Michigan football stuns WMU with miracle Hail Mary after game seemed over

Appalachian State, Toledo and now Western Michigan — or, er, not.

The Kyle Whittingham era of Michigan football looked like it had fizzled in spectacular fashion for the better part of 60 minutes against Western Michigan, as the No. 16 Wolverines scored on their opening drive then didn’t score again ... until after the clock hit zero.

The game appeared over on Saturday, Sept. 5, when a Hail Mary attempt by Bryce Underwood from the Block "M" at midfield with 9 seconds left went out the back of the end zone as time expired.

Western Michigan players rushed the field at Michigan Stadium, celebrating just the second victory by a Mid-American Conference team over U-M, and the first since 2008. But a replay review placed 1 second back on the clock, giving Michigan new life. And Underwood connected with receiver JJ Buchanon, himself a transfer from Utah, where he played for Whittingham, for the winning score and a surreal finish with a 13-12 score: Thousands of Michigan fans rushing the Big House turf to celebrate a victory over WMU.

The game appeared to flip late in the first half. U-M led 7-3 and got the ball with less than a minute to play. Rather than take a knee, U-M attempted to extend its lead, with Underwood throwing a careless interception — on a 5-yard out-route deep in U-M territory with 12 seconds left — that was returned for a touchdown, before officials ruled Dillon Moore stepped out of bounds on his return.

The defense, which held strong for the most part and didn’t allow a touchdown, did allow the Broncos to go on a 20-play, 71-yard drive that melted 13:40 off the clock and gave WMU a 9-7 lead with 10:25 to play.

Michigan's next-to-last drive appeared to be the finale, as the Wolverines got the ball with 3:12 to play on their own 7. After Jordan Marshall picked up a 15-yard gain, Underwood appeared to have run for another, but the ball was punched out by Western’s Josh Franklin and recovered by Kedrick Burley at the U-M 31.

Western picked up two first downs on the ground and kicked a field goal with 35 seconds left. It seemed over. Then it wasn’t

Western Michigan outrushed U-M (132-106), ran more plays (67-48) had fewer penalties (Michigan had nine for 80 yards, WMU had five for 40 yards), fewer turnovers (3-0) and dominated time of possession (40:08-19:52).

And yet, at the end, it was the maize and blue celebrating at Michigan Stadium.

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It was over when ... well, it wasn't

It appeared to be after Underwood’s fumble, Western Michigan had to pick up one first down to truly put the game on ice. On the first snap, Jalen Buckley picked up 11 yards. U-M finally got a stop on the next set of downs and forced a WMU field goal to get the ball back on its 7 with 35 seconds left, down 12-7. It seemingly would take a miracle to go 93 yards in that time.

Player of the game: Dom Nichols

Teammate Blake Frazier said Nichols was “going to terrorize people” this season from the edge and that’s exactly what he did Saturday. Late in the first quarter, he sacked QB Broc Lowry on third down to force a punt. Two drives later, on second-and-1 in U-M territory, he sacked Lowry again on a speed-to-power rush to force third-and-long and an eventual punt. On the next drive, he beat a pulling guard on third-and-15 and dropped Jalen Buckley for a loss to knock the Broncos out of field goal range.

The junior was everywhere for the Wolverines, finishing with nine tackles, including 2½ for loss — perhaps the bright spot of the evening until the final moment of the game.

Trending up: JJ Buchanan

While the offense didn’t impress, transfer wide receiver JJ Buchanan did, even before his winning TD. He caught the opening pass for a gain of 8 on a slant, then hauled in a one-handed snag on a botched play moments later to pick up 20. In all he had more than half of U-M’s passing production, at least before he added to his total with the final Hail Mary catch.

Trending down: Clean games

Whittingham is known for teams that play disciplined football, but this maize-and-blue squad wasn’t that. Returner Andrew Marsh muffed a punt. Underwood threw an inexcusable pick and could’ve had three in the first half (one was dropped, another was touched by a defender with his toe on the sideline).

Then, there were penalties – including too many illegal formation calls. Michigan also had two holding calls on the first drive of the second half that ended in a punt, then on the final play of the drive had 12 players on the field.

Michigan football schedule: Oklahoma up next

Week 2 brings a rematch with No. 9 Oklahoma (1-0), which rolled over Michigan last season in Norman, Oklahoma. This game, however, will be in Ann Arbor – just the third visit to Michigan from an SEC team this century – next Saturday (noon, Fox).

The Sooners spent their Friday night in Week 1 showing why quarterback John Mateer – in his second season in Norman after transferring from Washington State – is a sleeper Heisman Trophy candidate. Mateer completed 11 of 17 passes for 225 yards and three TDs in limited action in a 51-0 victory over UTEP (Michigan’s Week 3 opponent).

Week 2: vs Oklahoma, Saturday, Sept. 12 (Noon ET, Fox).

Week 3: vs UTEP, Saturday, Sept. 19 (3:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network).

Week 4: vs Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 26 (time and TV TBA).

Week 5: at Minnesota, Saturday, Oct. 3 (time and TV TBA).

Week 6: Bye week.

Week 7: vs Penn State, Saturday, Oct. 17 (time and TV TBA).

Week 8: vs Indiana, Saturday, Oct. 24 (time and TV TBA).

Week 9: at Rutgers, Saturday, Oct. 31 (time and TV TBA).

Week 10: vs Michigan State, Saturday, Nov. 7 (time and TV TBA).

Week 11: at Oregon, Saturday, Nov. 14 (time and TV TBA).

Week 12: vs UCLA, Saturday, Nov. 21 (time and TV TBA).

Week 13: at Ohio State, Saturday, Nov. 28 (Noon ET, Fox).

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