I still can’t believe what happened at the end of Michigan-Western Michigan.
Western Michigan got screwed.
There’s really no other way I can describe watching that ending.
The Broncos went into the Big House as massive underdogs, held No. 16 Michigan to seven points for essentially the entire game and took a 12-7 lead with 35 seconds remaining.
Michigan got one final opportunity.
Bryce Underwood launched a Hail Mary toward the end zone.
It didn’t work.
The clock hit 0:00. The ball was still in the air. Game over.
At least that’s what literally everyone watching the NBC broadcast thought. Western Michigan started celebrating. Even Underwood later admitted he thought the game was over because he saw zeroes on the clock.
Then came one of the strangest replay reviews I’ve ever seen.
Officials somehow determined Western Michigan defender Micah Davis touched the football while established out of bounds with one second remaining, meaning the play was dead at that moment.
Michigan was given another play.
And you already know what happened.
Underwood threw another Hail Mary and JJ Buchanan caught it for a 47-yard touchdown.
Michigan won 13-12.
Absolutely ridiculous.
The Big Ten has since defended the decision, saying its replay cameras were synchronized before the game and that its direct view of the stadium clock showed one second remaining when Davis touched the football. The MAC later accepted that explanation after receiving video and audio from the Big Ten.
There’s just one massive problem.
That’s not what millions of people watching the game saw.
NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay said the network’s clock was synced with the stadium clock and pointed out that the football appeared to still be in the air when it reached 0:00.
McAulay couldn’t explain how the replay system found another second, saying the Big Ten would have to explain where it came from.
That’s why this ending feels so wrong.
Western Michigan didn’t lose because it missed a tackle.
It didn’t lose because it turned the ball over.
It didn’t even lose because Michigan completed its original last-second Hail Mary.
Western Michigan stopped Michigan on what appeared to be the final play of the game.
Then the officials essentially told everyone, actually, Michigan gets another one.
And of course they scored.
Maybe the Big Ten’s replay technology technically found something the television broadcast couldn’t.
Maybe there really was one second remaining.
But when the broadcast clock hits zero with the ball visibly still in the air, the rules analyst can’t understand the decision and even Michigan’s quarterback thinks the game is over, you can’t blame Western Michigan for feeling robbed.
The Broncos were about to secure their first-ever victory over an AP top-20 opponent. Instead, they walked off the field with a loss.
Michigan will officially be 1-0.
Western Michigan will officially be 0-1.
But I don’t care how many explanations the Big Ten releases.
Western Michigan deserved to walk out of the Big House with that win.
