Michigan may have breathed a sigh of relief after Saturday’s miracle win over Western Michigan, but the Wolverines won’t escape the controversy of the finish.
The game appeared to be over when Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood threw the ball through the back of the end zone on a Hail Mary pass attempt, but officials reviewed and determined there was 1 second left on the clock.
Big Ten Officials Face Mounting Scrutiny After Michigan Win
Underwood connected on a game-winning Hail Mary on his second attempt, giving Michigan a 13-12 win — but also leading to plenty of pushback. One national columnist accused Big Ten officials of “rigging” the outcome to benefit the Wolverines.
In a column published not long after the controversial finish, USA Today’s Matt Hayes accused Big Ten officials of intentionally giving Michigan another chance to win, even though it appeared to many that the game ended.
“I’m pretty sure we all just witnessed Big Ten officials rig a game for a conference team,” Hayes wrote. “Michigan lost to Western Michigan. The game was over. Big Ten officials then decided to add one second to the game clock because, well, none of us really know.”
Hayes suggested there was too much at stake for Michigan — head coach Kyle Wittingham’s first game on the sidelines and Underwood with his big-money NIL under center — for the Big Ten to allow them to lose to a 27.5-point underdog.
“And the Big Ten just can’t have that, people,” Hayes wrote. “Can’t have the conference that has won the past three national titles, that has cruised by the SEC in the my-conference-is better-than-yours argument, losing at home to something called Western Michigan.”
Criticism Over Final Call Growing
Many analysts agreed that the clock on the second-to-last Hail Mary pass attempt hit zero well before it touched a Western Michigan defender.
NBC rules expert Terry McAulay said he could not understand what officials saw to give Michigan an extra play.
“The ball isn’t even close to touching the player when it goes to zero,” he said, via The Athletic. “Now their system, their Hawk-Eye system, apparently either had a different sync or whatever and they came up with one second when it touched the player. I don’t see how that happened, assuming our clock is correct. It is clearly not touching the player; the ball is clearly still in the air when the clock goes to zero on our screen. So the Big Ten is going to have to tell a lot of us how did they get to one second on this play.”
The Big Ten had not yet commented in the 90 minutes after the game ended, but Michigan reporters said the conference was planning to release a statement on the game.
Big Ten Accused of ‘Rigging’ Michigan’s Controversial Win Over WMU