Luke Fickell Condemns Controversial Penalties That Cost Wisconsin in Loss at UCLA

Let's get this out of the way — Wisconsin didn't lose to No. 12 UCLA on Saturday because of the officiating.

The Badgers completed less than 40% of their passes for a total of 66 yards, while allowing a backup quarterback to toss for 264 yards on 67% completion. They made poor situational decisions. They couldn't possess the ball. They couldn't get off the field on third down. They didn't generate much pressure.

Thus, there's a myriad of reasons why Wisconsin lost to UCLA before we even get into the rather shoddy officiating. But make no mistake; the referees certainly didn't help the Badgers in Pasadena, and given some of the flags they both threw and didn't throw in crucial moments, it's fair to argue the officiating hurt Wisconsin's chances more than the Bruins.

All told, Wisconsin was flagged 10 times for a total of 102 yards. At his weekly press conference, Luke Fickell was asked about the smattering of penalties. “We’re getting into a touchy subject," he said with a wry smile.

Colton Joseph's "nose wipe" first down celebration.

Wisconsin QB Colton Joseph was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for this celebration: pic.twitter.com/DEIh9fzamR
— Underdog CFB (@UnderdogCFB) October 18, 2026

"We gotta be smart. There’s a discipline thing, something about the nose wipe. I didn’t see it, to be honest, I had to pull it from the TV copy cause it’s not on our copies of things. Those are things we’ve gotta be better about," Fickell said.

This is a celebration you see quite frequently in college football. After the game, Joseph was clearly as dumbfounded as everyone watching.

“Yeah, I don’t really know what’s going on with that," he said.

Surely, he's done that celebration in the past, correct? "Many times," he responded succinctly.

Mason Posa's unsportsman like conduct penalty

Unsportsmanlike conduct on Mason Posa after the INT

If anything happened it was not shown#Badgers pic.twitter.com/OL8KiBFqsF
— Carter Lowe (@carterjlowe) October 18, 2026

This was one of the more egregious calls, as to this day, we still don't have a clear shot of it from the broadcast, nor was Fickell or any member of Wisconsin's team given an explanation, according to the coach.

"We got a taunting call that, let’s just be honest, on Posa after an interception, I don’t know that I would say is a problem in a junior high game, to be honest with you," he said.

"We see choreographed celebrations, things they don’t wanna take away from these guys, but then we have a guy that maybe hollers, then goes right back to the play and we get a 15-yard penalty, check that one. Does she throw the flag? She picks it up, then she flicks it again. Haven’t gotten an explanation on that.”

This officiating crew backed itself into a corner early in this game by throwing flags early and often. It then had no choice but to keep calling the game accordingly, and this was, again, one of the more egregious instances and Fickell's comments are telling.

Malachi Coleman's "blindside" block

Illegal blindside block called on Malachi Coleman #Badgers pic.twitter.com/MH1NXYQgSG
— Carter Lowe (@carterjlowe) October 18, 2026

This is an aggressive, clean block from Badgers' wideout Malachi Coleman. He was penalized for a blindside block on this play.

"They came back and said, pretty wide open, that’s not a blindside block. It’s a big hit, but it’s one of those ones where you tell your guys, square a guy up, this is what you gotta be able to do. You actually see, he doesn’t dive on top of him. He actually goes and gets another block and it’s a helluva play on his part," Fickell said. "I was told it was a perfectly legal block."

The fact that Fickell was told this play was legal is hardly surprising, but still quite frustrating. He also said that you're only allowed to submit 10 plays to the league offices for review.

"I called and said I can’t limit it to 10. I tried to limit it to 17," he added.

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