Michigan may have won the game, but the argument over whether the Wolverines should have been allowed to run the winning play is sure to raise a stink.
No. 16 Michigan escaped Western Michigan 13-12 Saturday night after officials restored one second following an apparent game-ending incompletion. Bryce Underwood then found JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard Hail Mary touchdown, turning a Broncos celebration into a stunned Big House eruption and immediately putting the clock decision under a microscope.
J.J. Watt Leads NFL Reaction to Michigan’s Extra Second
Television replays showed the clock hit zero before Underwood’s first Hail Mary reached a Western Michigan defender. Officials nevertheless ruled one second remained, giving Michigan the snap that decided the game.
Former NFL star J.J. Watt did not need a lengthy rules seminar to explain his view. “Western Michigan got hosed. Wow,” Watt wrote in his post.
Western Michigan got hosed.
Wow.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 6, 2026
Former NFL linebacker Will Compton found a different way to twist the knife, joking about an offense that needed every last tick to survive a 27.5-point underdog. “Smart by Michigan not to put a lot of offense on film for Oklahoma next week,” Compton wrote in his X post.
Smart by Michigan not to put a lot of offense on film for Oklahoma next week
— Will Compton (@_willcompton) September 6, 2026
That sarcasm landed because Michigan had spent most of the night flirting with a disastrous opener.
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The defending MAC champions were also chasing their first victory over an AP top-20 opponent since joining major college football in 1962, making the reversal especially brutal for the Broncos.
Western Michigan forced three turnovers, kicked four field goals, and went ahead 12-7 with 35 seconds remaining. Underwood had already thrown an interception and lost a late fumble before getting one final drive, then one highly disputed extra snap.
Bryce Underwood’s Miracle Does Not Erase the Questions
The ending also arrived after an uneven true freshman season left Underwood with something to prove. PFN’s current QB rankings place the Michigan sophomore No. 54 among 138 FBS starters. His 78.0 QB Impact score from 2025 ranked 79th among 190 qualifying quarterbacks, with a 74.1 passing grade, 78.6 rushing grade and 74.3 clutch grade.
On the final snap, none of those numbers mattered.
Underwood kept the ball in play, Buchanan came down with it in the end zone, and Michigan moved to 1-0 in Kyle Whittingham’s debut. Western Michigan, meanwhile, was left to process a defeat after its players had already begun celebrating what appeared to be a historic upset.
Even the NBA world noticed. Cleveland Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell wrote, “The clock was at 0 dawg!!” in his post.
The clock was at 0 dawg!!
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) September 6, 2026
The record will show Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12. The reaction from Watt and others made it clear that the extra second will be remembered just as much as the touchdown heard around the college football world.
