WMU's plan to recover from Michigan loss: Get better, not bitter

Western Michigan football coach Lance Taylor and president Russ Kavalhuna took the high road Sunday, Sept. 6, when they discussed the controversial finish against Michigan football the night before, in a game that ended as a 13-12 loss on a Hail Mary as time expired.

The reason for the controversy came via an apparent clock discrepancy.

The NBC broadcast and game clock at the stadium showed no time left following U-M QB Bryce Underwood's heave from midfield, after WMU defender Micah Davis touched the ball. However, after review, officials placed 1 second back on the clock, which led to one final chance for the Wolverines: JJ Buchanan hauled in a 47-yard Hail Mary to negate one of the potentially biggest upsets in Michigan Stadium history.

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The discrepancy between the publicly available clocks and the one the replay officials used wasn't explained until nearly two hours after the final play.

Given even more time (no pun intended) to process the ruling, Taylor and Kavalhuna did their best to remain level-headed during a news conference on Sunday.

The gist of the 45-minute availability: Western Michigan does not like the decision, but the way it was relayed was clear and transparent, after speaking with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher.

"I would just say that what the viewing public see and what the reviewing officials see are different and that's [now] clear," Kavalhuna said. "I've looked into this pretty closely, and I used to be a federal prosecutor. I don't discern anything unfair or untoward in this process.

"Can the process be improved by having what the viewing public see as the same as what the reviewing officials see? Maybe. Frankly, that's not for me to decide."

[ MUST WATCH: Reacting the day after U-M's insane escape vs. WMU. Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live on YouTube. ]   

Both Taylor and Kavalhuna made it clear they felt Western Michigan played well enough to win the game. The Broncos committed fewer penalties, fewer turnovers, more than doubled U-M in time of possession, and were essentially even in total yards (before the final play, at least) on a night they entered as four-touchdown underdogs.

While said they didn't want to dwell on the result, they wanted to make it clear, "we stood on the table and that we were fighting for that to be an equitable and fair outcome and just, and we exhausted all avenues" when asking what can be done about the controversy postgame.

"There are no appeals in this review process for the Big Ten or the MAC," Kavalhuna said. "I asked if we should have a review process, if we should think about building one, but there is none right now. So I can tell you, as a graduate of Western Michigan University, as someone who's immensely proud of this institution, and who saw two football teams work really hard, but one football team be the better football team, I did want to find a way to appeal that decision, but there is none."

Kavalhuna smiled when asked whether he agreed it was the right call or not. He said he wasn't "an unbiased person" but added there were elements to the decision which were "subjective" and "time-sensitive. The most he would say was that if the call had been based on the clock on the broadcast, it would have been incorrect, but based on the clock the officials had, it was correct.

He added Petitti "was candid that [it] is a known discrepancy" there can be a slight difference between the clocks, but deferred further questions in that direction toward the Big Ten.

WMU's coach, meanwhile, made it clear he didn't want to dwell on a single play − no matter how "gut-wrenching" and "heartbreaking" it may have been.

"Ultimately the refs did not cost [us] this game," he said. "If we make the mistake of making an excuse, it allows us to be bitter instead of getting better, and I [don't] think that that's where we want to go as a football team."

This was far from the Broncos' first Power Four opponent; WMU has faced a Big Ten foe in each of the past 17 full seasons, including Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, usually receiving a hefty paycheck for the near-guaranteed loss. Skeptics might argue the Broncos' tepid response to Saturday's stunner is at least in part because it's financially prudent: Western Michigan received $1.5 million from Michigan for Saturday's game as part of a series that features another game in Ann Arbor in 2029 (with a $1.6 million check).

The faces of Kavalhuna and Taylor on Sunday suggested otherwise. As Taylor said, "The obligation and burden of leadership is not necessarily saying what you want to say, but saying what needs to be said and leading by example."

He implied he was gutted by the result, but reminded the media that WMU started 0-3 last season and went on to win 10 games, the MAC title and a bowl. Sunday also brought a reminder that losses can often lead to the greatest comebacks.

"Those players were hurting, they wanted to win that game very badly and thought that we had won that game," Taylor said. "I think ultimately the thing that I want them to take away from it is we played well enough to win that game, and should be proud of you know what we put on full display.

"The whole world now knows more about Western Michigan and Bronco football because of that game, and that should give us a ton of confidence and belief as we continue to prepare."

Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: WMU's plan to recover from Michigan loss: Get better, not bitter