In a stunning and momentous release, the Mid-American Conference announced Monday it is requesting the NCAA and College Football Playoff declare Western Michigan the winner of the controversial WMU-Michigan game in Ann Arbor on Saturday night.
In the statement, the MAC said the Big Ten replay officials did not follow the proper protocol, which would have used the game clock seen by NBC viewers, and thus ended the game with the Broncos as 12-7 victors.
WMU head coach Lance Taylor deferred to MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher immediately after the game on Saturday night and, after the Big Ten put out a statement explaining its decision to add an additional second to the clock, Steinbrecher said the MAC accepted the Big Ten's explanation of the ordeal, which centered around there being one second on the clock when WMU safety Micah Davis touched the ball. However, the MAC now says NCAA rules dictated the Big Ten should have used NBC's clock, not their own, in determining how much time was left when Davis contacted the ball after leaping from out of bounds. "This is not simply a disagreement over the proper amount of time to place on the clock, nor is it a judgment concerning an officiating call," the MAC said in a letter to the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, posted below. "It is a failure to follow an established and specific replay protocol designed expressly to govern end-of-half timing situations."
The full release:
After further study and investigation, it is now evident that replay protocol was not properly followed in determining whether time remained on the game clock at the conclusion of the Western Michigan vs. Michigan football game.
The established replay protocol requires that the game clock displayed on the program feed be used in determining whether time remained. Instead, the Big Ten Conference replay crew relied upon the clock feed embedded within its replay system. As a result, one second was placed back on the game clock and an additional play was awarded.
This was not a judgment regarding the proper amount of time to place on the clock. It was an error in the application of the established replay protocol governing this specific end-of-game timing situation. Had the protocol been properly followed and the program-feed clock been used, no additional play would have been awarded, and Western Michigan would have won the game, 12–7.
As a result, the Mid-American Conference has submitted formal appeals to the NCAA FBS Oversight Committee and the College Football Playoff. The MAC is requesting that those bodies recognize Western Michigan as the actual winner of the game for purposes of their respective rankings, evaluations and selection deliberations, and take such other corrective action as may be within their authority.
Western Michigan held a press conference on Sunday, outlining how the program planned to move forward after the stunning loss. So far, the Big Ten has not had anything to say outside of its release on Saturday night. (FootballScoop has requested the replay officials heard in the deliberations released by the conference be made available to the media; that request has not been honored.)
Stay tuned.