Michigan State football has been on the wrong end of a few controversial calls in their last two games, and it sounds like one in particular was handled incorrectly by the officiating crew.
The last time we saw Michigan State football play they were losing a heartbreaker at Minnesota in overtime. In that overtime loss, there were a pair of questionable calls by the refs, one of which was overturning a pass interference call that would have extended Michigan State’s drive. After the call was made and the chains were being set, the refs reconvened and overturned the call, resulting in Michigan State needing to kick a field goal instead of having a first down. Minnesota would go on to score a touchdown on their possession in overtime and win the game.
On Monday, Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith was asked during his weekly press conference if the Big Ten had gotten back to them about the controversial call. Well, they did and it sounds like the league essentially admitted they got the play wrong.
Check out Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal’s social media post on what Smith had to say about this subject:
Jonathan Smith said the Big Ten got back him on the sequence at the end of the Minnesota game, saying they want to “do the mechanics of it better.”
In other words, an admission that the crew didn’t handle it correctly.
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) November 10, 2025
And here’s the full quote on this from Emmett Matasovsky of Spartan Shadows:
Jonathan Smith: “The Big Ten wanted better mechanics for the pass interference call that was picked up. For the time between the play, for us to line up in formation, they wanted that to be better (with the officiating crew).”
— Emmett Matasovsky (@E_Matasovsky57) November 10, 2025
Yikes… when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Spartans, they somehow do.
Michigan State is in the midst of a six-game losing streak and still searching for their first Big Ten win of the season. This critical and costly call ultimately could end up being the difference between the Spartans reaching a bowl game as a win over the Golden Gophers would have moved Michigan State to 4-5 overall on the year with three winnable games remaining. Oh well, though, as there’s nothing we can do about it now and just have to move on with the season.
Michigan State hosts Penn State this week in their final home game of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday with the game set to be televised on CBS.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU gets response from Big Ten on controversial overturned pass interference call vs. Minnesota
