Western Michigan president Russ Kavalhuna revealed Sunday that he searched for a way to challenge the outcome of the Broncos’ last-second loss to Michigan, but the university won’t be moving forward with an attempted appeal.
“I did want to find a way to appeal that decision, but there is none,” Kavalhuna said at a press conference he called to address the fallout from Michigan’s 13-12, walk-off win over visiting Western Michigan on Saturday night in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Head coach Lance Taylor added at that press conference that “the refs did not cost (Western Michigan) this game” after university officials spoke with the involved parties at the center of the game-clock controversy that consumed the sport.
At issue was the replay officials’ review of the game clock after a Hail Mary attempt by Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood fell incomplete, appearing to finalize a massive 12-7 upset for Western Michigan.
The Big Ten Conference’s officials determined one second remained on the clock, later giving the explanation that Broncos defensive back Micah Davis jumped from out of bounds and made contact with the ball with one second left on the clock. By rule, the ball became out of bounds as soon as it touched that player.
However, the game clock on the NBC broadcast did not appear to support that argument. Officials claimed they used a direct shot of the stadium clock not available to NBC viewers to determine the time the play ended.
No. 16 Michigan got one more chance at the end zone, and Underwood’s second Hail Mary was answered by JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown catch that let the Wolverines escape and spoiled the Broncos’ would-be upset.
“There are no appeals in this review process for the Big Ten or the MAC,” Kavalhuna said, referring to each team’s conference. “And I asked if we should have a review process, if we should think about building one, but there is none right now.”
The Mid-American Conference accepted the Big Ten’s explanation and congratulated the Wolverines on their victory.
“Even though we don’t agree, they cooperated in all aspects,” Taylor said.
In a separate interview on CNN, Kavalhuna acknowledged that the sport is played and officiated by human beings and controversy is inevitable.
“I’m a former federal prosecutor; I looked in-depth about it. I’m not in love with the process that was applied,” Kavalhuna said. “As I said, it’s got the league looking with one set of cameras, and the viewers looking with another, which invites some scrutiny. And I told the commissioner of the Big Ten about that.
“But, in the history of college sports, and this will not be the first or the last controversy, there has been no change, in what I can see, in the outcome of the game because of a controversial call. So we need to look forward.”
Kavalhuna went on to say he’d prefer the focus to be on the Broncos, whom he said were the better team on the field in Ann Arbor.
“In college sports right now, what is more important than a controversy is for the world to look at Western Michigan University and our team for the way we handled (on) the field, when we possessed the ball for double the amount of time than our opponent, how we had a victory taken from us in a difficult way and how we handled ourselves that night and going forward.”
In the press conference, Taylor added that he wanted his players to come away with a key lesson.
“Because life is not always fair,” Taylor said. “You don’t always get the promotion that you want. You don’t always get the job when you’re the most qualified; you worked extremely hard for it. …
“Ultimately, the refs did not cost this game, and if we make the mistake of making an excuse, it allows us to be bitter instead of getting better. And I think that’s where we want to go as a football team.”