Sept. 5, 2026Updated Sept. 6, 2026, 1:53 a.m. ET
One of the final games of the first full Saturday of the 2026 college football season came with what will undoubtedly be one of the year’s most dramatic — and controversial — finishes.
With one second remaining and his team trailing by five, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood unleashed a 47-yard heave that ended up in the hands of JJ Buchanan to help the No. 16 Wolverines avoid a massive upset with a 13-12 victory against Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 5 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The fact the play even occurred will be the subject of intense debate.
The previous play, Underwood had another Hail Mary attempt, which went out of the back of the end zone as the clock at the stadium had no time remaining. Western Michigan coaches and players ran onto the field in celebration, thinking they had just notched a signature win against the state’s preeminent football program, but were sent back to the sideline by officials as they reviewed the play to make sure time had expired.
After a video review, they added one second back on the clock, giving Underwood just enough time to find the 6-foot-4 Buchanan in a crowd of players in the end zone.
Following the end of the game, NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay was confused by the decision to not declare the game over, though he acknowledged that the officials may be using a different video review system than what NBC had on hand.
“The ball is clearly still in the air when the clock goes to zero on our screen,” McAulay said. “The Big Ten’s going to have to tell a lot of us how they got to one second on this play.”
Michigan entered the game as a 27.5-point favorite. A win over the Wolverines would have been the first in the history of Western Michigan, which fell to 0-9 all-time against Michigan.
Broncos coach Lance Taylor took the high road when addressing the ending after the game.
“I thought that this crew tonight did a really nice job handling multiple close calls and review situations,” Taylor said. “We had several where the spot was questioned and reviewed, and those calls went our way, the review went our way. I’ll let the commissioner and those guys handle it.”
Even if the call is ruled to be incorrect and a mistake is admitted, the result can’t be overturned. Rule 1, Section 1, Article 3, paragraph b in the official NCAA football rulebook states that “When the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final.”
The Big Ten stood by the review in a statement released late Saturday night. Along with the statement, the league published a recording of the replay that officials reviewed before putting a second back on the clock. The video showed one second remaining on the clock when it was touched by Western Michigan’s Micah Davis.
“It was determined Western Michigan No. 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 conference said, citing a rule that stops the clock on such contact.
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