Patrick Mahomes has spent years making impossible finishes look almost routine. Michigan still found a way to produce one strange enough to get the Kansas City Chiefs superstar’s attention Saturday night.
No. 16 Michigan escaped Western Michigan 13-12 at the Big House on a literal last-second Hail Mary, but even that description skips the wildest part. The Wolverines only had the chance to run the winning play after officials restored one second to the clock following a review.
Michigan Gets a Second Chance at the Impossible
Western Michigan thought it had wrapped up the upset when Bryce Underwood’s first Hail Mary sailed out of bounds with no time left on the clock. However, officials stopped the celebrations for a review and restored one second, raising more than a few eyebrows.
Underwood made the extra snap hurt. He heaved another pass toward the end zone, where JJ Buchanan came down with a 47-yard touchdown that gave Michigan the 13-12 victory in Kyle Whittingham’s debut as head coach.
The game report noted that television replays showed the clock reaching zero before the first Hail Mary touched a Western Michigan defender. Officials still determined there was a second remaining, turning an apparent Broncos upset into one of the first surreal finishes of the 2026 season.
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Mahomes weighed in after the chaos with a three-word response in his X post, writing, “No way man 🤣🤣🤣.” It was a fittingly brief contribution to a finish that took considerably longer to sort out.
No way man 🤣🤣🤣
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) September 6, 2026
Bryce Underwood’s Miracle Masks a Messy Opener
The Broncos entered 2026 as defending MAC champions after finishing 10-4 last season, while Michigan entered Saturday having won each of the first eight meetings between the programs.
Underwood also entered his sophomore season with plenty still to prove. PFN’s QB Impact Rankings place him No. 54 among FBS starters. His 78.0 QB Impact score from 2025 ranked 79th among 190 qualifying quarterbacks, accompanied by a 74.1 passing grade, 78.6 rushing grade, and 74.3 clutch grade.
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Those developmental questions did not disappear because of one heave into the end zone.
Michigan’s offense struggled to put away a MAC opponent oddsmakers expected it to beat by nearly four touchdowns, leaving Underwood and the Wolverines needing football’s version of a lottery ticket just to reach 1-0.
They cashed it.
For Western Michigan, the margin could hardly have been more cruel. One review, one restored second, and one contested catch separated the Broncos from a massive road upset.
Mahomes has authored enough late-game chaos to recognize it when he sees it. And Michigan needed just one second to give him something worth reacting to.
