Western Michigan Won. Then the Big Ten Found Another Second. Some "Big10 Cheater" Needs to be Fired

The Big Ten’s explanation for Michigan’s 13–12 escape raises more questions than it answers. If the conference cannot convincingly explain how a game that appeared over suddenly had another second, the officials responsible should resign. 9 seconds is 9 seconds. It doesn't add up. We deserve to see the Big10s entire play video, not just the last two seconds. Did they start the clock on time? Video can be manipulated too easily. The one live on TV started at the snap! 9 seconds ran off. This controversy needs the NCAA to fire people, or exclude the Michigan cheaters for life! Death Penalty of U of M!

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Western Michigan appeared to beat Michigan Saturday night.

The clock showed zero. Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood had thrown what everyone expected to be the final Hail Mary. The ball sailed beyond the end zone. Western Michigan celebrated. Even Underwood later acknowledged that he thought the game was over because he saw zeroes on the clock. (The Washington Post)

Then college football entered the Twilight Zone. Viewers where told that their eyes lied...while they asked themselves, "why can't anyone just do what is right today?"

After a replay review, the Big Ten put one second back on the clock.

Michigan received another Hail Mary. This one worked. Underwood found JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown, turning what appeared to be a 12–7 Western Michigan victory into an official 13–12 Michigan win. (ESPN)

That second should now become one of the most scrutinized seconds in Big Ten football history.

The Television Pictures Told a Different Story

The controversy isn’t simply disappointed Western Michigan fans complaining about a close judgment call.

NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay questioned what viewers were seeing. On the television replay, the clock appeared to reach 0:00 while the football was still in the air, before Western Michigan safety Micah Davis touched it.

McAulay said the ball wasn’t close to touching the player when the television clock reached zero and questioned whether the Big Ten’s Hawk-Eye replay system was synchronized differently. (Yahoo Sports)

That’s an enormous problem.

The Big Ten says its own replay evidence establishes something different. According to the conference, Davis had established himself out of bounds before touching the football and made contact while one second remained. Under NCAA rules, that contact made the ball out of bounds and stopped the clock. But the clock ran 9 seconds when the ball was touched out of bounds. Game over! Grow up Big10. Let the MAC celebration begin! Oh they did. But then they didn’t. Clowns showed up!

The conference also says cameras used by the replay system—including the camera trained on the stadium game clock—were synchronized using a strobe system 85 minutes before kickoff. (Yahoo Sports)

Fine.

Then explain why millions of people apparently saw something else.

Which Clock Are We Supposed to Believe?

This isn’t really an argument about whether a Western Michigan defender was out of bounds. The larger issue is time itself.

The television presentation appeared to show zero.

The Big Ten replay system showed one.

Those two things cannot both accurately depict the same instant.

Yahoo Sports described the problem as involving potentially three representations of time: the television clock, the stadium clock and the replay-center synchronization. NBC’s McAulay raised the possibility of a synchronization discrepancy, while the Big Ten insists its system was properly synchronized. (Yahoo Sports)

And that is precisely why the Big Ten shouldn’t expect everyone to accept “our system says so” as the end of the discussion.

Digital video can be synchronized, processed and displayed in different ways. That doesn’t prove anybody manipulated this video, and HE isn’t alleging that somebody did. But it does mean that releasing a replay generated through the same system being questioned isn’t the equivalent of independent verification.

The conference should release the underlying timing information, synchronization records and every relevant unedited camera angle necessary for independent experts to reconstruct the final seconds.

Transparency is particularly important when the disputed decision changes the winner.

Hail Mary No. 2 Is the Problem

There is also something fundamentally troubling about what happened competitively.

Michigan got its Hail Mary.

It failed.

Western Michigan defended it.

Then officials restored a second and Michigan got another one.

That is not merely another offensive snap in the middle of the third quarter. A Hail Mary is a specialized desperation play. Defenses position themselves specifically for it. Players expend themselves defending it. Coaches reveal how they intend to defend it.

Giving an offense a second consecutive opportunity therefore provides information it didn’t possess on the first attempt.

Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor made the point after the game: his players defended the first Hail Mary correctly. They didn’t defend the second one as well. (Yahoo Sports)

Of course they didn’t.

They had already stopped Michigan once.

Even Michigan Thought It Was Finished

Perhaps the most remarkable testimony came from Michigan’s own quarterback.

Underwood said he thought the game was over.

Western Michigan thought it was over.

People watching television thought it was over.

The stadium clock had apparently reached zero.

Then an off-field replay process resurrected Michigan’s season opener.

This is exactly the sort of situation in which conference officials should understand that credibility matters more than institutional pride.

The Mid-American Conference sought clarification from the Big Ten afterward. MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher subsequently said the video and audio supplied by the Big Ten confirmed the conference’s explanation. (Fox News)

That’s important evidence supporting the Big Ten.

It still shouldn’t prevent independent scrutiny.

Release Everything

Was race involved?

Western Michigan President Russ Kavalhuna said afterward that his football team deserved a second look “if that’s possible.” (Yahoo Sports)

He’s right.

The Big Ten should release enough original material for independent examination—not merely a conference-produced explanation.

Show exactly which clock was official.

Show the continuous stadium-clock camera.

Release the synchronization procedure and relevant logs.

Release the complete replay-center audio surrounding the decision.

Identify who made the final determination and explain precisely what NCAA replay provision authorized restoring the second.

Then let independent timing and video experts examine it.

If that examination demonstrates conclusively that one second remained, Western Michigan and the rest of college football will have an answer they can verify rather than merely being instructed to accept.

If it doesn’t, there must be consequences.

Accountability Means More Than an Explanation

Officiating mistakes happen. Human beings miss holding calls, spots and pass interference every Saturday.

This is different.

Replay exists specifically to correct obvious mistakes using objective evidence. When replay itself produces an outcome apparently inconsistent with what viewers and a veteran network rules analyst saw, the integrity of the review system becomes the story.

And when that decision determines which university wins the football game, accountability cannot consist of the institution responsible for the decision investigating itself and declaring itself correct.

If the Big Ten cannot independently substantiate that restored second, the officials and administrators responsible for the decision should resign or be removed from replay responsibilities.

Western Michigan did everything college football supposedly asks an underdog to do. The Broncos went into Michigan Stadium, stood toe-to-toe with the No. 16 Wolverines and apparently survived Michigan’s final desperate throw.

Then came one more second.

One more "Hail Mary." LIke anytime gets to toss up two prayers ever or should be given an extra play after they lost clearly.

One different winner. If a team acts like they lost then they lost. Just like in Baseball if a player acts out he’s out! You don’t get to throw more than one prayer up!

The record book currently says Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12.

But until the Big Ten can reconcile what its replay center says happened with what appeared on the live broadcast, college football fans are entitled to keep asking a very simple question:

Where did that second come from?