Jim Harbaugh questions consistency of officiating in Michigan’s loss vs. Penn State

At Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh’s post-game press conference following the Wolverines 28-21 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions, Harbaugh made note of some perceived inconsistencies by the officiating crew.

Harbaugh mentioned that he wants to compare calls that went against Michigan to flags that weren’t thrown Penn State’s direction.

“It’ll be interesting to compare some of the different scenarios in the game in terms of the calls,” Harbaugh said. “Lavert’s (Hill) holding penalty that led to a touchdown on 3rd and 11 versus a couple of those there at the end. Some of our receivers were getting tackled there the last couple plays of that drive (Michigan’s last on offense).”

Judge for yourself. Below was Michigan’s 4th and Goal attempt, one of the plays Harbaugh is referencing.

“It’ll be interesting to see the lineman down field, one called on us took off a touchdown compared to the one that especially stands out in my mind was Hawkins going for an interception and the guard knocking it away. So, there’s a few,” Harbaugh said. “The OPI (offensive pass interference) they called on us versus the OPI I thought should have been called on them on their first touchdown. As far as the calls, the officiating goes, it’ll be interesting to compare some of those.”

Here’s the ineligible lineman downfield penalty that went against Michigan.

And here’s the play Harbaugh felt should have been called offensive pass interference on Penn State.

While Harbaugh isn’t blaming the officiating for Michigan’s loss, he’s hinting that the referees had a definitive impact on the outcome and hindered their chances throughout the night.

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