Michigan State football came up on the wrong side of a costly blown call on Saturday. And it apparently wasn't something that could be reviewed.
After cutting the lead in half mid-way through the fourth quarter, it appeared Michigan State had pulled off the perfect surprise onside kick. Samson Gash made a leaping catch along the sidelines to recover the onside kick, and give the Spartans the ball in Illinois territory with the opportunity to go tie the game. But, there was an offsides call on Gash that overturned the impressive play for the Spartans.
The problem, though, is that Gash was clearly on sides and it was simply a blown call. You can see the screenshot of the blown call in the social media post below:
This was called offsides by the officials,
taking away Michigan State’s recovered onsides kick. This was the fourth suspicious call (or no-call) going against MSU in this game. Just a stunning day for the refs in this MSU - Illinois game. pic.twitter.com/Mm2OXcYY5B
— Justin Thind (@JustinThind) October 10, 2026
In what appeared to be such a clear blown call, many fans (including myself) wondered if the play could be challenged and reviewed. But, according to Connor Earegood of The Detroit News, it was not a play that could be reviewed. Earegood spoke with the Big Ten conference after the game and they stated the play can not be reviewed after the fact because it was a "judgement call play."
You can see the full social media post from Earegood below:
Reached out to the Big Ten for explanation on the offsides penalty on Samson Gash's onside recovery. Big Ten says that because offsides is a judgment call play, per the rulebook it is not reviewable.
— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) October 11, 2026
This was one of a few costly and questionable calls that went against the Spartans in a game that Michigan State lost in overtime by the final score of 38-37. This play in particular was the most clearly blown call and certainly could have changed how the rest of that game played out.
Michigan State has now lost four straight games and finds themselves at 2-4 overall and 0-3 in Big Ten play. Things will not get easier from here, with a rolling Northwestern team coming to town next week.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Big Ten explanation for controversial onside kick penalty in MSU-Illinois
