Western Michigan president Russ Kavalhuna told ESPN on Sunday night that he didn't think the Big Ten's replay process that put a second back on the clock, leading to Michigan's winning touchdown pass over the Broncos, "is as good as it could be."
"And that's because what the [TV] viewers see in a pivotal question is different than what the review process shows," Kavalhuna said. "Is there a real reason why we can't have those things equal? And if there is, let's try and fix that. And if there isn't a real reason why we can't have those things synced up, then we should sync them up so that everybody who's watching at home doesn't start to wonder what happened."
On what appeared to be the final play of Saturday's game, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood sailed a Hail Mary pass beyond the end zone and into the arms of Western Michigan safety Micah Davis. TV replays showed the clock hitting zero with the ball still in the air.
But Big Ten replay officials put a second back on the clock, giving the Wolverines another play.
With one second remaining, Underwood threw another Hail Mary, and JJ Buchanan hauled it in for a 47-yard touchdown, giving the Wolverines the stunning 13-12 victory.
Kavalhuna said he spoke to Big Ten officials after the game, including conference commissioner Tony Petitti, to get an explanation for why the clock the Big Ten reviewed was different than the clock shown on the NBC broadcast.
"If you look at what they saw, then you reach the conclusion they reached," Kavalhuna said. "However, if you look at what the broadcasters broadcast, you reach a different conclusion.
"I think it would be good to ask ourselves, can we sync those up so that the viewers could see what the officials would be looking at?"
Kavalhuna added that if there were an appeals process, he would ask for a review to determine whether the Big Ten's clock was more accurate than the one shown on the broadcast.
"There is no mechanism to appeal. That just doesn't exist," he said. "If there were an opportunity to do that, what I would ask is, 'Hey, are we sure that the sync that the Big Ten used is better than the sync that the broadcasters and all my fans saw?'"
Kavalhuna reiterated that he didn't believe the Big Ten was "trying to change the process or apply it inequitably," but he believes his players deserve evidence showing why the Big Ten's clock was more accurate.
The Big Ten stood by the statement it issued two hours after the game.
"It was determined [Davis] started his jump from an established out-of-bounds position [left foot] and made contact with the ball with one second remaining on the clock," the conference said, citing the rule that stops the clock on such contact. "A side-by-side view of the play and the game clock, using a direct shot of the game clock in the stadium, was used to determine the final ruling."
Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher told ESPN earlier Sunday that the review process was properly followed, and though he might not like the outcome, it was ultimately correct.
"I have confidence in the integrity of the process and integrity of the people involved," Steinbrecher said. "The process was followed, and given that, you have to go with that decision."
The extra second prevented Western Michigan, the defending MAC champion, from defeating the Wolverines for the first time in program history. Instead, the Broncos fell to 0-9 all time against Michigan.
Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor said earlier Sunday that "ultimately, the refs did not cost" the Broncos the game and that his team isn't looking for pity.
"If we make the mistake of making an excuse, it allows us to be bitter instead of getting better," he said. "That's where we want to go as a football team."
Kavalhuna also pushed back on any suggestion that Western Michigan's relationship with the Big Ten had muted the school's response. The Broncos have nonconference games scheduled with Big Ten programs in four of the next six years.
"The only thing that is motivating my actions is making sure that the rules are clear and the rules were applied fairly. And that is the only thing driving my analysis," Kavalhuna said. "And if we did have a disagreement with the Big Ten, that wouldn't jeopardize anything. In any of this discussion, no one has brought up, 'Well, future relationships could be implicated.'
"I haven't thought about it, and the only focus that I've had is, what's the rule and was it fairly applied here? And now I'm educated on that, and I'm saying, 'Hey, we should probably look at the rule.' But as it stands now, the rule was applied the way it should be."
ESPN's Heather Dinich contributed to this report.
