It’s of little consolation to Western Michigan, but the NCAA’s FBS Oversight Committee said Wednesday that had proper replay protocols been followed, the Broncos would have beaten Michigan in Week 1.
The NCAA released a statement Wednesday after the committee met to discuss how Michigan was granted an extra second of game time for its improbable Hail Mary in its 13-12 win over Western Michigan. In the statement, the NCAA reaffirmed that it had no ability to overturn the result of the game — which the Mid-American Conference had requested.
“The committee confirmed that it does not have the authority to overturn the contest,” the statement said. The playing rules governing the result of a contest are clear. Once the referee declares a contest to be final, no appeal of the outcome is permitted, according to Rules 1-1-3-b and 5-2-9 of the NCAA football rules:
Rule 1-1-3-b: When the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final.
Rule 5-2-9: No rule decision may be changed after the ball is next legally snapped, legally free-kicked or the second or fourth periods have ended.
“The committee consulted with national officiating leadership regarding the instant replay protocols. Based on that information, the committee agreed that the instant replay protocols were not followed in the contest’s second-to-last play. Had the protocols been followed, the outcome of the game would have been different.”
The Big Ten added a second back to the clock after Michigan’s initial Hail Mary attempt had fallen incomplete. Instead of relying on the clock embedded on the replay feed of the play — a clock that showed 0:00 when a Western Michigan player touched the ball after jumping from out of bounds — the Big Ten used a camera trained on a clock in the stadium that showed 0:01 at the time of contact.
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After that second was added, Bryce Underwood hit JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard TD.
The NCAA announced last week that it had enacted a standard timing protocol to ensure “consistency in the administration of all college football games.” While the NCAA said that the official time for all games will be the time displayed on the game clock, “when a replay review requires time to be restored or otherwise adjusted, the replay official’s decision will be based on the embedded game clock contained within the program feed.”
Under that protocol, the clock on the screen showing that time had expired should have been the one used to determine if the Week 1 game was over.
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This latest statement should officially end any discussion surrounding the official outcome of the game. Western Michigan and the MAC had initially said they accepted the Big Ten’s explanation for how the second was added back to the clock in the hours after the game. However, the MAC changed course last week and asked for Western Michigan to be recognized as the winner because protocol had not been followed.
