{"id":8203,"date":"2026-09-06T05:35:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T05:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203"},"modified":"2026-09-06T05:35:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T05:35:57","slug":"michigan-wins-on-second-hail-mary-pass-in-controversial-ending-to-avoid-brutal-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203","title":{"rendered":"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ANN ABOR, Mich. \u2014 Given an unlikely second chance at a game-ending Hail Mary, Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown pass that lifted No. 16 Michigan over Western Michigan 13-12 on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Read more Lululemon billionaire founder Chip Wilson files for divorce after 20 years of marriage \u2014 with no prenup in place: report<\/a><\/p>\n

The Wolverines were 27 1\/2-point favorites in coach\u00a0Kyle Whittingham\u2019s debut. The Broncos thought they\u2019d secured a historic upset when Underwood\u2019s first Hail Mary sailed out of bounds with the clock expired.<\/p>\n

WMU players were already on the field celebrating when officials called for a review. 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 still to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pretty sure there was 1 second left,\u201d Whittingham said.<\/p>\n

Underwood heaved another throw, and Buchanan leaped to snag it and came down with it in the end zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne for the history books right here,\u201d Whittingham said.<\/p>\n

Western Michigan was threatening to hand Michigan perhaps its biggest upset since a season-opening loss to Appalachian State in 2007, when the Wolverines were 33-point favorites. The Broncos kicked four field goals and forced three turnovers, including a late fumble by Underwood.<\/p>\n

WMU went ahead for the first time early in the fourth quarter on Dieter Kelly\u2019s 39-yard field goal that capped a 20-play drive that took 13:40 off the clock.<\/p>\n

Read more Bloodsoaked manager of ritzy Miami steakhouse accused of stabbing mom to death<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThere was not hooting and hollering in the locker room because we have a lot of work to do,\u201d Whittingham said.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 and they did in dramatic fashion.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Read more Iran plotting new Oct. 7-style attack against Israel with its terrorist proxies: report<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Held to just seven points for the first 59 minutes and 59 seconds against Western Michigan on Saturday, the Wolverines came up with a miracle, perhaps with some help from the clock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-football"],"yoast_head":"\nMichigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Held to just seven points for the first 59 minutes and 59 seconds against Western Michigan on Saturday, the Wolverines came up with a miracle, perhaps with some help from the clock.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-06T05:35:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-06T05:35:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203\"},\"wordCount\":386,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"College Football\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203\",\"name\":\"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-06T05:35:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8203#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Held to just seven points for the first 59 minutes and 59 seconds against Western Michigan on Saturday, the Wolverines came up with a miracle, perhaps with some help from the clock.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-09-06T05:35:57+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset","datePublished":"2026-09-06T05:35:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203"},"wordCount":386,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp","articleSection":["College Football"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203","name":"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-06T05:35:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fdee4a5a8ac70b1dc13a350045183cd4.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8203#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michigan wins on second Hail Mary pass in controversial ending to avoid brutal upset"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}