{
  "id": 13685468,
  "title": "Ref in MSU onside kick mess has history of controversial calls",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/ref-in-msu-onside-kick-mess-has-history-of-controversial-calls-13685468",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-11T09:08:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ref-msu-onside-kick-mess-090831905.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Umpire Keith Vaverchak sparked controversy with his decision on an onside kick in a Michigan State football game against Illinois. The freshman cornerback, Samson Gash, caught the kick along the Illini sideline, but Vaverchak ruled him offsides. Video replays contradicted the call, with former official Mike Pereira stating Gash was not offsides. The Big Ten reviewed the play but made conflicting calls, first ruling Gash out of bounds for a kickoff penalty, then changing the call to allow Michigan State to rekick. Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald was frustrated by the confusion, while Illinois coach Bret Bielema expressed confusion as well. This is not the first time Vaverchak has had a controversial call; in 2024, he called Minnesota's Matt Kingsbury offsides on an onside kick, but the Big Ten later ruled the play too tight to flag. Vaverchak has also been involved in a controversy in Michigan this year, where he was part of the officiating crew during the U-M/WMU game.",
  "summary": "The referee who threw the flag on an onside kick recovery by Michigan State football Saturday has been under the microscope before for a similar call.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "Ref in MSU onside kick mess has history of controversial calls",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/ref-in-msu-onside-kick-mess-has-history-of-controversial-calls",
        "published": "2026-10-11T09:08:31.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}