Michigan escaped Western Michigan on Saturday night, but the bigger issue inside Schembechler Hall on Monday was simple: the Wolverines have Oklahoma coming to town, and they are carrying a lot of noise with them.
Kyle Whittingham spent most of his weekly press conference trying to steer the conversation away from the opener and toward Saturday’s matchup with the Sooners, who are making their first trip to Michigan. Instead, he kept getting dragged back to the chaos from the 12-7 win over WMU - the replay decision, the extra second, and the touchdown that turned a loss into a victory.
“We’ve got to put this behind us and don't lose sight of the fact you won the game,” Whittingham said. “You did win the game.
As frustrated as everybody feels, we have a big challenge this week. … It's in the rear view mirror and everything’s looking towards Oklahoma.”
The ending Saturday night was as bizarre as it gets. Western Michigan had the lead and had just knocked down a Hail Mary as time expired, with the Broncos celebrating what they thought was their first-ever win over Michigan and first-ever win over a top-25 team. Then Big Ten officials reviewed it, reset the clock to one second, and Michigan got one last snap.
That snap became a 47-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Underwood to J.J. Buchanan, with no time left.
“I definitely thought the game was over because there were zeroes on the clock,” Underwood said Saturday night.
NBC later released what it said was video of the discussion behind the clock change, and the whole thing only deepened the mystery around the replay process. Whittingham said he wasn’t familiar with how the clock was handled.
“Well, I guess they have this Hawkeye system - and I was unaware of that,” Whittingham said.
He also offered a measured defense of the call, saying the officials appeared to get it right after reviewing the play.
“As I looked, I knew it was close,” Whittingham said. “Ball sailing back, I glanced up at the clock and it was just ticking to zero inside.
And somebody had touched it. I didn't know if they touched it, but apparently it was a defender that had already established out-of-bounds position.
“So I just, you know, I'm assuming they got it right. They looked at it and their technology they have is very advanced, I guess, and I think everyone's fairly satisfied with the explanation. I think Western Michigan came out with a statement today, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna question this any more; they gave us a fairly transparent answer and we move forward.”
Even with the controversy hanging over the finish, Michigan’s performance was the bigger concern. The Wolverines were a 27-point favorite at home and still needed every bit of that strange ending to survive.
Underwood, the former No. 1 overall recruit, finished 12 of 22 for 147 yards and ran for 47 more yards, while accounting for both Michigan touchdowns. But the offense never found any rhythm. Michigan finished with just 106 rushing yards, averaged 4.2 yards per carry, committed nine penalties for 80 yards, lost three turnovers - including two by Underwood - and held the ball for just under 20 minutes.
“I’m not blaming anybody,” Whittingham said, “but I think Western deserves a lot of credit because they did a nice job with their structures on defense. They didn’t do anything different from what we saw on tape last year, so nothing that caught us by surprise.
“I don’t want to negate or downplay Western Michigan because they had a terrific game plan. They played well.
They played outstanding. … Played their game plans to the utmost, and so they're a good football team.
I would guess they're favorites to win the MAC, and so forth. But still, no excuse for how we played.
“But certainly, one that we'll never forget. It was just as dramatic of an ending as you could have possibly had.”
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