Michigan football's stunning win over Western Michigan continues to befuddle even the most seasoned rules analysts.
Fox rules expert Mike Pereira said in an interview with The Athletic that the explanation of a more official game clock granting Michigan the extra second it needed to complete a Hail Marry pass and avoid an upset doesn't jive with what he knows of these rulings.
“It is my understanding that if there is a discrepancy between the video and replay command center versus the television network video that everybody sees, that replay is to use the TV video," Pereira said. "And that is the same protocol in the NFL, in the UFL. It’s the same. You use the footage that everybody sees if there is a discrepancy.”
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With 9 seconds left in the game on Saturday, Sept. 5, U-M quarterback Bryce Underwood heaved a Hail Mary from midfield through the back of the end zone, apparently ending the game as a 12-7 WMU victory. The clocks on the TV broadcast – and the video boards at the stadium – showed no time left.
After a video review, however, officials determined the ball was touched by a formerly out-of-bounds WMU defender with 1 second left and restored that on the clock, allowing another play. Underwood than connected with receiver JJ Buchanan on a second Hail Mary for a 13-12 win.
The Big Ten later issued the following statement:
"Following video review, it was determined Western Michigan's #18 started his jump from an established out-of-bounds position (left foot) and made contact with the ball with one second remaining on the clock. As shown in the provided video of what was viewed during the replay process, a side-by-side view of the play and the game clock, using a direct shot of the game clock in the stadium, in the stadium, was used to determined the final ruling. Eighty-five minutes prior to the game, all broadcast cameras used for the replay system, including the camera on the game clock, are synced using a strobe system to ensure all cameras are aligned.
"Per NCAA Football rule 4-2-3-1, 'A ball not in player control, other than a kick that scores a field goal, is out of bounds when it touches the ground, a player, a game official or anything else that is out-of-bound, or that is on or outside the boundary line' and thus the clock is stopped."
NBC addressed the issue during halftime of the its broadcast of the Washington-Washington State game Sunday, with host John Fanta noting that the clock on the screen is not the official clock. Officials are responsible for tracking the official clock with the conference of the home team.
Regardless, Pereira says officials are taught to side with the clock that America is seeing over something internally.
Why was there a clock discrepancy at the end of Michigan-Western Michigan?@joelklatt and FOX Sports Rules Analyst Mike Pereira discuss. pic.twitter.com/7wWWbfOcaG
— The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod (@JoelKlattShow) September 7, 2026
“Here’s the key, and here’s where it got lost: The replay officials have been told that if there is a discrepancy, you use the television footage," Pereira told Fox colleague Joel Klatt on a podcast. "Do not use your footage in the Command Center. Use the footage that 2 million people are watching, not the one that’s three [people watching].”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rules expert Mike Pereira on Michigan's time controversy: 'Use the TV video'
