College football officials are calling the Big Ten’s explanation for adding one second to the clock a “pile of garbage.” Analyst Josh Pate reported that referees privately told him the league’s story does not make sense. The decision let Michigan win 13-12 against Western Michigan with a final Hail Mary. This fix allowed a second try at the end of the game.
What The Officials Actually Said
Josh Pate spoke on his show, “Josh Pate’s College Football Show,” about the controversy, according to Yahoo Sports. He said he heard from “several officials and several referees” who were angry. These men on the field do not believe the league’s story. They think the league office is trying to hide a mistake.
Pate shared their exact words. He said they called the explanation a move to cover their tracks. They also said the handling of the play was “beyond the pale.” The officials feel the league office acted in a bad way. They want someone to look them in the eye and explain it.
Pate challenged the league directly. According to him, he wishes a league official would face him directly and confirm whether, had Western Michigan been positioned at midfield offering a prayer under identical conditions, the outcome would have unfolded precisely as it did. If the teams were swapped, the call likely would not have changed the clock.
The One Second That Changed Everything
The Big Ten added one second back to the clock in the fourth quarter. This small change gave Michigan a second chance to win. Without that extra second, the game would have ended differently. Western Michigan wide receiver JJ Buchanan caught a pass for a touchdown. The score ended 13-12 as time ran out.
NBC, which broadcast the game, had its own rules analyst question the call. The analyst asked where the stray one second came from. The league later released video to show how they reviewed the play. Western Michigan and the MAC accepted the ruling after this video came out. But the officials who were on the field still disagree.
The league said the clock operator made a mistake. They claimed the clock was stopped too early. This led to the one-second addition. But the refs say the math and the rules do not add up. They think the league is making excuses to save face. Pate called it a “horrifically bad” set of actions.
Why The Fans Are Angry
Fans are upset because the call looks wrong. One fan said, according to Yahoo Sports, “He’s right. That call was horrible!!!!!” The anger is not just about the score. It is about how the league handled the situation. Another fan noted, “Gotta remember, common sense doesn’t exist in college football.” This lack of logic hurts the game.
The situation reminds fans of other bad calls. James Franklin, a coach, once spoke about a penalty for high-fiving. He stated that his team received a penalty for high-fiving a member of the corps. He also said he was not a huge fan of the rule and questioned why they could not high-five somebody in the military. These past issues show that rules can be strange.
Now the Big Ten is under fire again. Pate tweeted that the Big Ten robbed Western Michigan and then tried gaslighting the entire country. Gaslighting means making people doubt their own eyes. The officials on the field saw what happened. They know the rules. The league office is trying to tell a different story.
What This Means For The Game
This incident hurts trust in college football. When refs say the explanation is garbage, the fans listen. The league office needs to fix this. They cannot keep making up reasons for bad calls. The rules must be clear and fair for everyone. If the league cannot get the time right, the game loses its meaning.
Western Michigan players and coaches accepted the loss. But the officials did not. They want the truth to come out. They feel the league is protecting itself instead of the sport. This is a big problem. A game should be decided by the players, not by a phone call in a league office.
The Big Ten needs to answer the questions. Pate asked if the same call would happen if the teams were reversed. The answer should be yes. If the answer is no, then the call was biased. The refs know the difference. They are speaking up because they care about the game.
Until the league fixes its process, fans will keep asking questions. The one-second fix was the spark. The anger from the refs is the fire. This story will not go away until the truth is told. The fans deserve a fair game. The refs deserve to be heard.
