Western Michigan appealing last-second Hail Mary loss to Michigan

The Mid-American Conference (MAC) formally asked the NCAA to overturn the result of Saturday’s Michigan vs. Western Michigan football game, which ended on a last-second Hail Mary touchdown pass, handing the Wolverines a victory after the officials put a second back on the clock.

In a statement on Tuesday, MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said it was clear to him “replay protocol was not properly followed in determining whether time remained on the game clock.”

“The established replay protocol requires that the game clock displayed on the program feed be used in determining whether time remained. Instead, the Big Ten Conference replay crew relied upon the clock feed embedded within its replay system,” Steinbrecher said. “As a result, one second was placed back on the game clock and an additional play was awarded.”

Saturday’s game appeared finished after Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood heaved a last-second throw to the back of the end zone, which fell incomplete as time expired with Western Michigan winning 12-7.

However, the Big Ten officiating crew in Ann Arbor determined a Western Michigan defensive player touched the ball while out of bounds with one second remaining.

The officials put a second back on the clock, and Michigan pulled off a stunning Hail Mary to win 13-12.

“As a result, the Mid-American Conference has submitted formal appeals to the NCAA FBS Oversight Committee and the College Football Playoff,” Steinbrecher said.

The conference requested that those bodies recognize Western Michigan “as the actual winner of the game for purposes of their respective rankings, evaluations and selection deliberations, and take such other corrective action as may be within their authority.”

Such a request is extremely rare, and The Hill has reached out to the NCAA for comment.

Michigan fell out of the AP Top 25 poll this week following the narrow victory against its in-state foe. The Wolverines were ranked 16th in the poll to open the season.