The Michigan Wolverines scored a dramatic Hail Mary as time expired on Saturday night to avoid one of the biggest upsets in college football history.
With Michigan trailing 12-7 to Western Michigan, quarterback Bryce Underwood launched the ball 47 yards as the clock struck zero in the fourth quarter.
Remarkably, in a scrum of players, wide receiver JJ Buchanan managed to catch the pass and get into the end zone, sealing a 13-12 win and sparking wild scenes of celebration at the Big House in Ann Arbor.
It came after Underwood’s first Hail Mary attempt sailed out of bounds as the clock expired, leaving the Western Michigan players thinking they had spoiled Kyle Whittingham’s debut as Wolverines coach.
Officials called for a review and TV replays showed the clock hitting zero before the ball hit the hands of a Western Michigan defender, but officials ruled there was a second left.
Underwood heaved another throw, and Buchanan leaped to snag it and came down with it in the end zone.
Michigan scored a Hail Mary to avoid one of the biggest upsets in college football history
Wide receiver JJ Buchanan managed to catch the pass, sparking wild scenes of celebration
Bryce Underwood launched the ball from inside Michigan’s half towards the end zone
Western Michigan came within seconds of one of the biggest shocks in college football history
‘One for the history books right here,’ Whittingham said.
Western Michigan kicked four field goals and forced three turnovers, including a late fumble by Underwood.
The Broncos went ahead for the first time early in the fourth quarter on Dieter Kelly´s 39-yard field goal that capped a 20-play drive that took 13:40 off the clock.
Western Michigan was threatening to hand Michigan perhaps its biggest upset since an infamous, season-opening loss to Appalachian State in 2007, when the Wolverines were 33-point favorites.
Underwood lost a fumble at his 31 with 1:50 left after throwing an interception in the first half and nearly getting picked off two more times.
Kelly, a junior-college transfer from College of San Mateo, made his fourth field goal with 35 seconds left to force the Wolverines to score a touchdown to win – and they did in dramatic fashion.
Western Michigan, which has played major college football since 1962 in the Mid-American Conference, has never beaten an opponent in the top 20 of the Associated Press poll.
