MADISON – Fans frustrated with the officiating in Wisconsin’s loss to UCLA on Oct. 17 weren’t alone.
Luke Fickell had questions, too.
The Badgers coach said he sent 17-19 clips to the Big Ten office for review following the team’s 17-7 loss at the Rose Bowl. According to Fickell, the conference allows coaches to send up to 10 clips for review after each game. Usually, UW sends three or four, though sometimes it doesn't send any.
Chief of staff Greg Gillum handles the process, though Fickell OKs every clip before it is sent.
The general theme of the process for the Badgers is to send clips that help them coach the technique correctly. The league, in turn, explains if the correct call was made.
“It's more so, hey, is this a high-low? Is this a blindside block? Because I've got to know if I'm not coaching it right,” Fickell said during his Oct. 19 during his weekly press conference at Camp Randall Stadium. “I called last week about the landing on the quarterback (during a pass rush). I just said, give me your explanation so we can coach our guys better.”
Wisconsin hit with season-high for penalties vs. UCLA
The Badgers were flagged for a season-high 10 penalties against UCLA that went for 108 yards. The list included one unsportsmanlike conduct, three personal fouls, a pass interference and a targeting.
UCLA was flagged eight times for 78 yards.
Following the loss and during his Monday press conference, Fickell preached more discipline on many of those penalties.
The four procedural penalties would fit into that category as well as quarterback Colton Joseph’s celebration following a 26-yard run in the first quarter.
Unsportsmanlike contact flag on Colten Joseph#Badgerspic.twitter.com/wJ5vI0okw7
— Carter Lowe (@carterjlowe) October 18, 2026
After the game, Joseph said he did that celebration countless time this season without incident. Not this time.
The 15-yard penalty took the ball from the UCLA 43 to the Badgers 42. UW never got back to the original line of scrimmage.
“We've got to be smart,” Fickell said. “There's a discipline thing. [It was] something about the nose wipe. I didn't see it, to be honest. I had to have them pull it from the TV copy [of the game] because it's not on our copies of things. Those are things we've got to be better about.”
While Fickell understood the rational for that call, he didn’t understand the personal foul call linebacker Mason Posa received after delivering a hit on receiver Semaj Morgan on a double pass that led to Marvin Burks' interception early in the third quarter.
“We got a taunting call that, let's just be honest, is on Posa after an interception that I don't know that I would say is a problem in a junior high game, to be honest with you,” Fickell said.
“There's a lot more leeway,” he added. “You've seen guys punt balls. We can spike the ball now, I guess. We see celebrations. We see choreographed dances. They don't want to take things away from these guys. The things we see in end zone celebrations. Then we have a guy that maybe hollers and then goes right back to the play, and we get 15 yards?”
Unsportsmanlike conduct on Mason Posa after the INT
— Carter Lowe (@carterjlowe) October 18, 2026
If anything happened it was not shown#Badgerspic.twitter.com/OL8KiBFqsF
The penalty forced Wisconsin to start its drive at its 41 instead of the UCLA 44. The Badgers, however, overcame the setback to score their only touchdown of the night.
Fickell didn’t get an explanation for that penalty. He did, however, get some clarity on a personal foul call receiver Malachi Coleman received for a blind-side block in the first quarter. The flag was thrown on a third-down play when UW failed to gain a first down, but from a teaching standpoint, it was a play Fickell wanted answers on.
Illegal blindside block called on Malachi Coleman #Badgerspic.twitter.com/MH1NXYQgSG
— Carter Lowe (@carterjlowe) October 18, 2026
The word from the conference was that Coleman’s block was a good one.
“It's a big hit, but it's one of those ones where you would tell your guys to 'Square a guy up. This is what you've got to be able to do'. … (Coleman) actually goes and gets another block and it's actually a hell of a play on his part.”
In wrapping up his comments, Fickell noted that the team needs to be better at avoiding some the penalties it received last weekend, but the conference has to do a better job as well.
“What my dad always told me, even at a young age is don't ever leave it in the hands of the officials,” Fickell said. “He was maybe referring to wrestling at the time because it was individual, but the idea is that we've got to play better. We've got to do things a hell of a lot better. I think so does everybody else.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Luke Fickell wanted clarity on officiating from Big Ten after UCLA loss