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Controversy at The Big House: Michigan defeat Western Michigan on questionable Hail Mary

Michigan WR JJ Buchanon catches game-winning TD against Western Michigan
Michigan WR JJ Buchanon catches game-winning TD against Western Michigan Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The #16 Michigan Wolverines avoided a massive upset on Saturday after beating the unranked Western Michigan Broncos 13-12 with a controversial Hail Mary that sent the college football world into a frenzy.

With six seconds left in the game and Michigan backed up on their own end of the field, quarterback Bryce Underwood launched what many thought was the final prayer to end the game. 

After the pass fell incomplete, Western Michigan stormed the field in celebration of what they thought to be a massive Week 1 upset.

The clock was at 0:00, right? Wrong.

After further review, despite the ball still being in the air when the clock hit 0:00, the refs granted Michigan one final second for another chance at a Hail Mary. 

And they succeeded on their second chance. 

Underwood launched another Hail Mary, and this time teammate JJ Buchanan came down with it in the end zone to give Michigan the controversial 13-12 win. 

Now, Western Michigan will head into Week 2 with a 0-1 record, while Michigan will host #10 Oklahoma with a 1-0 record. 

Unfortunately for Western Michigan, there is no way for them to protest or overturn the result of the game. At best, certain refs could receive suspensions, as they did 11 years ago following the controversial Duke-Miami matchup.

After further investigation into the big moment, Miami player Mark Walton was down before lateraling the ball that ultimately helped Miami win the game in the end.