Big Ten Referees Rob Rutgers Of Fumble Recovery By Gifting Purdue With Horrendous Penalty Call

Rutgers very clearly recovered a fumble during its college football game against Purdue on Saturday. However, Big Ten officials completely spoiled the play with a horrible fair catch interference penalty.

The Scarlet Knights were robbed of a turnover.

This continues to be a problem in college football, where referees have a direct impact on the outcome. They are often too quick to judge a situation without a clear view of what happened.

Rutgers recovered the fumble.

The sequence in question took place during the second quarter. There was just under nine minutes left on the clock.

Rutgers, already down 10-0, went three-and-out on an incompletion, sack for loss of 12, and a run short of the sticks. That forced the Scarlet Knights to punt with seven minutes and 23 seconds remaining.

Jakob Anderson kicked the ball away from his own ~10-yard-line. It traveled 32 yards.

Michael Jackson III lined up as the return man for Purdue and initially misjudged the trajectory of the punt, which required him to readjust after he called for a fair catch. Meanwhile, Rutgers defensive back Cam Miller stood right next to him in coverage. He got right in the face of the Boilermakers’ kick returner but did not touch him.

In fact, Jackson was the first (and only) player to make contact — lightly pushing Miller out of the way.

And then he muffed the punt. The ball hit the ground and the Scarlet Knights jumped on the loose ball.

Big Ten officials ruled kick catch interference.

Per Articles 6-5-5-I and III of the NCAA rulebook, no player of the kicking team shall tackle or block an opponent who has completed a fair catch. Only the player making a fair catch signal has this protection.

Jackson definitely signaled for the fair catch and the officials determined that Miller blocked him from making the catch. Purdue retained possession. Take a look: