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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Officials wiped out Cooper DeJean‘s punt-return touchdown that would have given Iowa a late fourth-quarter lead Saturday against Minnesota because DeJean gave an invalid fair catch signal by waving his left arm.
DeJean fielded a bouncing Minnesota punt at the Iowa 46-yard line and raced 54 yards to the end zone to put Iowa ahead 16-12 with 1:32 left. But after a review, officials ruled that the play was dead. Iowa’s Deacon Hill threw an interception three plays later, and Minnesota prevailed 12-10, defeating the Hawkeyes for the first time since 2014.
“The receiver makes a pointing gesture with his right hand and he makes multiple wave gestures with his left hand,” referee Tim O’Dey told a pool reporter. “That waving motion of the left hand constitutes an invalid fair catch signal, so then when the receiving team recovers the ball, by rule, it becomes dead. That is a reviewable element of the game. We let the play run out, and then we went to review. Review shows with indisputable video evidence that there is a waving motion with the left hand.
“That’s when these rules are applied.”
O’Dey said that while returners are allowed to point toward the ball, “any waving motion” renders the play dead. O’Dey consulted with the on-site replay official and collaborative replay, used by power conferences and headquartered in Pittsburgh, to make the ruling.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said the ruling was “tough” and noted that fair catch procedures are reviewed with officials before every game.
“It was interesting, the final analysis of that play,” Ferentz said. “The most peculiar part to me was, at least the initial replay, was to find if he’s in or out of bounds, which clearly he didn’t. … Somehow we went from there to a whole different series of topics, and it’s really hard to accept the explanation that we got.
“Maybe I slept through the meeting when they covered there, but I’m still not sure who makes the final decision.”
Ferentz said he thinks on-field officials should have the final ruling on such plays.
“I appreciate the replay on that,” he said, adding that it was a “peculiar” game. “That’s fine, do their homework and make sure they are correct on that.”
A similar overturn occurred in 2015, when Wisconsin‘s Alex Erickson was determined to have made an invalid fair catch signal before returning a punt for a touchdown against Northwestern.
