Western Michigan's iconic win over Michigan evaporates in one highly controversial second

Ann Arbor — It is never a normal day in college athletics when the university president partakes in the postgame press conference. 

And there sat WMU’s Dr. Russ Kavalhuna, in the bowels of Michigan Stadium, ready to address the fact that, by every appearance, Western Michigan had just been robbed of a win against Michigan. 

“I just want folks who care about college football and care about Bronco Nation, and the University of Michigan, we’ll try to figure out if the end of the game was anything different than what we saw,” Kavalhuna said. 

Western Michigan (0-1) leaves Ann Arbor with a bad taste in its mouth. Not because it lost. Not because it played poorly, or because the Broncos failed to follow a plan. No, in fact, WMU did almost everything it wanted to on Saturday night against Michigan (1-0). It followed the plan. It pushed the Wolverines around on offense, hemmed Bryce Underwood and Co. in on defense and tilted the field in its favor on special teams. It was everything Taylor could’ve hoped for out of his team. 

It won them the game, seemingly, with the defense batting down a Wolverine Hail Mary attempt as time expired, nursing a 12-7 lead in front of a distraught crowd. The Broncos naturally ran out to celebrate what was the first win over Michigan in program history — or for any of the Michigan MAC teams. Western Michigan won the game

Then it hadn’t. 

The officials whistled the teams back to the sidelines, ready to review the clock to make sure the game was, truly, over. 

And based on every available public piece of information from the TV copy, to what NBC’s own rules analyst said — and rather definitively so — pointed to it obviously being over. The clock showed :00 just before the ball hit the arm of a leaping Western Michigan defender, which would render the play dead.

That game, it appeared, should’ve been over, but the official review resulted in one second being put back on the clock, then Underwood and Buchanan took care of the rest. 

And before the late hour of Saturday had even turned to Sunday’s early hours, before the Big Ten could release its own explanation, the machinations of accountability started turning. 

Taylor, after consoling his team and coaches, took a measured approach in his postgame comments. He extolled the effort of his team, complimented them for being the better team in myriad ways and spoke about how the performance on Saturday night is a basis for confidence in his team. 

He also said Western Michigan came up one play short. 

When asked about the second being added back on, Taylor said he had not seen any of the TV copy or the like, but did recount his on-field version of what happened. 

“I know when I looked up at the clock, it was past zeroes before we touched it. I knew they would review it, it was the last play of the game,” Taylor said, while pointing out his team defended one Hail Mary well, but didn’t do as good of a job on the second.

The Big Ten released a statement shortly before 1 a.m. on Sunday.

It stated that “following video review, it was determined Western Michigan’s No. 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. As shown in the provided video of what was viewed during the replay process, a side-by-side view of the play and game clock, using a direct shot of the game clock in the stadium, was used to determine the final ruling.” 

The Big Ten statement does not address why the clock on the scoreboard, which NBC also uses, showed something different in its video than what the TV broadcast showed, or if they had somehow become un-synced.

There was also a question of whether an additional second ran off the clock after Michigan spiked it prior, but the officials added it back on and the first Hail Mary play got snapped with :09 — there was no un-accounted for second.

The MAC also released a statement via commissioner Jon Steinbrecher.

"Upon the conclusion of the Western Michigan–Michigan football game, the Mid-American Conference and Western Michigan contacted the Big Ten office to seek clarification regarding the replay review and the placement of time back on the game clock," Steinbrecher said in the statement. "The Big Ten explained that the ball touched a player who was out of bounds before the clock reached 00:00, resulting in one additional play being awarded. The Big Ten subsequently provided video and audio of the replay, which confirmed the explanation provided to us.

"I commend Western Michigan for an outstanding effort and a well-played game, and I offer my congratulations to Michigan. I also appreciate the collaborative efforts of the Big Ten office and its prompt response in reviewing the play and providing the requested clarification."

Taylor intimated earlier that the leagues would be involved.

“I’ll let our commissioner and those guys handle it,” Taylor said. “At the end of the day, you don’t always control those situations, is there a second left on the clock. And we talk a lot about respond.”

Kavalhuna, who stepped back into the room with Taylor and the various dignitaries of WMU’s travel party, then made a brief statement and took a few questions. 

Kavalhuna, a Western Michigan alum who has worked around the state of Michigan before, shared that he is personally friends with Michigan’s outgoing president, Domenico Grasso. Kavalhuna said he texted Grasso, and he and the Broncos will be seeking some sort of explanation and/or accountability. 

In general, Kavalhuna didn’t have a specific plan, but a message that this wouldn’t just go idly by. 

“I just wanted everyone to know this football team deserves a second look, if that’s possible,” Kavalhuna said. 

Really, there wasn’t much that Kavalhuna, Taylor, or anyone could say. Nothing could change the outcome, whether or not it was rightly or wrongly adjudicated — which depends, really, on whether one finds the Big Ten to be credible. 

And nothing is going to change the fact that Western Michigan felt like it was robbed of an all-time win. 

“I’m sure I’ll watch the TV copy tonight,” Taylor said.