will go down in college football history. Especially if Iowa can get back on track to go 10-2 while struggling to score any offensive points.