One second, one 47-yard throw, one very long night for Western Michigan
The Big Ten does not usually explain itself in public on a Saturday night. It did this time. Hours earlier, No. 16 Michigan had survived Western Michigan 13-12 on a play that should never have happened.
Bryce Underwood’s Hail Mary had carried out the back of the end zone. The officials waved the game off. Then came the review, and with it one second back on the clock. Michigan got another snap. Underwood hit JJ Buchanan for 47 yards. Wolverines win.
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The conference put the replay booth on tape
None of the replay-center discussion made the broadcast. The Big Ten released the audio anyway, together with the footage the crew reviewed. In it, Western Michigan safety Micah Davis touches the ball while standing out of bounds, and the clock still reads one second.
According to the statement, the ruling came from a side-by-side comparison of the play and a direct feed from the stadium clock.
Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher weighed in too. He said he had asked the Big Ten for an explanation on Western Michigan’s behalf, was satisfied with what came back, praised his own team and congratulated Michigan.
Lance Taylor talked before he had seen it
Nobody from the officiating crew spoke to reporters afterward. Lance Taylor did, and at that point he still had not watched the play back. People around him had already told him the game was over.
His line was simple: he cannot control what stays on a clock, and his defense played the first Hail Mary exactly right. As far as he could tell, the clock hit zero before anyone touched the ball.
Kyle Whittingham, in his first game on the Michigan sideline, had less to celebrate than the result suggests. His team scored on the opening drive and on the last play. In between there was almost nothing. Thirteen points from a No. 16 team against Western Michigan is not a number that goes away quietly.
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