Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan on a 47-yard Hail Mary on the game’s final play as No. 16 Michigan survived a huge scare and defeated visiting Western Michigan 13-12 on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Wolverines hadn’t scored since their opening drive and seemed headed for a stunning upset in Kyle Whittingham’s head coaching debut. Western Michigan appeared to have pulled off its first-ever win over Michigan in nine attempts on the previous play when Underwood’s heave fell out of bounds, but the officials ruled there was still one second remaining.
After the game initially was ruled over, the call was changed after review, giving the Wolverines one final play. While the Big Ten replay center’s audio discussion during the review was not shown on the broadcast, the Big Ten shared the audio and accompanying video feed of the review, which appears to show Western Michigan safety Micah Davis touching the ball while out of bounds with one second left on the clock.
A 28-yard pass to Buchanan had put Michigan (1-0) at the Broncos’ 47 with 11 seconds left, leading to two incompletions before the touchdown pass.
Underwood went 12 of 22 for 170 passing yards and rushed for a team-high 47 yards on nine carries, including Michigan’s other touchdown. Buchanan caught six passes for 126 yards.
Dieter Kelly kicked four field goals for Western Michigan (0-1). Broc Lowry was 15 of 21 for 89 passing yards, and Jalen Buckley gained 62 yards on 19 carries.
The Wolverines’ offense got off to a good start, driving 75 yards on 11 plays on their first possession. Underwood completed all five of his passes for 61 yards before scoring on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal.
Western Michigan also scored on its first drive on Kelly’s 52-yard field goal.
A turnover allowed the Broncos to pull within a point. Dillon Moore intercepted an Underwood pass and went out of bounds at the Michigan 26-yard line with 9 seconds left in the half. Kelly’s 45-yard field-goal attempt on the final play of the half just cleared the crossbar, leaving the Wolverines clinging to a 7-6 halftime lead.
Western Michigan started a drive at its own 8-yard line with 9:05 left in the third quarter and still had possession when the fourth quarter began. The 20-play drive finally ended with 10:25 remaining on Kelly’s 39-yard field goal.
After another Wolverines punt, the Broncos chewed up more time before punting it back to Michigan, which started the possession from its 7-yard line with 3:10 left. Underwood scampered for 13 yards on the third play of the drive but Josh Franklin forced a fumble and Kedrick Burley recovered at the Wolverines’ 31-yard line.
Western Michigan picked up one first down before Kelly made a 33-yard attempt with 35 seconds remaining for a 12-7 lead.
–Field Level Media
