Western Michigan Should Protest Result Against Michigan Wolverines

Throughout my many years of watching sports, I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of missed calls; however, what occurred in Ann Arbor, Michigan might be the single worst injustice I have ever witnessed in my entire life.

Western Michigan was not afraid of its in-state power-conference nemesis. Led by 2025 MAC player of the year, Broc Lowry, the Broncos looked like they were going to pull off one of the greatest wins in the university's history. It wasn’t some fluke either; from start to finish WMU was just as good as the Wolverines, and Lowry himself completely outplayed the most expensive college football player in the country, Bryce Underwood.

With just nine seconds on the clock, Underwood threw up a Hail Mary that nobody could come down with, and zeroes were on the scoreboard. The game was over, and Western Michigan had pulled off the upset of the day. They went into the Big House and beat down a Michigan team in the first game of the Kyle Wittingham era. Then, a miracle second was added to the clock, JJ Buchanan reeled in the Hail Mary, and somehow, Michigan came away with the 1-point win.

Anyone with eyes saw that the game was over. Every replay shown during the game indicated the game was over, but apparently the secret clock, visible only to the officiating crew, showed a different time. The Big 10 would come out after the game and explain how they came to this conclusion, but even their video from inside the replay station made no sense.

Even worse, the statement they put out was beyond contradictory. They claimed their hidden clock was synced with the stadium clock, but that wasn’t true to anyone with eyes. Even worse, in the play before the first Hail Mary, the operators had to adjust the clock to 9 seconds, so everyone had to be in sync.

But maybe the biggest coward from the whole night was the MAC Conference. The Big 10 pays your worst teams to get beat up for millions. That money is used to keep every other sport in the conference afloat, but what could really help earn more money is winning big games or qualifying for the playoffs. A win like that immediately catapults Western Michigan to the front of the pack for the final spot in the playoffs. It’s an absolute disgrace that they didn’t fight for the Broncos at all.

It’s too late to make a change now, but Western Michigan should absolutely protest this contest. Michigan, the officiating crew, and the Big 10 committed the biggest thievery we’ve seen in college football since the last time Michigan got caught in a massive cheating scandal. I guess it’s just another Tuesday for those crooks up in Ann Arbor.