By Sawyer Minkoff
In the world of college sports, nothing gets the fans more angry than a wrong or suspicious call, especially late in the game. In the cross-state rivalry game between Western Michigan and the University of MIchigan, college sports fans are in uproar after a highly debatable and controversial call by the refs that allowed Michigan an opportunity to later win the game.
The drama happened in the final seconds of the game. Time had seemingly run out. The play clock showed 0 seconds. It seemed that the giant Michigan had lost to the unknown Western Michigan, a huge upset. However, the refs decided that the clock had not run out, and that the game clock and T.V. clocks were one second apart. This allowed Michigan to run another play.
On the ensuing play, they ran a Hail Mary and in the luckiest turn of events, scored an improbable 47 yard touchdown, leaving the college football world in shock.
Some of our fellow Michigan peers said that they unfairly won, including Mila Spector, who stated “I do believe that Michigan did unfairly win the game.”
On the other side, some people are trying to defend the win by pointing to the rulebook. Nikolai Sage, another Michigan Fan, feels that Michigan “won the right” way because the officials ruled that a player touched the ball with one second left on the clock.
This whole situation feels unsettling, which is why the NCAA Oversight Committee stated, “The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure to follow an established and specific protocol governing precisely this type of end of half timing situation.” They have also implied that there was an imaginary clock that no one else can see, except the officials.
