Call it: Badgers get input from Big Ten on reversed TD

Nov 24, 2015 - 1:22 AM MADISON, Wis. (AP) A down-to-the-wire loss to Northwestern still stings at Wisconsin, though the Badgers have vowed to move on with an important rivalry game up next to wrap up the regular season.

But first, coach Paul Chryst hoped to get a few answers about one particular call by the officials that negated a potential game-tying score in the 13-7 defeat to the Wildcats.

Bill Carollo, the Big Ten's coordinator of football officials, referenced the ''Dez Bryant rule'' in a conversation with Chryst about Wisconsin receiver Jazz Peavy's 1-yard touchdown catch that was negated on review in the final minute of the 13-7 loss to Northwestern.

The rule refers to receiver Dez Bryant, a star receiver in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys. In an NFC divisional playoff game in January against Green Bay, Bryant appeared to make a spectacular 31-yard catch on fourth down to give Dallas the ball a yard away from the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes of their 26-21 playoff loss at Green Bay.

Replays showed Bryant bobbled the ball as he rolled into the end zone, with part of it touching the field. After reviewing the play, officials overturned the call, saying Bryant didn't maintain control all the way to the ground.

Carollo ''shared with me the Dez Bryant rule,'' Chryst said Monday at Camp Randall Stadium.

Asked if he thought if the rule was properly applied, Chryst answered, ''I wasn't that had nothing to do with it. And I understand what he was saying, you know. I haven't seen all the different angles, to be indisputable, but I do think that everyone tries to get it right, I really do.''

Peavy related to Bryant on Twitter.

''I feel your pain right now .. x 1,000,'' Peavy wrote in one post this week.

A replay - also posted on Peavy's account - showed the receiver appearing to take four steps in the end zone after the catch before being pushed out of bounds by a Northwestern defender. An official standing near Peavy signaled a touchdown.

Had the score stood, Wisconsin would have just needed to convert an extra-point attempt to take the lead.

''In our minds, we're past it, but obviously you're not going to forget about it, a game like that,'' said receiver Alex Erickson. ''Mentally, we're on to Minnesota.''

The call was one of three reversals of Wisconsin touchdowns in the Northwestern game.

The incompletion to Peavy was set up by what was initially ruled as a 23-yard touchdown catch by Troy Fumagalli before officials ruled the tight end was down at the 1.

A 78-yard punt return for a score by Erickson in the third quarter was overturned because officials ruled that he had signaled for a fair catch.

Wisconsin squandered plenty of other opportunities, though.

The Badgers committed five turnovers. Quarterback Joel Stave was sacked five times, and running backs were held to a combined 32 yards rushing on 17 carries.

''So we put ourselves in a position, and we didn't finish it,'' Chryst said. ''That's where we can be better.''

NOTE: Stave said he was going through a concussion protocol on Monday, though he felt fine. Stave got woozy after getting sacked on Wisconsin's second-to-last play on the final drive. ... Wisconsin will play Minnesota for the 125th time on Saturday in a long-running rivalry. The Badgers are going for a 12th straight win in the series. Defensive lineman Chikwe Obasih didn't think there would be any added pressure. ''It won't be. It's our axe,'' Obasih said with a stern look on his face. ''It's our axe.''

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