Scott4USC said:
Big 10 officials will be assigned to the game. That is important for Wisky backers. Most teams get screwed royally from refs on the island.
pac-10 like bucky said
http://www.jsonline.com/badger/fb/nov05/372098.asp
LINK NEEDS SIGN IN, SO HERES TEXT
Madison - Last winter, while Wisconsin football fans were lamenting the Badgers' late-season swoon and wondering when the Big Ten Conference title drought would end, UW officials were discreetly preparing for the team's 2005 regular-season finale at Hawaii.
UW officials requested that Hawaii, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, take steps to ensure that a WAC officiating crew not work the non-conference game.
Karl Benson, commissioner of the WAC, obliged and arranged to have a Pacific 10 Conference crew work the UW-Hawaii game, set for 8 p.m. (Milwaukee time) Friday at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
"We agreed to meet their request - reluctantly - knowing that it could set a precedent," Benson said. "I think we'll be faced with that in the future. Purdue is playing there next year."
Why the curious request?
According to sources, UW coach Barry Alvarez didn't like what he saw when Northwestern and Michigan State visited Hawaii last season on consecutive weeks and lost in games worked by WAC officials.
Hawaii wiped out an early 13-point deficit to defeat Northwestern, 49-41, to end the Wildcats' bowl hopes.
Northwestern last season averaged 6.6 penalties for 57.4 yards per game. In the loss to Hawaii, the Wildcats were penalized 13 times for 116 yards.
Michigan State blew a 21-0 lead and suffered a 41-38 loss. The Spartans averaged 6.3 penalties for 54 yards per game last season. Against Hawaii, the numbers were 16 penalties for 119 yards.
Two touchdowns were wiped out by penalty, one on a kickoff return and one on a run from scrimmage.
"You can't help but look back and notice the statistics," Michigan State senior center Chris Morris said. "One penalty was called on me. It was about a 74-yard touchdown run. It was probably one of my better blocks of the year, a pancake block. I was quite frustrated on that call.
"We had penalties throughout the year in the Big Ten, but to have them pile up that much. . . ."
Two Northwestern players, linebacker Tim McGarigle and defensive tackle Barry Cofield, acknowledged having mixed feelings about the loss.
On the one hand, they believe the high number of penalties was unusual. On the other hand, they also believe referees don't determine the outcome of games.
"It was definitely a frustrating day but referees aren't going to make or break you," McGarigle said. "We had a bunch of chances to come back in that game and we didn't capitalize."
Added Cofield: "It's hard to swallow but we could have played better. You know? If we played as well as we could have played, the officiating wouldn't have been a factor at all. . . . That's for the fans and the media to speculate about."
Yet given the opportunity, Cofield speculated that even if every call were accurate the high number of penalties had a cumulative effect on the Northwestern players.
"Coach Walker is not going to want to hear this because he tries to prepare us to ignore that," Cofield said, referring to head coach Randy Walker. "But when you're out there and it seems like everything is going against you, that wears on you.
"You start to think: 'We've got to play these guys. They're talented guys. We don't want to play the zebras, too.'
"If you let those things control you or beat down on you, you've got no chance. If you're worried about the officiating and your opponents, you're beat."
It is that perception Benson thinks must be avoided.
"I've been a proponent for the last three years that we should seriously consider neutral officials for all non-conference games," he said, "just to eliminate this perception that the officials (favor) one conference over another."
