For better or worse, the ending of the Michigan-Western Michigan game on Saturday night is the talk of college football today and will likely take up a ton of oxygen this week. The Hail Mary touchdown from Bryce Underwood to JJ Buchanan was an incredible play in and of itself, but the circumstances of said play are being scrutinized by just about everyone — including fans of the Wolverines.
Underwood’s original Hail Mary was thrown out of bounds, but a Western Michigan defender had a foot out of bounds when
he touched the ball with one second left on the clock, per the Big Ten and the officiating crew that was in Ann Arbor on Saturday. That gave Michigan one final play with one second left on the clock, and what happened after that is what’s caused a bunch of people to be #madonline.
After the game, Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor said the clock was “past zeros” and believed the game should have ended right there and then. WMU president Russ Kavalhuna also briefly spoke with the media and said they planned on looking into this further and see if there is anything they can ask for a review on.
Well, Kavalhuna and Taylor spoke on a Zoom call on Sunday afternoon to give clarity on the situation, and both of them were incredibly classy in handling all of this. Kavalhuna said he believes this is a chance to learn from this and still have a successful season, and Taylor said the response from his team is hopefully being seen on a national scale, among many other classy comments.
Most importantly, Taylor admitted that “the refs did not cost us” the game.
“Ultimately, the refs did not cost (us) this game, and if we make the mistake of making an excuse, it allows us to be bitter instead of getting better, and I think that’s where we want to go as a football team,” Taylor said.
When asked a follow up question later in the press conference if he believes the call that was made was the right one, Taylor noted the Big Ten showed them their video footage of one second being left on the clock when the WMU defender was out of bounds and touched the ball.
Kavalhuna echoed that sentiment, acknowledging that WMU “wasn’t perfect” and had a couple chances to put the game away before it ever came down to a Hail Mary. He also admitted that some of the video reviews went in their favor when Michigan fans may have disagreed with those calls.
“The reality here is the learning moment, which is what we’re all here for, is to be an education institution,” Kavalhuna said. “The learning moment is to grab and hang onto this pain, and use it to motivate you to go forward.”
That is a remarkably mature and honest response from a program that has every reason to be bitter and upset with how that game ended. The Broncos played well enough to win that game and they know it. The fact that both the head coach and the university president stood up and took accountability rather than hiding behind the officiating controversy says a lot about the culture in Kalamazoo.
Michigan fans should also acknowledge that. The Broncos pushed the Wolverines to the absolute limit on Saturday night, and they handled the aftermath with more class than most programs probably would have. That is very commendable, and I’m sure many Michigan fans — and non-Michigan fans, for that matter — will be rooting for WMU’s success this year.
