Kickoff vs Notre Dame just latest controversial call against Wisconsin

One officiating decision wasn't going to completely alter a game that ended 41-13, but Wisconsin Badgers fans doubtlessly would like to know how events would have unfolded if a controversial call early in their season opener with Notre Dame had gone differently.

After Notre Dame tied the game, 3-3, late in the first quarter, the ensuing kickoff was muffed by Badgers return man Harrison Bortolotti. Notre Dame's Kahanu Kia recovered, but it sure looked like his foot tapped out of bounds at Lambeau Field before he secured the football.

Needless to say, the call didn't go Wisconsin's way, and Wisconsin native James Flanigan caught a go-ahead touchdown moments later for a 10-3 Notre Dame lead. The Irish only led at halftime, 13-10, before breaking the game open in the second half.

It was an embarrassing muffed kickoff by Wisconsin but we saw multiple angles showing that the Notre Dame player had a foot out of bounds while recovering it.

What's the point of video review if the people in charge are too scared to overturn calls on the field? https://t.co/z9UOMZND1f

— Scott Reichel (@ReichelRadio) September 7, 2026

What's the point of replay review if you're not going to get the call right in the end? https://t.co/owXdeCy2b3

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) September 7, 2026

Instant Replay off to a ROUGH start in the college football world…

How could you possibly uphold that?!

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 7, 2026

It's not the first time in recent history that the Badgers have been on the wrong end of controversial officiating decisions. Some other recent examples:

Purdue given a goal-line touchdown that wasn't (Oct. 22, 2022)

Wisconsin's would-be goal line stand against Purdue, called a touchdown on a fourth-and-1 play and inexplicably upheld on review, didn't ultimately change the outcome in Wisconsin's uplifting 35-24 win at Camp Randall Stadium. But it sure was strange.

I ask this sincerely.

What is the point of replay if we stop the game for a review to just uphold the call on the field that this is a TD?!? pic.twitter.com/Oz1EyC4O8w

— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) October 22, 2022

“They said they didn't have a view straight down the goal line, which leads me to the question of, why? Why is it not straight down the goal line?" Badgers coach Jim Leonhard said afterward. “They didn't have enough to overturn it. I don't agree with it, but it doesn't really matter.”

True, it doesn't, but if the Boilermakers had staged an improbable fourth-quarter comeback, we'd still be talking about it. As it stands, most Badgers fans probably don't remember the moment.

The Danny Davis OPI (Jan. 1, 2020)

Facing Oregon in the Rose Bowl, the Badgers took a heartbreaking 28-27 loss in which several mistakes loomed large. But an offensive pass interference call against Danny Davis still smarts.

Driving with less than 4 minutes to go, Wisconsin appeared to convert on third-and-6 with a 9-yard pass to Jake Ferguson, but Davis was called for OPI, even though replays showed Davis didn't appear to be the one initiating the contact.

Longtime officials Terry McAulay and Gene Steratore both said afterward they didn't believe it should have been an OPI call.

Danny Davis on being called for OPI:

"I was just trying to work a release and he kind of grabbed me, clinched onto me. I just kept running and they ended up calling it. Can’t do nothing about it. I was just trying to get away from my man." pic.twitter.com/rk6NlOco1x

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) January 2, 2020

Definitely doesn't feel right for such a close game to effectively end on that questionable offensive PI call.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 2, 2020

Wisconsin would have had a first down at its own 35 with 3:15 to go, still time to make something happen. Hardly a guarantee of points, but UW still had a chance to beat Justin Herbert and Oregon.

Jazz Peavy (Nov. 21, 2015)

Virtually every fan base has a play that can be filed under, "Just what is a catch, anyway?"

With 30 seconds left against Northwestern at Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave appeared to find Jazz Peavy for a touchdown pass at the goal line that would have given the Badgers a 14-13 lead, pending the extra point.

Peavy made the catch and took several steps in the end zone before falling to the ground with a knee still in bounds before he hit the sideline. Referees ruled that he bobbled the ball and didn't have full control on the catch.

(We have to acknowledge that this might have been ruled correctly, at least letter-of-the-law).

This was the Wisconsin TD that was overturned pic.twitter.com/5sAA7qzj9W

— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) November 21, 2015

Replay upheld the ruling, and the Big Ten office reiterated that it was the right call. Stave wound up sacked on the next play and left the game injured, and Bart Houston threw incomplete on the game's final meaningful snap. Northwestern won, 13-7.

Both teams came into the game ranked, though the Badgers were favored and owned an 8-2 record. UW ultimately went 10-3 and defeated USC in the Holiday Bowl.

Don't forget Alex Erickson in the same game

Erickson thought he had given Wisconsin a 13-10 lead in the third quarter against Northwestern when he picked up a bounding punt and wormed his way out of two surefire tackles, then weaved his way to a 78-yard punt return that sent Camp Randall Stadium into a frenzy.

But officials ruled that the action of waving his arms in front of him at waist level and crossing them — the indication of "don't touch it" — constituted an illegal fair catch signal. Erickson was barred from advancing the ball once he fielded it, and UW was forced to take over at its 22-yard line. 

In the aftermath of the moment, Erickson seemed to understand the adjudication.

"I figured when I waved my hands that the play was going to be done, but I didn't really wave them too much," he said. "But in my mind, I was about to stop, just avoid one tackle, then he was going to blow the whistle, so I stopped (waving my arms).

"And then they just kept coming so I just kept moving, and next thing you know, I broke it out and I still didn't hear a whistle.

"But that's the rule when you wave your hands. It's signaling that you're basically fair-catching and giving up on it. So I just feel it was trying to save some yards there (by fielding the ball)."

Desert storm (Sept. 14, 2013)

It was one of the strangest endings to a Badgers football game and had UW fans furious with Pac-12 referees. And also a former coach's wife?

Facing Arizona State in Tempe, the No. 20 Badgers took a 32-30 loss, with the final seconds coming under intense scrutiny.

UW, out of timeouts, drove to the Arizona State 13-yard line with 18 seconds left. On first down, quarterback Joel Stave ran to his left trying to center the ball for kicker Kyle French, willfully taking a quick knee and setting the ball down with the idea of setting up for a spike that would leave a couple seconds left for the kick.

Stave awkwardly placed the ball down at the 15-yard line without taking a hit, and officials let the clock run without making any signal, leading Arizona State players to jump on the ball while UW players screamed that the ball should have been reset. By the time the ball was spotted, UW didn't have time to run another play, and the game ended before the Badgers could snap for a spike.

Jen Bielema, wife of former Badgers coach Bret Bielema, sent the infamous #karma tweet in the aftermath.

One more from the Notre Dame game

Hey, while we're here, can we get a full explanation of what targeting is again? Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph got rocked on what looked like a surefire targeting penalty in the loss to Notre Dame. And yet …

Surely that's targeting…#Badgers#GoIrishpic.twitter.com/pegq013qQx

— Carter Lowe 🦡 (@carterjlowe) September 7, 2026

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kickoff vs Notre Dame just latest controversial call against Wisconsin