Western Michigan University believes it should have won Saturday’s football game against the University of Michigan, and the Mid-American Conference agrees, asking the NCAA and CFP to overturn the game’s results and recognize the Broncos as the winner.
According to The Athletic, replay review of a last-second play did not follow proper protocol, giving the Wolverines an extra second to complete a hail mary touchdown that the team should not have been given the opportunity to complete. Without that final play, Western Michigan would have beaten Michigan, 12 to seven.
The MAC appealed the outcome of the game, asking the NCAA to recognize Western Michigan as the winners, because video review shows that the clock ran out before Bryce Underwood’s failed pass in the end zone could be caught. The Broncos and the MAC argue that Michigan should not have been awarded one second on the clock and should not have had the opportunity to make its game-winning play.
However, the NCAA has said the game results will stand.
“NCAA football playing rules do not have a protocol for overturning the outcome of a game,” the NCAA said in a statement and added: “The Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee also does not have the authority to overturn the outcome of a game.”
The Big Ten also got involved. The conference agrees with the NCAA that the results will stand, saying the clock “showed one second remaining when the ball on the first Michigan pass was touched by WMU’s Micah Davis. Since Davis had just been out of bounds, the clock would stop on such contact.”
According to AP News, some major news networks, fans, and critics on the internet claim that the clock ran out well before Davis touched the ball.
“Recognizing the replay technology and available broadcast resources may vary among institutions, conferences, and game sites, it is necessary to establish a standard timing protocol that ensures consistency in the administration of all college football games,” said an NCAA memo.
In the aftermath, the NCAA and Big Ten have cited discrepancies in the game clock, and NCAA secretary-rules editor Matt Young has approved a new entry to the case book. That new entry reads, “to be considered by the instant replay official, the game clock must be embedded in the instant replay’s program feed or the game clock graphic when accurately displayed as part of the broadcast feed.”
The replay technology used by Big Ten officials did rely on an embedded clock within replay footage. However, the particular angle and shot of footage that Big Ten officials reviewed was not shared during the game broadcast.
Despite the Big Ten’s claims, MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said this situation “broke established protocol” that program feeds use footage with the in-stadium game clock inserted, and that footage should be the “soul source of the replay decision.”
“Had the prescribed protocol been followed and the program-feed clock been used, no additional time would have been restored, no additional play would have been awarded and Western Michigan would have won the game 12–7,” Steinbrecher said.
