The ending at Michigan was chaotic enough on its own. The Big Ten’s explanation only made it feel even more surreal.
What looked, to everyone watching, like a finished game turned into a 13-12 Michigan win over Western Michigan after a replay review put one second back on the clock. That extra tick gave Bryce Underwood the chance to launch a Hail Mary, and JJ Buchanan went up to snag it, rescuing the Wolverines from what had been sitting there as one of the ugliest losses in program history.
About 90 minutes after the finish, the Big Ten issued a statement laying out why the second was restored.
“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 conference said.
The league added that “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.”
It also noted that “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.”
And the Big Ten pointed to NCAA Football rule 4-2-3-a: “A ball not in player control, other than a kick that scores a field goal, is out of bounds when it touches the ground, a player, a game official or anything else that is out-of-bound, or that is on or outside a boundary line.” and thus the clock is stopped.”
That explanation did little to calm the confusion around the finish, because the play had already looked over to just about everybody outside the replay booth.
The reaction was immediate, with Western Michigan fans accusing the officials of cheating for Michigan after the ruling changed from the game being over to one second remaining.
Now the debate gets to linger. It will too, considering how much a win like this could matter if Michigan keeps building and finds itself in the playoff conversation later this season.
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