The Big Ten’s Secret Magic Clock Bailed Out Michigan

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Michigan beat Western Michigan 13-12 Saturday night on a Hail Mary that never should have been thrown. If you’re a Nebraska fan, you knew how it was going to end the moment you saw the number one appear on that clock.

Here’s the sequence. Bryce Underwood launched one into the back of the end zone. Western Michigan safety Micah Davis knocked it down behind the goal line. Every clock in the building and on the broadcast read zeroes. Broncos players ran out to celebrate the biggest win in the history of their program.

Officials went to the monitor. They came back with one second.

Underwood threw it again. JJ Buchanan came down with it. Michigan Stadium stormed the field, which is its own indictment — a ranked Big Ten team, at home, storming the field after a one-point escape against a MAC opponent.

Two clocks, and you can only see one of them

The Big Ten released a statement and, unusually, the audio and video from the replay center in Chicago. Their ruling: Davis started his jump from an established out-of-bounds position, left foot down, and touched the ball with one second left. A loose ball is dead the instant an out-of-bounds player touches it, so the clock stops there.

The problem is that NBC’s on-screen clock showed zeroes, and NBC’s own rules analyst said on the air that the network clock was synced to the official game clock. The conference says its replay cameras — including the one aimed at the stadium clock — were synchronized 85 minutes before kickoff with a strobe system.

So there’s the clock you watched and there’s the clock they watched, and the only one that counts is the one you can’t see. That’s the World Cup thing. Americans used to laugh about not knowing when a soccer match was going to end because the referee kept the real time in his pocket. We don’t get to laugh anymore.

Ask the honest question

Forget conspiracy for a second. Here’s the question that actually matters:

If the roles were reversed, does Western Michigan get that second?

Say it’s the Broncos down five, the ball’s in the air on the last play, and a Michigan defender bats it away behind the end zone with zeroes showing. Does a replay official in Chicago stop everything, find a stadium camera angle, and hand a MAC team one more snap to knock off a top-20 program in the Big House?

I don’t believe it for a minute. And that’s the part that eats at people. Nobody has to prove the game was rigged. You only have to believe the benefit of the doubt runs downhill in one direction. Once fans believe that, the conference has a problem no statement fixes.

Nebraska has been standing here before

December 5, 2009. Cowboys Stadium. Nebraska led Texas 12-10 with the clock running out. Colt McCoy rolled right with Ndamukong Suh in his back pocket and threw it away. The clock hit zero. Nebraska players poured onto the field.

Mack Brown stood there holding up one finger. Officials put one second back. Hunter Lawrence hit a 46-yarder. Texas 13, Nebraska 12, and Texas went to the BCS title game.

Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12. I don’t know what to do with that except point at it.

What Western Michigan actually did to Michigan

Lost in all the clock talk: the Broncos outplayed a ranked team for three and a half quarters. Michigan’s opening drive was 11 plays and 75 yards. Its next four possessions gained 26 yards total and ended in four punts.

Then Western Michigan ran 20 plays, went 71 yards, and burned 13 minutes and 40 seconds. That is a full quarter of football taken off the board by a MAC offense against a defense people talk about as elite.

Michigan should not be ranked. Underwood was bad. The whole offense was bad. The Wolverines needed an officiating decision to avoid the worst loss of the season.

Give this to Lane Kiffin

I made a video a few days ago about LSU trying to put released NFL players back on a college roster — the injunction, the SEC suing the school, the whole us-against-the-world act. Notice LSU never actually rostered anybody. It was a troll job from the start.

Now imagine handing Kiffin a secret clock. LSU never loses in Baton Rouge again.

Nebraska, meanwhile, beat Ohio 49-21 and needed a half to get right — down 13-7 early, up one at the break, then 35-8 in the second half. Not clean. But nobody had to go find us a second.

Tell me in the comments: does Western Michigan get that call if the roles are flipped?

Go Big Red.

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