ANN ABOR, Mich. (AP) — Given an unlikely second chance at a game-ending Hail Mary, Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown pass that lifted No. 16 Michigan over Western Michigan 13-12 on Saturday night.
The Wolverines were 27 1/2-point favorites in coach Kyle Whittingham’s debut. The Broncos and their stingy defense thought they'd secured a historic upset when Underwood's first Hail Mary sailed out of bounds with the clock
expired.
WMU players were already on the field celebrating when officials called for a review. TV replays showed the clock hitting zero before the ball hit the hands of a Western Michigan defender, but officials ruled there was a second left.
Underwood heaved another throw, and Buchanan leaped to snag it and came down with it in the end zone.
“One for the history books right here," Whittingham said.
Western Michigan kicked four field goals and forced three turnovers, including a late fumble by Underwood.
The Broncos went ahead for the first time early in the fourth quarter on Dieter Kelly’s 39-yard field goal that capped a 20-play drive that took 13:40 off the clock.
Western Michigan was threatening to hand Michigan perhaps its biggest upset since an infamous, season-opening loss to Appalachian State in 2007, when the Wolverines were 33-point favorites.
Underwood lost a fumble at his 31 with 1:50 left after throwing an interception in the first half and nearly getting picked off two more times.
Kelly, a junior-college transfer from College of San Mateo, made his fourth field goal with 35 seconds left to force the Wolverines to score a touchdown to win — and they did in dramatic fashion.
Western Michigan, which has played major college football since 1962 in the Mid-American Conference, has never beaten an opponent in the top 20 of the Associated Press poll.
Western Michigan: The defending MAC champions were able to retain key players, keeping them out of the transfer portal, and will be contenders to repeat.
Michigan: Underwood started strong with a touchdown drive and finished it well, but made a lot of mistakes in between. “We have a lot of work to do,” Whittingham said.
Western Michigan hosts Monmouth on Saturday.
Michigan hosts No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday.
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