Michigan’s upset of Oklahoma didn’t just shake up the college football polls. It reached all the way into an NFL locker room, where Baker Mayfield ended up on the wrong end of a very public joke from Todd Bowles.
The Wolverines, now ranked No. 19, moved to 2-0 after taking down then-No. 11 Oklahoma at home on Saturday, Sept.
- That result set off the kind of good-natured cross-sport trolling that only comes when a college loss has a personal edge.
For Bowles, it did: his son, Troy, plays for Michigan, and the Wolverines were beating Mayfield’s alma mater.
Mayfield showed up at Wednesday’s press conference wearing a tight Michigan No. 18 tank top, while Bowles sang the Wolverines’ fight song and shouted, “Let’s Go Blue” to twist the knife a little more.
“That hurts real bad,” said Mayfield. “It’s been a rough couple of days.
Damn Todd. Todd’s son was on the winning side of it, and the Sooners were not, so, therefore, I squeezed into this little tank top.”
Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy in 2017 during his final season at Oklahoma, so the jab landed exactly where Bowles wanted it to.
Troy Bowles, meanwhile, wears No. 18 as a linebacker for Michigan.
Mayfield and the Buccaneers are trying to rebound from a season-opening loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and will next face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Michigan’s next step comes Saturday, Sept. 20, when it hosts UTEP at the Big House. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. in Ann Arbor.
In Other News...
Michigan Win Now Comes With An Official Controversy
Michigans latest win has taken on an awkward afterlife, with the NCAAs FBS oversight committee concluding that Western Michigan should have been credited with the victory because the officiating crew did not properly follow instant replay protocols. Even so, the result on the field will stay put in the record book, leaving Michigan with a win that now comes with a formal asterisk of sorts, even if not an official one.
The committee said it does not have the authority to overturn the game, but it also acknowledged the outcome would have been different had the replay procedures been handled correctly. For Michigan, that means the discussion around this game is no longer about how it was won, but whether the final outcome can be separated from a clear officiating failure that changed the way the finish is being viewed. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Hail Mary Controversy Now Has An NCAA Admission
The final minutes of Michigans win over Western Michigan have taken on a life of their own, and now the NCAA has officially weighed in on the controversy. The FBS Oversight Committee acknowledged that instant replay protocols were not followed correctly on the decisive sequence, a rare admission that the game was handled improperly in a way that affected the outcome. Still, the ruling stops short of rewriting the record, because NCAA bylaws do not allow the result to be changed after the fact.
For Michigan, that means the victory remains on the books even as the debate around the final play lingers. The Mid-American Conference had pushed for Western Michigan to be recognized as the winner for ranking purposes, but there will be no official switch in the standings or the history books. Whats left is an awkward ending for everyone involved, with the governing body confirming the mistake while also making clear that the score, however controversial, is not going anywhere. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Defense Is Raising A Bigger Jay Hill Question
Through two games, Michigans defense has looked faster, cleaner and far more organized than many expected under new defensive coordinator Jay Hill. The unit has allowed only one touchdown, and the early returns have been especially encouraging in the places Michigan needed them most, with the linebackers and secondary both showing noticeable improvement while key opposing offenses have been kept in check.
That kind of start has done more than quiet any skepticism about the scheme itself. It has also put a brighter spotlight on Hill, whose impact has drawn praise from respected coaches such as Brent Venables and Kyle Whittingham, and it leaves Michigan in an interesting place as the season moves forward: if the defense keeps rising, the bigger question may not be whether Hill can stabilize the group, but how quickly his influence can reshape what this unit is capable of becoming. [Read more 🡒]