MADISON, Wis. – As he fell to the Ryan Field grass following a second-quarter interception, Wisconsin cornerback Caesar Williams knew he had given his offense prime field position to take the lead.

“My mom, she’s my biggest fan,” Williams said. “I see her in the stands, I blew her a couple kisses because of the excitement.”

That joy quickly evaporated when the referee turned his microphone on to announce the penalty: pass interference, defense, No.21.

Originally thinking the penalty was on Northwestern receiver Ramaud Chiaokhaio-Bowman, Williams and the other defensive backs could only throw up their hands.

“Maybe refs aren’t used to seeing perfect reps,” Williams said, “so they throw the flag.”

Williams smiled over Zoom when he commented, but there has been a clear sense of frustration from the Wisconsin defensive backs who felt cheated to a degree by an officiating crew that whistled them for four defensive pass interference penalties during Saturday’s 17-7 loss at Northwestern.

Two came on Northwestern’s opening drive. On first-and-10 from the UW 15, NU quarterback Peyton Ramsey threw a fade pass into the end zone for receiver John Raine. Raine appeared out of position on the throw and stopped his route, causing Wisconsin safety Scott Nelson, who was in pursuit, to run into him. Raine appeared to sell the contact by falling to the turf.

Getting a first down on the 2-yard line, Wisconsin stopped a run on first down, stopped Ramsey for a four-yard loss on second down and appeared to get out of harm’s way when cornerback Rashad Wildgoose appeared to cleanly break up a third-down fade pass intended for Raine in the end zone. However, a late-throw flag from the back judge gave Northwestern a fresh set of downs, and the Cats scored on the next play.

“I know what (Defensive Coordinator Jim) Leonhard is teaching (our defensive backs),” head coach Paul Chryst said. “We’re going to teach to play within the rules. We’ve never done that here, and (we) want them to be confident in their technique and playing with the rules. There will be times where something gets called. If you are playing within the rules, you can’t let that call get to you, and that’s easier said than done.”

While the first two calls could be up for debate, Williams’ flag was simply a miss. Williams had inside position and was in a prime position to intercept the underthrown pass. Replays showed the only substantial contact was Bowman grabbing Williams by the shoulder pad and beginning to pull him down to the turf with him.

“At times it felt like the ref maybe had purple underneath his black and white shirts,” Williams said. “That game, I don’t think the calls were as fair as they should have been.”

Safety Eric Burrell was whistled for Wisconsin’s final defensive pass interference call in the fourth quarter that appeared to be just.

After not getting penalized in the first two games, Wisconsin’s secondary was penalized 44 yards for its four penalties.

“You got to play the game,” Leonhard said. “At times you have to adjust. The biggest thing with all those, from emphasis of officials is finding a way to play the football. Find a way to get your eyes back, play the football and in my opinion, they were doing that. You can’t get gun shy playing this position.”

If things go as scheduled, Williams and his fellow defensive backs will get an opportunity for redemption against an Indiana offense that has a bevy of talented receivers. Wide receiver Ty Fryfogle is averaging 19.8 yards per catch and a touchdown every 4.7 catches (7 touchdowns on 33 receptions). Fellow receiver Whop Philyor averages 11.5 yards per catch and has two scores.

Indiana is third in the Big Ten in scoring at 34.2 points per game and lead the conference in 60-yard passing plays (4, T-4th nationally), 50-yarders (tied with 6, T-9th) and 30-yarders (12, T-35th), rank second in 40-yarders (6, T-40th).

Even with a new quarterback under center in Jack Tuttle, the Hoosiers are likely not going to be shy about challenging Wisconsin’s corners down the field.

“I don’t think penalties will stop our aggressiveness or change our technique or how we play down the field,” Williams said. “To see how excited Coach Leonhard was about us making plays down the field and the calls being what they were, he eggs us on. He wants us to go harder. He doesn’t see them as pass interference calls and neither do the defense, but it’s football. I think you learn from it and keep going.

“It is a hard job, but I don’t think a flag should hinder a defensive backs confidence and what they do.”