Infamous former Michigan Wolverines assistant coach Connor Stalions has weighed in on his former team’s controversial win over Western Michigan on Saturday night.
Michigan topped Western Michigan on a last-second Hail Mary! that fans believe shouldn’t have counted. The clock appeared to expire on the previous play. However, referees went to a replay review, determining that one second remained. Bryce Underwood threw a last-second Hail Mary! touchdown, giving his team the win.
The Big Ten stands by the finish.
“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, was used to determine 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,” they said.
“Per NCAA Football rule 4-2-3-a, “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 a boundary line,” and thus the clock is stopped.”
Big Ten.
Stalions, the man many credit with Michigan’s sign-stealing operation, weighed in on the finish on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Stalions reacts to Michigan’s controversial win
Stalions is looking into the clock issue.
“I’ve always wondered when there are 0.2 seconds left for example, does the stadium game clock show 0:01 or 0:00?” he wrote.
“When the clock goes from 1:00 to 0:59, the millisecond it happens, there are 59.99 seconds left in the game. So when the clock goes from 0:01 to 0:00, the millisecond it happens, are there not 0.99 seconds left? Michigan doesn’t deserve it by any means, but I’ve always wondered this.”
Stalions did call out Michigan’s fans, at least.
“Michigan storming the field against the 2nd best team in the state… I guess it’s justified when you don’t play them every year,” he shared.
Michigan improved to 1-0 on the year with the win.
