Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said Tuesday that video replay officials working the Western Michigan-Michigan game did not follow proper protocol when they added a second back to the clock at the end of the game and that the conference is asking the NCAA and College Football Playoff to overturn the outcome.
The Big Ten replay protocol explained
Bruce Feldman
“After further study and investigation, it is now evident that replay protocol was not properly followed in determining whether time remained on the game clock at the conclusion of the Western Michigan vs. Michigan football game,” Steinbrecher said in a brief statement.
Michigan averted a major upset Saturday night at home, 13-12 to WMU, when Bryce Underwood hit JJ Buchanan with a 47-yard touchdown pass as time expired, though it looked as if time had expired on the previous failed Hail Mary attempt. Big Ten replay officials determined a second was left on the game clock when the ball touched an out-of-bounds WMU player on what ended up being the second-to-last play of the game. They added a second back to the clock, giving Michigan one more play.
Though the angles of the play that were shown on NBC’s broadcast showed the clock hitting 0:00 when the ball was touched, officials reviewing the play at the Big Ten’s replay center outside Chicago used an angle of the play not shown on the broadcast that had no clock bug visible on the screen. The difference was fractions of a second.
The Hawk-Eye replay system used by the Big Ten has a game clock display that is synced with in-stadium clocks. A couple of hours after Saturday night’s game, the Big Ten released video and audio from the replay center of officials working through the play.
“The established replay protocol requires that the game clock displayed on the program feed be used in determining whether time remained,” Steinbrecher said. “Instead, the Big Ten Conference replay crew relied upon the clock feed embedded within its replay system. As a result, one second was placed back on the game clock, and an additional play was awarded.”
Sunday, Western Michigan president Russ Kavalhuna said the explanation he was given after the game pointed to a clock discrepancy and that there was no process to appeal or reconsider the outcome.
As a result, the MAC — with support from WMU and in what might be an unprecedented move — requested that the NCAA FBS Oversight Committee and the CFP recognize Western Michigan as the winner.
“I recognize that the Oversight Committee does not ordinarily alter results recorded on the field,” Steinbrecher said in the appeals letter. “Nevertheless, the circumstances of this game are extraordinary. The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure to follow an established and specific protocol governing precisely this type of end-of-half timing situation.
“Western Michigan should not be disadvantaged because the prescribed replay protocol was not followed and an unsynchronized clock was used to award a play that, under the applicable procedure, should not have occurred.”
Official statement regarding the Western Michigan-Michigan football game.
🗒️: https://t.co/hhesfHYV0W pic.twitter.com/QSxN455qBl
— Western Michigan University (@WesternMichU) September 8, 2026
Fox rules expert Mike Pereira, a longtime NFL official, told The Athletic on Sunday that college replay officials are advised to use angles of a play with a game clock embedded and visible when reviewing whether time should be put back on the clock at the end of a half.
The reasoning is to avoid the perception of impropriety that could come from making a ruling that contradicts what viewers are seeing on television.