On Saturday night, most of the college football world was glued to their televisions as Michigan narrowly defeated Western Michigan. The victory was secured when officials added one second to the clock in the fourth quarter after it seemed the game had ended. Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood threw a game-winning Hail Mary pass, leading to a final score of 13-12. However, one person who missed witnessing this moment live was Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who had just led the Longhorns to a win over Texas State.
Sarkisian Was Shocked That Michigan Fans Stormed the Field
While most people were shocked that the officials put one second left on the clock, Sarkisian was more surprised that Michigan fans rushed the field after the game.
“I didn’t see the Michigan play in real time. I saw the aftermath, you know, watching you know different sports shows and reading about it, and I was curious, and I still don’t understand or get the final ruling of it all,” Sarkisian said Monday, via Texas On SI’s Matt Galatzan. “Unfortunate for Western Michigan to play its tail off the way they did in the loss like that. Ive lost a game that way before on a Hail Mary, and that definitely sucks. But that’s why you play 60 minutes. I don’t know the exact ruling on the timing. I know there was a player out of bounds who touched the ball first.”
“Is there one second? Is there not? The clock in the stadium. The clock back at the Big 10, so there’s a lot of moving parts that I’m not going to pretend to know everything about. But wow, what a finish! You know, my biggest thing was, like, I was shocked they stormed the field.”
Usually, fans will storm the field when their team pulls off a home upset, but that wasn’t the case with Michigan and Western Michigan.
Michigan was a 27.5-point favorite heading into the game, and for the Wolverines to come so close to losing is embarrassing.
Bryce Underwood Could Be Close to Losing His Job
One reason Michigan almost lost was poor play from quarterback Bryce Underwood, who completed 12 of 22 passes, threw for 170 yards, and threw one interception.
Underwood didn’t show any signs of improvement from his freshman year last year, and head coach Kyle Whittingham is committed to Underwood as the starter for now, but hasn’t closed the door on benching him.
“He’s our QB right now,” Whittingham said on Monday. “And it’s not something that’s infinite. At some point, we’ve got to turn a corner and we’ve got to see improvement, as we do with a lot of stuff; you’ve got to see improvement out of the coaches, so it’s not just on Bryce. And it’s not just Bryce’s job that is not absolutely set in concrete. You’ve got to perform week in and week out and become somebody that is playing at a level we can win with.”
Underwood will need to bring his A game on Saturday because Michigan will face one of the best teams in the country in Oklahoma.
Texas HC Steve Sarkisian Delivers Bold Take on Feel of Michigan’s ‘Controversial’ Win Over Western Michigan