Michigan’s Hail Mary Win Over Western Michigan Mired in Controversy After Officials’ Clock Decision

With just seven seconds left in the game and Michigan moments away from the unthinkable—a loss to Western Michigan at the Big House—Bryce Underwood let one fly from the Broncos 47-yard line.

The ball sailed through the end zone, and after the clock struck 0:00, junior safety Micah Davis knocked it down in behind the end zone. The celebration began for arguably the biggest win in program history, and the biggest upset of the young 2026 season.

If Western Michigan’s win was unthinkable, what happened next was even moreso.

Officials reviewed the final play, and despite all visual evidence provided by NBC, put one more second on the clock. Underwood uncorked one last Hail Mary, and this time his prayers were answered as JJ Buchanan played the Richard Rodgers to his Aaron Rodgers, boxing out defenders and hauling in the pass in the front of the end zone to seal a 13–12 win.

Terry McAulay: "The ball isn't even close to touching a player when it goes to zero... Their Hawk-Eye system apparently had a different sync... I don't see how that happened, assuming our clock is correct... The ball is clearly still in the air when the clock goes to zero..." https://t.co/Krz3Dg5HTF pic.twitter.com/IcMjvHYaUo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 6, 2026

Wolverines fans stormed the field, in what has to be a first for a ranked Big Ten team beating a MAC foe, as the broadcast team of Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, Kathryn Tappen and rules analyst Terry McAuley struggled to explain what had just transpired. According to McAuley, NBC’s display clock is synced to the official game clock, injecting further confusion into the officials’ decision.

“Our producer, and he tells us that our in-set clock is in sync, is the actual the stadium clock,” said McAuley. “The ball isn’t even close to touching a player when it goes to zero. Now, their Hawkeye system apparently either had a different sync or whatever, and they came up with one second when it touched the players. I don’t see how that happened, assuming our clock is correct. It is clearly not touching a player. The ball is clearly still in the air when the clock goes to zero on our screen.

“So the Big Ten’s going to have to tell a lot of us, how did they get to one second on this play?”

Eagle responded the way that most of us watching at home certainly did: “Wow.”

The play was immediately evocative of the 2009 Big 12 championship game between Texas and Nebraska. Up 12–10, the Huskers forced a throw out of bounds by Colt McCoy that appeared to end the game. Instead, officials added a second to the game, giving the Longhorns time to hit a game-winning 46-yard field goal.

The final score: the same as today’s game at the Big House, 13–12.

Hours after the game, the Big Ten released a statement and video of the review process

“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 league’s statement reads. “As shown in the provided video of what was viewed during the replay process, a side-by-side view of the play and the game clock, using a direct show of the game clock in the stadium, was used to determine the final ruling.”

The Big Ten added that prior to the game, “all boardcast 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.”

A statement regarding the results of tonight's game between Michigan and Western Michigan. pic.twitter.com/DzJVN2ZLTc
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) September 6, 2026

Without the context of the NBC broadcast, the replay video is convincing—but ultimately the Big Ten’s explanation doesn’t explain why the synced clock on the NBC broadcast pretty clearly hitsw 0:00 before Davis deflected the ball, even if he was out of bounds.

Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor takes the high road after the game

During his post-game press conference, Taylor said he had not yet seen a replay of the play, and was complimentary of the officiating crew, noting that the Broncos had been on the other side of replay reviews throughout the game.

“So I have not seen the clip,” he said. “Several people mentioned it to me that the game was over. I think, one, our commissioner has already reached out, normally he handles those types of situations and reviews. I thought the crew tonight did a really nice job handling multiple close calls and review situations. We had several where the spot was questioned and reviewed and those calls went our way and the review went our way. So listen, I’ll let our commissioner and those guys handle it.

“At the end of the day, you don’t always control those situations, is there a second left on the clock? We talk a lot about respond, regardless of what the circumstances are. We can’t control if there’s a second left on the clock or not.”

Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor on the final play of tonight’s game: pic.twitter.com/WJEBAGHaG8
— Drew Lenard (@drew_lenardd) September 6, 2026

From there, Taylor said that he didn’t fret about the extra chance given to Michigan, because of how well his team defended the first Hail Mary. The second attempt, however, was a much different look—a heave to the front of the end zone rather than the back. Taylor called it a teachable moment for his defense.

“We went out the first time, we defended perfectly, the Hail Mary situation. I thought our guys did an excellent job. I know when I looked up at the clock, it was past zeroes before we touched it. I knew that they would review it, it was the last play of the game, and because we defended it so well, wasn’t worried or concerned about our guys going out and defended it a second time.

“Unfortunately we did not defend it as well the second time. A little bit different—the first time he threw it towards the back of the goal line and out of bounds. The second attempt he threw it to the front of the goal line and the receiver went up and made a nice play and get it into the end zone. And I think that was a good lesson for our defense, we can’t just box out the back of the end zone, we’ve got to make sure to cover them up at the front pylon as well. So we’ll learn from that and grow.”

It was a very classy response given the gravity of the situation. Now, we wait to hear from the Big Ten.

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