The Aporia · Group of refs, officials call explanation of controversial Michigan ending ‘pile of garbage’: College football analyst

Group of refs, officials call explanation of controversial Michigan ending ‘pile of garbage’: College football analyst

Read the original at New York Post ↗

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APA MLA Chicago

Arnold, C. (2026, September 7). Group of refs, officials call explanation of controversial Michigan ending ‘pile of garbage’: College football analyst. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/06/sports/group-of-refs-officials-question-controversial-michigan-ending-josh-pate/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

College football analyst Josh Pate has criticized the Big Ten's explanation of a disputed call that allowed Michigan to win against Western Michigan with a second Hail Mary attempt. According to Pate, several officials and referees have privately expressed their skepticism about the explanation, calling it "a pile of garbage" from the league office. The controversy surrounds a stray one second added back to the clock in the fourth quarter. Big Ten officials have defended the decision by releasing video of their internal review process.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-07, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Western Michigan Broncos were on the verge of pulling off a massive upset against the Michigan Wolverines, but a clock controversy changed the course of the game. The Broncos thought they had secured a historic win when Bryce Underwood's Hail Mary attempt sailed out of bounds with zero seconds left on the clock. However, officials reviewed the play and determined that there was still one second remaining, allowing Michigan another chance to score.

In the end, Underwood connected with J.J. Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown pass, lifting Michigan to a 13-12 win over Western Michigan. The decision to put one second back on the clock has been widely criticized, with many calling it a "cover-your-ass" move by the Big Ten league office.

The incident sparked controversy and debate among fans, officials, and analysts, with some questioning whether Michigan would have been given another chance to score if they had missed the second Hail Mary attempt. The game was marked by a series of bizarre events, including Michigan fans storming the field in celebration after the win.

Written for “Michigan-Western Michigan Controversy” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Clock controversy allows Michigan Wolverines to avoid massive upset against Western Michigan same event · 100%

Fox News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 36 📰 publisher trust 67

“Both articles describe the same game between Michigan and Western Michigan, with a clock controversy allowing Michigan a second Hail Mary chance to win”

Both report: The two articles describe the same game between Michigan and Western Michigan, with a clock controversy allowing Michigan a second Hail Mary chance to win.
This one adds: The Fox News article provides more details about the reason for the controversy, stating that Western Michigan started their jump from an established out-of-bounds position, which stopped the clock on contact. The article also quotes a conference statement explaining this rule.
The other adds: The New York Post article includes statements from college football analysts and officials who are critical of the Big Ten league office's handling of the situation, calling it "a pile of garbage" and "beyond the pale". This article does not provide additional details about the clock controversy itself, but rather focuses on the reaction to the decision.
Framing: The Fox News article presents a more neutral tone, simply reporting the facts of the case. The New York Post article takes a stronger stance, with analysts and officials expressing outrage and disappointment at the league office's handling of the situation.

Michigan deny minnows Western Michigan with controversial last-second Hail Mary same event · 100%

The Guardian

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 14 📰 publisher trust 69

“Both articles report on a specific game between Michigan and Western Michigan, with a focus on a controversial ending where a Hail Mary pass was reviewed to put one second back on the clock.”

Both report: Both articles report on the controversial ending of a game between Michigan and Western Michigan, where a Hail Mary pass was reviewed to put one second back on the clock.
This one adds: The Guardian article reports that the final score was 13-12 in favor of Michigan, with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Underwood to JJ Buchanan. This detail is not present in the New York Post article.
The other adds: The New York Post article quotes a college football analyst who describes the Big Ten league office's explanation as a "pile of garbage", and suggests that they are trying to cover up their mistake. This criticism is not present in the Guardian article.
Framing: While both articles report on the controversy surrounding the game ending, the Guardian article frames it more neutrally, simply reporting on the events without explicit criticism or opinion. The New York Post article, on the other hand, has a more sensational tone and explicitly criticizes the Big Ten league office's handling of the situation.

Michigan fans called out on social media for rushing field after Wolverines steal win over Western Michigan same event · 100%

Fox News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 67

“Both articles describe the same game, between Michigan and Western Michigan, with a focus on the controversial ending where officials put one second back on the clock allowing Michigan to attempt a Hail Mary.”

Both report: The articles describe the same game between Michigan and Western Michigan, with a focus on the controversial ending where officials added one second back to the clock, allowing Michigan to attempt a Hail Mary. Both articles mention that Michigan fans rushed the field after the game, which ended in a Michigan victory. However, both articles approach this event from different angles.
This one adds: This article provides more context about the reaction of the Michigan fanbase on social media, implying that they were criticized for rushing the field after scoring only 13 points against Western Michigan. The author also suggests that the controversy surrounding the ending overshadowed the actual play itself.
The other adds: This article includes a quote from a college football analyst who claims to have spoken with officials and referees, who describe the explanation of the controversial ending as "a pile of garbage" and "beyond the pale". The analyst's statement implies that there is widespread criticism of the Big Ten league office's handling of the situation.
Framing: While both articles present a narrative around the controversy surrounding the game's ending, this article frames it more as a consequence of the fanbase's reaction, whereas the other article focuses on the alleged incompetence and dishonesty of the Big Ten league office. The first article uses more assertive language to describe the events, while the second article includes a more forceful quote that implies a stronger tone of outrage and criticism.

Michigan-Western Michigan clock controversy leaves players, fans and a rules analyst puzzled same event · 100%

Fox News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 41 📰 publisher trust 67

“Both articles describe the controversy surrounding a single game between Michigan and Western Michigan on the same day, with Article A describing the aftermath and Article B discussing the referees' explanation of the game's ending.”

Both report: The articles share a common event, describing the controversy surrounding a game between Michigan and Western Michigan on the same day.
This one adds: Article A provides more information about the context of the controversy, including a statement from the Mid-American Conference Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, which suggests that there was some confusion about the replay review and the placement of time back on the clock.
The other adds: Article B includes quotes from referees and officials who are critical of the Big Ten league office's explanation for the game's ending, describing it as a "pile of garbage" and suggesting that the handling of the situation was egregious. This article also includes comments from a college football analyst, Pate, who expresses his own frustration with the situation.
Framing: While both articles describe the controversy surrounding the game's ending, Article A frames it more neutrally, providing background information on the issue and quotes from the Mid-American Conference Commissioner. In contrast, Article B is more sensational in its language, using words like "garbage" and "horrifically bad" to describe the Big Ten league office's handling of the situation.

Michigan fans storming the field after beating a MAC school was amazing, Ole Miss fan goes viral & LSU fights same event · 100%

Fox News

⚖️ Leans right 🔴 1% hedged 1 of 80 📰 publisher trust 67

“Both articles describe the same game between Michigan and Western Michigan, with a focus on the controversial decision to put one second back on the clock in the fourth quarter.”

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

withheld

no quote in the article backed the model's score

Publisher signals

66/100

New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Who wrote this

Christian Arnold

136 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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2026-10-21 · assertive framing · NFLPA calls for ‘full investigation’ in latest twist to Jalen Hurts blood clot saga

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🔮 In one message, the person used a homophobic slur, wishing that Miller would be raped, before telling Wilson that “i am going to rape, beat and kill ur family.”

2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Florida Bar suspends employee after racist messages to Miami football player

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🔮 In another social media post from July, Justin Wu made a video explaining how his son ended up with the name Jalen, which was given to him when he was born during the playoff run in May.

2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Jalen Brunson’s Knicks heroics inspired a New York baby name boom

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Also by Christian Arnold

NYCFC coach addresses his future as disaster stretch continues to sink playoff hopes

2026-10-22 · New York Post

Colorado State assistant sleeping at team facility — and hasn’t been home for two weeks

2026-10-22 · New York Post

Hall of Famer Bob Huggins has progressive cognitive condition affecting ‘his daily life’

2026-10-22 · New York Post

LeBron James says it was ‘pretty special’ for 76ers to spoil the Knicks’ ring night

2026-10-21 · New York Post

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 136 articles by Christian Arnold →

Claims (12 extracted, 0 hedged)

Josh Pate had some strong words for the Big Ten after the controversial decision during the Michigan-Western Michigan game that led to the Wolverines pulling off a win after nearly getting upset by the Mid-American Conference foe. asserted

Wolverines → have → foe

The decision to put one second back on the clock in the fourth quarter allowed Michigan a second Hail Mary chance to win the game, which they did. asserted

they → put → which

Pate said during “Josh Pate’s College Football Show” that he’s heard from “several officials and several referees,” who were not buying the explanation given. asserted

who → say → explanation

“I would love for someone in the league office to look me in the eye and tell me if Western Michigan was at midfield heaving a prayer up and that exact same set of circumstances were to have played out, that this is the way it would have gone down,” Pate said during his show. asserted

Pate → love → show

“I have been on the phone with several officials and several referees this morning who wanted to make sure that they articulated how much of a [cover your ass] move this is, how big of a pile of garbage that is from the Big Ten league office, and how egregious, like beyond the pale, horrifically bad the machinations of the way that was handled last night were. asserted

that → want → way

The stray one second that officials put back on the clock has been the talk of college football. asserted

officials → put → football

Many have questioned where it came from, with NBC, which was carrying the broadcast, even having its own rules analyst questioning it. asserted

analyst → question → it

Western Michigan and the MAC have accepted the ruling following a statement by the Big Ten and the conference releasing video of the process it went through internally to review the play. asserted

it → accept → play

Still, NBC addressed the controversy as well on Sunday night during halftime of the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State, with John Fanta being the one to deliver it. asserted

Fanta → address → it

“Now, the official time of the game is kept by the Big Ten,” Fanta said on air. asserted

Fanta → keep → air

After the game last night, the Big Ten released a statement and raw video from its replay process that showed how and why the decision was made. asserted

decision → release → process

” While all parties involved seemed keen to move past the controversy, it doesn’t seem like the college football world is ready yet to end the debate over what happened on Saturday night in Ann Arbor. asserted

what → involve → Arbor

Group of refs, officials call explanation of controversial Michigan ending ‘pile of garbage’: College football analyst

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Claims (12 extracted, 0 hedged)