NBC says its cameras 'are not the official arbiter of timekeeping' after officials added 1 second back for Michigan's miracle Hail Mary
The Big Ten released a video late Saturday night showing there was a second remaining on the game clock on Michigan's first Hail Mary attempt.
During the Big Ten game on Sunday, No. 16 Michigan secured a surprising 13-12 victory over Western Michigan on a miraculous Hail Mary play. However, the game's clock showed a discrepancy that led to some confusion. NBC's cameras indicated that the game clock was at 0:00 when Western Michigan's Micah Davis caught the ball after stepping out of bounds, yet the Big Ten's official clock displayed one second remaining at that moment.
An NBC announcer clarified that their cameras were not responsible for keeping the official time during the game. After receiving a statement from the Big Ten and raw video from their replay process, it became clear that the clock issue was the only possible explanation for the addition of a second to the clock. NBC's rules analyst Terry McAuley suggested that their clock might have started slightly too early on the previous play.
The discrepancy could have been enough to compensate for the fraction of a second that separated the clock reading from the actual moment Davis caught the ball. Western Michigan's president and coach accepted the game's outcome, emphasizing that the officials' decision impacted the result, not the team's response to the situation.
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