The Big House Boondoggle

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” says school who consistently gets in trouble for breaking the rules

Last Saturday, football fans rejoiced as the first full Saturday slate of the college football season got underway. In Ann Arbor, longtime Utah frontman and now first year UM head coach Kyle Whittingham took the field with his 16th ranked Wolverines facing the pride of the MAC in the Western Michigan Broncos. What should have been a show of force against a lesser Group of Six opponent turned into a nightmare scenario for the hosts, immediately followed by elation during one of the more absurd scenes in college football since Joe Starkey exclaimed, “The band is out on the field!”

Trailing the Broncos 12-6 with just seconds remaining, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood heaved a pass toward the end zone hoping for a miracle, only to feel the shock of defeat as his pass bounced on the ground with 0:00 on the stadium clock. The broadcast clock, provided by host NBC Sports, also showed the game had ended with the clock expiring. But wait! Western Michigan’s historic upset was to be put on hold, as the referees, after much discussion, announced that there was one second remaining due to the ball touching a defender’s hands who had jumped from an out of bounds position. And so we would all see one more play despite TV replays showing, again, triple zeroes on the clock. Ultimately, it was a “side-by-side view of the play and the game clock, using a direct shot of the game clock in the stadium” that felled the Broncos’ hopes for a quick exit. Upon the restart, Underwood’s second attempt would land in the hands of wide receiver JJ Buchanan and seal the game for the Wolverines, with their fans very embarrassingly storming the field to celebrate a win against an opponent they’ve never lost to.

Following the game, social media exploded with criticism and outrage at the result, at the referees, at Michigan, at the B1G… you name it. Whittingham, wisely, chose to play dumb, clipped in articles with a simple, “I was pretty sure there was one second left.” MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, after originally thanking the B1G for “its prompt response” in sending him an explanation of the result, has now submitted formal appeals to the College Football Playoff and NCAA FBS Oversight Committee to be recognized as the winner of the game due to a lack of following replay protocol. While I’m not sure the CFP can even do that, they can certainly vacate the win… just saying.

Since the weekend, the NCAA has developed new guidance for establishing “a standard timing protocol that ensures consistency in the administration of all college football games.” Ironically, if this guidance would have been implemented prior to Saturday, Western Michigan would currently be sitting at 1-0 in the standings. Instead, Michigan will enter Saturday 1-0 but stripped of a Top 25 ranking. 

In today’s day and age, there’s simply too much technology involved in games for this to happen. Hell, at the time of writing this, the NFL season opener is touting how Microsoft is using more AI to maximize the efficiency of teams. And yet, we’re looking at all sorts of clocks and still determining they’re wrong. The game also brings up a larger question about the validity of the outcome, and how it could have been influenced, with how inextricably tied football games and gambling platforms have become. Is my Oklahoma -5.5 play a trap this weekend??