Just when one thought things couldn’t get weirder for the Big Ten in their charity week where they willingly pay teams from smaller conferences for the right to visit their hallowed stadia and in theory be a cooperative doormat, enter the Western Michigan Broncos. Their MAC conference brethren from U Mass, the de facto doormats of their Group of Six klatsch, had already fled Piscataway, New Jersey (always a good option) with a win over the B1G’s cellar-dwelling Rutgers Scarlet Knights before WMU traveled to the eastern part of the LP for a nice pay day against the revamped and reconstituted big boys from the University of Michigan. U being the operative letter, as this was the debut for former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, a 180 degree turn from his scandal-laden predescessors Jim Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore.
But scandals aside, they did win. And for 59 minutes and 59 and a fraction seconds on Saturday night in Ann Arbor it looked like Whittingham wasn’t gonna follow suit. It sure looked like the MAC was gonna take two from the B1G. The NBC/Peacock audience thought they actually did.
And then, per NEWSWEEK’s Matthew Couden, intervention from above–and I don’t necessarily mean the Divine sort–took hold:
With nine seconds left on the game clock, Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood heaved the football from near midfield toward the end zone, hoping a teammate would catch it. However, Western Michigan’s defense swarmed, and a defender who was out of bounds touched the ball as it went toward the back of the end zone.
Broncos players began celebrating and rushing onto the field after what they thought was an upset win, but it was short-lived. The referees told everyone to leave the field as that play was under further review. After officials spoke with the head coaches, a referee returned to reveal that upon review, there was one second left on the clock.
With that, Michigan returned to the field with one second remaining and one more chance to score a game-winning touchdown. And Underwood delivered this time, with an even deeper throw, which teammate JJ hauled in for the game-winner. Michigan escaped with a thrilling, yet controversial victory, 13-12.
The Wolverines may indeed have the victory and avoided the sort of outright embarassment that their 2007 squad did in a season-opening loss to FCS powerhouse Appalachian State that is still not-so-fondly remembered. But the fact that they only mustered a single touchdown with an incumbent quarterback on a home field to a team that was a decent but hardly imposing 10-4 in 2025 underscores that Underwood and Whittingham still have a lot of work ahead of them to even come close to their respective pre-season expectations.
If you’re looking for real winners, look no further than the level of decorum and class that the Broncos’ leadership showed in the wake of this heartbreak. As THE ATHLETIC’s Cameron Teague Robinson elaborated yesterday:
Hours after Western Michigan’s heartbreaking and controversial 13-12 loss at Michigan on Saturday, WMU president Russ Kavalhuna had a detailed conversation with the Big Ten regarding its statement and video released to the public two hours after the final whistle blew.
Kavalhuna had the same question that many fans sitting at home did: Why was there a discrepancy between what the NBC clock showed on the review of the first Hail Mary and what the Big Ten released from the reviewing official? (Note: The Big Ten said that all broadcast cameras used for the replay system are synced 85 minutes before the game.) The answer Kavalhuna received was that the clocks, in this case, weren’t synced.
“I asked that direct question,” he said, during a news conference Sunday. “He was candid that it was a known discrepancy and that it’s through a thoughtful process that they’ve made that decision, and I believe the Big Ten has thought through that.”
“There are no appeals in this review process for the Big Ten or the MAC,” Kavalhuna said. “I asked if we should have a review process, if we should think about building one, but there is none right now. … I did want to find a way to appeal that decision, but there is none.
I highly doubt we would have seen anything close to anything quite as nuanced and classy at what Kavalhuna displayed were it to be expected from, say, the former hothead QB Harbaugh or even the Queens-born B1G prexy Tony Pettiti–who was known for especially vulagr tirades after receiving lousy ratings books when he ran WCBS-TV in New York. One may have to hail the victors valiant, as the Wolverine fight song implores, but the true triumphants in this case are Kavalhuna, his coach Lance Taylor and the class act they fielded.
Meanwhile, other B1G’s didn’t exactly crown themselves in glory either. BLEACHER REPORT’s David Kenyon was paying close attention so that you lucky ones at beaches and barbecues (or, in my case, dealing with an atypical rainstorm that ended my streak of pool party handstands) didn’t have to:
As a three-touchdown underdog, Wisconsin fought valiantly at the outset of Sunday night’s tilt at Lambeau Field. You could attribute Notre Dame’s sluggish first half to any number of factors. Opening games are rarely close to perfect, and Wisconsin always has a feisty defense no matter its team record. The list goes on. But a 13-10 margin at halftime—with UW outgaining the Irish? Curious, for sure.
As expected, though, Notre Dame did not panic. The offense put together a nine-play touchdown drive out of the break, DJ McKinney returned an interception to the house and Aneyas Williams rumbled in for another score. Nolan James Jr. tied a bow on the 41-13 final with a 28-yard touchdown catch.
And yet another win over what still seems strange to reference as a Pac-12 non-conference game was anything but convincing:
On one hand, Boise State is a quality team. It’s not like a lower-division program stuck with Oregon in a truly stunning game.
For those who believe Oregon is a prime championship threat, however, this was not a convincing home opener. Dan Lanning’s squad fell behind 17-7 and needed a couple of late defensive stops to outlast Boise 34-27.
Leaping off the bandwagon is unnecessary. That’d be a rash decision, especially as the program breaks in new coordinators on both sides of the ball.
Simultaneously, the Ducks had a flurry of head-scratching mistakes—the kinds that an elite contender will not make—with 10 penalties chief among them.
On more encouraging notes, what is equally as weird to reference as a CONFERENCE matchup revealed one contender to be more than a little decent:
In a 45-6 rout of Stanford, Miami did exactly what a heavy favorite is supposed to do. Most importantly, so did the superstars. Malachi Toney reeled in 12 passes for a program-record 234 yards, catching three touchdowns from new quarterback Darian Mensah. The transfer from Duke completed 27-of-30 throws for 401 yards and five scores in his Miami debut. It’s fair to say Heisman Trophy voters are on high alert.
And in storm-ravaged Baton Rouge, perhaps the sport’s most outsized lightning rod–Lane Kiffin– began his latest regime with a finger in the eye to traditionalists:
No team put together a more emphatic performance than LSU. Amid the drama surrounding the program, the Bayou Bengals blocked out that self-inflicted noise in a 51-10 obliteration of Clemson.
An early interception stood as the lone blemish of LSU’s dominant win. Sam Leavitt passed for 230 yards, added 113 on the ground and totaled three touchdowns in his debut, while Dilin Jones also scampered for 113 yards and two scores.
But perhaps the signature note of the night was delivered not to the visiting Tigers but to the ABC viewing audience, as AWFUL ANNOUNCING’s Kevin Harrish shared:
…Kiffin and LSU’s attempts to add several players to their roster who have already signed professional contracts and spent time with NFL teams this preseason – a move that sparked widespread outrage through the college football world. While an injunction would have allowed LSU to roster those players and play them against the Clemson Tigers in the season opener on Saturday, Kiffin and LSU ultimately opted not to put them on the roster for the game. They certainly did not need them in the 51-10 win, as Kiffin cheekily pointed out.
During a halftime interview with LSU up 31-3, Kiffin couldn’t resist throwing a cheeky comment about all the discourse leading up to the game, telling ESPN’s Holly Rowe, “Imagine if we had pro players.”
There’s three more months plus a post-season ahead, bro. We might not have to imagine all that long.
Courage…