Michigan-Western Michigan: Broncos robbed of win after Hail Mary controversy

No. 16 Michigan beat Western Michigan 13-12 on a Hail Mary pass on the game’s final play Saturday night after the officiating crew put one second back on the clock. JJ Buchanan reeled in the 47-yard bomb from Bryce Underwood to lift the Wolverines to a controversial victory that left college football buzzing over the following question.

“As I watched the first Hail Mary and the ball sailed out of the back of the end zone, I glanced at the clock, and I was pretty sure there was one second left,” Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham said. “That, obviously, is not up to me. The refs went to replay, and they confirmed it and gave us one more opportunity.”

Should the play have ever happened?

The Broncos appeared to have secured a historic upset just moments earlier when a prior Hail Mary attempt from Underwood sailed out of the back of the end zone with the clock on the NBC television broadcast showing 0:00 when the play ended. However, the officiating crew went to the monitor and determined that one second remained.

A historic throw and catch ensued as Michigan avoided what would have been a catastrophic beginning to the Kyle Whittingham era. The outcome left Western Michigan distraught and left the Big Ten officiating crew with questions to answer about a confounding call that appeared to have no justification in the moment.

According to a statement released by the Big Ten after the game, officials got the call right: it was determined that Western Michigan defender Micah Davis made contact with the ball while out of bounds with one second remaining.

“Following video review, it was determined Western Michigan’s #18 started his jump from an established out-of-bounds position (left foot) and made contact with the ball with one second remaining on the clock,” the statement read. “As shown in the provided video of what was viewed during the replay process, a side-by-side view of the play and the game clock, using a direct shot of the game clock in the stadium, was used to determine the final ruling.

“Eighty-five minutes prior to the game, all broadcast cameras used for the replay system, including the camera on the game clock, are synced using a strobe system to ensure all cameras are aligned.”

Watching the play in real time, it’s even more confounding how a second was placed back on the clock. Western Michigan’s sideline had already begun emptying onto the field in celebration and chants of “fire Kyle” could be heard in the background.

The review felt like nothing more than than a crew checking the box. But the crew came back with a monumental decision, opening the door for Michigan to escape.

After the initial mayhem, NBC went to rules analyst Terry McAulay, who relayed that the broadcast and stadium clocks were, in fact, in sync. Given that fact, he struggled to explain what the officiating crew may have seen that led them to place a second back on the clock.

“The ball isn’t even close to touching a player when it goes to zero,” McAulay said on the NBC broadcast. “Their system, their hawkeye system, apparently either had a different sync or whatever, and they came up with one second when it touched a player. I don’t see that happen. Assuming our clock is correct, it is clearly not touching a player. The ball is clearly still in the air when the clock goes to zero on our screen. The Big Ten is going to have to tell a lot of us how did they get to one second on this play.”

WMU coach handles saga graciously 

Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor said in his postgame press conference that he believed MAC leadership had alread reached out — presumably to the Big Ten — for clarification on the call.

“I know when I looked up at the clock, it was past zeroes before we touched it,” Taylor said. “I knew that they would review it. It’s the last play of the game. And because we defended it so well, I wasn’t worried or concerned about our guys going out and defending it a second time. Unfortunately, we did not defend it as well the second time.”

President seeks review

In an unorthodox move, Western Michigan president Russ Kavalhuna addressed the media after the game, saying the school we’ll work through official channels to seek a review of the game’s ending.

“We’ll talk to our commissioner and we’ll try to see if there’s anything that we can ask for a review on,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t know if we can. I just want everyone to know that this football team deserves a second look, if that’s possible.”