Sports

New Angle Of Michigan Hail Mary Filmed By Fan Who Captured Stadium’s Game Clock May Finally Settle The Debate

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Michigan vs Western Michigan hail mary next to stadium clock reading zero

iStockphoto / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Michigan vs Western Michigan Hail Mary next to stadium clock reading zero


It’s hard to imagine there will be a single college football game this season with a more controversial ending than the one we were treated to when Michigan appeared to lose to Western Michigan before getting a second shot at an ultimately successful Hail Mary. The uproar over the result was fueled by the lack of a video that captured the play in question along with the stadium’s clock, and one fan may have put the debate to rest after sharing a clip that checked both of those boxes.

In 2007, Michigan suffered one of the most embarrassing upsets in college football history when Appalachian State rolled into the Big House and pulled out a win in a game where the Wolverines forked over $400,000 to an opponent that was supposed to serve as a sacrificial lamb to kick off the season.

Western Michigan was tapped for the same reason in 2026, as the Broncos received $1.5 million to head to Ann Arbor for a game where they were listed as nearly four-touchdown underdogs.

However, things took a very unexpected turn when the two sides faced off on September 5th. The home team pulled out to a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game, but they were unable to post any more points as the visitors kicked four unanswered field goals that gave them a 12-7 lead with seven seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

As I assume most people reading this know by now, Michigan seemingly only had time for a single play, which ended up being a 47-yard Hail Mary attempt that was batted down in the back of the end zone.

Viewers watching the game on NBC were treated to an instant replay that showed the clock hitting zero before the football made contact with any players, but officials ultimately determined there was still time remaining while giving the Wolverines a do-over they capitalized on to get the win.

The ending predictably spawned plenty of conspiracy theories about officials rigging the game in Michigan’s favor, and while the MAC went as far as to appeal the outcome on Western Michigan’s behalf, the NCAA will not be overturning the official result.

One of the glaring issues with the debate over the intricacies of the clock calculation was that there was seemingly no angle of the play that also featured a shot of the countdown inside the stadium. However, that wasn’t actually the case.

A fan captured the clock at the Big House while filming Michigan’s initial Hail Mary attempt and it appears there was actually time left

The clock controversy stemmed from NBC ensuring viewers that the clock it displayed on the broadcast was synced with the one in the stadium (and presumably the one the officials were relying on), but the Big Ten ended up releasing evidence that showed that wasn’t the case.

However, that didn’t do much to put the matter to rest. One thing that could do exactly that was a video showing the game clock in the stadium hitting zero before the ball was touched, but it failed to emerge in the days after the contest.

That changed on Wednesday courtesy of a fan named Zach Linfield, who was sitting behind the opposite end zone when he whipped out his phone to record the first Hail Mary attempt. He shared the clip online while zooming in and slowing things down to get a better look, and it appears to show there was still one second on the clock at the moment the ball made contact with WMU’s Micah Davis.

It is anything but definitive, and it would be much easier to figure things out if the video could be synced to another angle on the broadcast. That’s easier said than done, but at first glance, it appears the refs made the right call in the end.