FBS oversight committee says it can't overturn WMU's loss - ESPN

The NCAA's FBS oversight committee said Wednesday that it «does not have the authority» to overturn the result of Western Michigan's controversial loss to Michigan on Sept. 5.

The committee, however, also said that instant replay protocols «were not followed» by the Big Ten, and that had protocols been followed, «the outcome of the game would have been different.»

Michigan won 13-12 on a Hail Mary touchdown pass after Big Ten replay officials put one second back on the clock. The stadium clock and the one shown on the NBC broadcast showed zeros before quarterback Bryce Underwood's first Hail Mary was touched outside the back of the end zone.

In letters sent Sept. 8 to the NCAA and the College Football Playoff, Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher said «replay protocol was not properly followed» and asked that Western Michigan be recognized as the «actual winner.»

«The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure to follow an established and specific protocol governing precisely this type of end-of-half timing situation,» he wrote.

That added second prevented Western Michigan, the defending MAC champion, from defeating the Wolverines for the first time in program history.

Days later, the NCAA issued new guidance «to establish a standard timing protocol that ensures consistency in the administration of all college football games.»

ESPN obtained a copy of a memo from NCAA national coordinator of officials Ron Snodgrass, which was approved by the NCAA's secretary rules editor, Matt Young.

«The official time for all college football games is the time displayed on the in-stadium game clock,» the memo said. «When a replay review requires time to be restored or