Michigan State incorrectly ruled offside after recovering onside kick in 38-37 loss to Illinois in overtime

An incorrect call on an onside kick deprived Michigan State of an opportunity to drive for a game-tying (or go-ahead) score during the fourth quarter of an eventual 38-37 overtime loss to Illinois at Spartan Stadium on Saturday.

Following a 22-yard touchdown pass from Alessio Milivojevic to Fredrick Moore and extra-point kick that cut the Illini’s lead to 31-24, Michigan State’s Liam Boyd squibbed the ensuing kickoff 15 yards down the right sideline. The ball bounced over the reach of Illinois’ Ty Robinson and into the arms of Spartans receiver Samson Gash.

However, the officials called Gash offsides on the play, which negated the onside kick recovery. The ruling could not be reviewed, thus taking the recovery away from Michigan State.

Yet replay showed that Gash was not offsides on the play and the recovery should have been allowed. Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira said on the telecast that he initially thought Gash had gone offsides before Boyd’s kick. But after viewing the replay, he said that Michigan State should have been given possession.

The Spartans had to kick again after the offsides call despite the objections of MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald and the Spartan Stadium video board pausing the replay to show that Gash had not gone offsides. With that element of surprise — and possession of the ball — taken away, the Spartans kicked off to Illinois.

Michigan State’s defense gave the offense another opportunity to drive for the tying touchdown, stopping Illinois on a fourth-and-1 from the Illini 33-yard line to get a turnover on downs.

The Spartans then drove to tie the game at 31-31, with receiver Rodney Bullard Jr. recovering his own fumble after an 11-yard gain at the Illinois 2-yard line. Jaziun Patterson followed with a 2-yard TD run and Boyd tied the score with an extra point.

Michigan State’s defense once again got a stop, forcing Illinois to punt on its next possession with 20 seconds remaining. Pushed back to their own 33-yard line by a 44-yard Lars Rau punt, the Spartans had little time to move down the field and Patterson was sacked as regulation time expired.

In overtime, Illinois scored on its first play with Michael Clayton II connecting on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Hudson Clement. Michigan State then got a 10-yard rush and 10-yard from Chrishon McCray to move to the 1-yard line. Patterson scored on a 1-yard rush.

Fitzgerald opted to go for a 2-point conversion to win the game. Patterson pitched to Milivojevic on an end-around, and the quarterback’s pass to tight end Jayden Savoury was incomplete. Savoury would have been tackled well short of the end zone, anyway.

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The incorrect offsides call in the fourth quarter not directly factoring into the game’s outcome might be some consolation to Michigan State. But that probably won’t be a persuasive argument to Spartans players, coaches and fans.

Gash recovered that onside kick with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. Had MSU drove to tie the game, there likely would have been enough time to try and win the game in regulation. Instead, the Spartans fall to 2-4, 0-3 in the Big Ten, while Illinois escaped Spartan Stadium with its first conference win of the season.