Boise State football coach says Western Michigan 'absolutely beat Michigan'
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Entering Week 4 of the 2026 college football season, Western Michigan is officially 2-1, with wins over Monmouth and Rice and a loss to Michigan.
The Broncos’ upcoming opponent doesn’t view it exactly that way, though.
Heading into his team’s matchup against Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 26, Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said he considers the Broncos to be an undefeated team, noting the dubious circumstances that contributed to their gutting 13-12 loss at No. 18 Michigan in Week 1.
"They are an undefeated football team — period, end of story. … You watch that game, they absolutely beat Michigan at Michigan,” Danielson said to reporters on Monday, Sept. 21. “That's not hype. That's what happened."
In what will potentially go down as the most controversial result of the season, Western Michigan led Michigan, 12-7, with nine seconds remaining when Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood tossed a Hail Mary that sailed out of the back of the end zone at Michigan Stadium as time expired — or so it appeared.
After a video review, officials determined that a Broncos player who had previously stepped out of bounds had touched the ball with one second left. Underwood made the most of the second chance, throwing a 47-yard heave that ended up in the hands of teammate JJ Buchanan in the end zone to give Michigan a 13-12 win in coach Kyle Whittingham’s first game leading the program.
In a statement released in the hours after the game, the Big Ten noted that there’s a small discrepancy between the official clock that officials reviewed and the one shown on the NBC broadcast. So while those tuning into the game saw no time remaining on television, there was actually one second left.
Noting that "replay protocol was not properly followed,” the Mid-American Conference asked the NCAA and College Football Playoff to recognize Western Michigan as the game’s winner. The NCAA FBS oversight committee, though, said on Sept. 16 that it does not have the authority to overturn the result, even though instant replay protocols "were not followed" by the Big Ten, and that if those protocols had been properly adhered to, "the outcome of the game would have been different."
Though both squads enter the game with a loss apiece, Western Michigan and Boise State are considered two of the best teams from outside the Power Four conferences this season, with the winner of Saturday’s game at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan getting a crucial leg up in the race for the automatic playoff berth granted to a team from the Group of Six leagues.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boise State football coach says Western Michigan 'absolutely beat Michigan'
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