A Week After the Bail Mary, Two Michigan College Football Teams Turned the Page

ANN ARBOR and KALAMAZOO, Mich. – There were cheers instead of derisive jeers, followed by fans flowing through the tunnels of the Big House instead of a strangely cathartic postgame field rush. There were plenty of smiles, too-not the result of relief this time around, but pride.

Read more Grading Each Position After Eagles Win Over Commanders: Jalen Hurts Aces Test; O-Line Fails

What a difference a week makes in college football, where a team can go from needing one added second to 2–0, from “Bail Mary” to College Football Playoff–tilting bounce back.

The only thing controversial on Saturday at the same site of one of the most hotly debated endings in decades may have been how many fans clad in crimson and cream found their way into what was otherwise a sea of maize (but not blue). The final scoreboard, no conference office intervention needed, read plainly: Michigan 17, No. 11 Oklahoma 10.

“Everything that we were looking for in this game, that was missing last week, showed up,” said Wolverines coach Kyle Whittingham, sporting a look of satisfaction instead of shock after notching his first signature win with the program. “We needed to play a heck of a lot better than we did last week-and we did.”

The 111,240 fans agree, even if the third meeting between the two historic bluebloods looked like it was straight out the 1970s with a pair of wing T offenses operating out of the shotgun and two willing defenses determined to ensure every yard was hard earned. The starting quarterbacks were each side’s leading rusher, and the Sooners’ two turnovers, including a calamitous John Mateer interception in the fourth quarter that set up the game-winning score, played an oversized role in determining the final margin.

But there would be no complaints for Michigan, no sheepish grins trying to celebrate a win that felt like a loss as was the case in Week 1 against Western Michigan. Instead, there was an acknowledgement that a team which is very much a work in progress, finally showed some signs of it.

“If we were treated badly, we probably deserved it because we didn’t play very well last week,” Whittingham said. “It always comes down to execution, and they did a really good job [against Oklahoma].”

It’s hard to deny that, from the 91-yard drive on the second offensive series which showcased a far more physical run game down to the way the defensive line wreaked havoc for much more than the three sacks it was credited with. It was a night-and-day difference on the field, and likewise flipped from prime time to Big Noon Kickoff. Though it was not all pretty-or even truly inspiring to the long-term cause of being a CFP contender-there was a clear and linear development from one outing to the next. The despair most of the fan base felt over the proceeding six days can fade into the background.

Most inspiring might be the play of quarterback Bryce Underwood, whose energy was apparent from the initial warmups where he gave a fiery motivational speech just a few feet away from where his Hail Mary landed the week prior. His final numbers were modest (9 of 17, 111 passing yards), but he didn’t make the damaging mistake which has postmarked many of Michigan’s losses over the last two seasons. His ability to run the ball (18 carries, 87 yards and a touchdown) seems to have finally been unleashed by offensive coordinator Jason Beck and could pay dividends during Big Ten play.

The Big House is PACKED for Michigan vs. Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/ykEMZYx1R3

– Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 12, 2026

The combination of his solid play against a playoff hopeful and his coach’s sermon after the game to the media tamped down talk of the highly paid signal-caller losing his job-which had gasoline thrown on it after Whittingham was asked if Underwood would remain the starter on Tuesday.

“I was asked if his job was his infinitely etched in stone. Whose job is ever etched in stone? I don’t know anyone in football who does,” Whittingham said, pushing back with a steely look in his eyes. “I don’t agree that I opened that can of worms. Bryce is our quarterback.

“He’s got even more [to show]. If you can see an upward trajectory with him throughout the year, we’ll be real tough to beat.”

With that settled and a victory dispatching the need for another players-only meeting like the one held after Week 1, attention can get back to football. Michigan remains undefeated, contrary to belief, and the only question left to answer is just how much further it will go.

An hour and a half to the west of Ann Arbor, in the rustic Midwestern outpost of Kalamazoo, the page was being turned from last week’s events, too.

Well, at least between the lines, at Waldo Stadium.

Western Michigan’s contest against Monmouth went, thankfully for all involved, rather routinely in a 49–14 win that seemed certain from the opening second. The Broncos racked up 7.3 yards per play against the tiny FCS team from New Jersey on Saturday night, pulled the starters early in the second half and could have made things worse had they executed like they did in Week 1 down I-94 against a power-conference foe.

“I think we were ready to play on Sunday, with all the anger and opening up your phone and seeing the last play of the Michigan game. The struggle was putting that anger to something good, putting that towards Monmouth,” quarterback Broc Lowry said after a three-touchdown game where he also led the team in rushing. “Everybody’s saying we won the game, it really doesn’t matter. We were 0–1 and the message was no one’s coming to save us, nothing’s going to change. We’ve just got to keep putting our head down.”

“It’s always been about us. It really doesn’t matter what happened outside [the team],” says linebacker Domanick Moon, who recorded a game-high 12 tackles and a sack. “At the end of the day, it’s all about us.”

That was hammered into the team after the Michigan game, starting before they even got back to the team facilities after snatching a defeat out of the jaws of victory in the cruelest manner.

Though much of the school’s brass spent the days prior pleading their case to overturn the result at the Big House, internally the message remained consistent. It wasn’t about what happened; it’s about what happened next.

“On the bus ride back, I’m texting our leaders and our coordinators my thoughts and my message was we’re going to turn the page-we were going to be better and stronger because of it. I needed their help to do it and they showed up on Sunday to watch the tape and flush lift and flush run,” head coach Lance Taylor says. “I gave them what the mission and goal needed to be and they ran with it. I think that that speaks volumes about where our program is right now, what the culture is. I think we’ve laid a great foundation where we’re able to bring back so many players from last year’s MAC championship team and those things matter. They understand what the standard is.”

Read more 3 Winners, 3 Losers From Steelers Win Over Falcons

If they needed any reminding of what falling short of that is at a place where “Championship Habits” and “Competitive Greatness” are plastered above the doors of the team meeting room, it wasn’t hard to find a few clips floating around of their now infamous Hail Mary defense which allowed Underwood to find JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard walk-off touchdown.

Taylor compared the play to a car wreck-one you can’t keep your eyes off of-and confirmed he rewatched it hundreds of times before putting the headset back on for the team’s first official victory. He likely did more media in a few days than what he typically does over the course of a season with the small press corps in town. Calls from mentors, like Nick Saban and well-known leadership speakers, were appreciated even if the reason isn’t the most pleasant.

Broncos fans, in contrast to the team they support which is looking ahead to a road trip to Rice and a pivotal Group of 6 game in two weeks against Boise State, certainly won’t be letting up in conveying a far different feeling about being robbed of the biggest win in school history.

During the halftime show against Monmouth, the home team’s band paused the countdown for their final flourish-a dedication to space-by letting the public address announcer boom quite enthusiastically that they needed an extra second that got plenty of applause in response.

A few of the students who flocked to the south end zone in the second half joined a growing movement of fans and removed the hastily made “1–0” white T-shirts to wave above their heads. Later on, the P.A. not so subtly exclaimed that the 49–14 final margin took place in exactly 60 minutes upon the final horn before relaying a message about tickets still for sale for the next game.

Broncos take the W#theGOLDstandardpic.twitter.com/Bmr9Ymo2ro

– Western Michigan Football (@WMU_Football) September 13, 2026

Such jabs were more fun than critical of the Week 1 events, which may have brought more attention to the program nationally than even a trip to the Cotton Bowl did a decade ago.

“If anyone comes to you and tells you, ‘Here’s how you handle a crisis,’ I have to tell you, they’re not telling the truth,” says Western Michigan president Russ Kavalhuna, a former pilot and federal prosecutor before getting into higher education. “I’ve handled in-flight emergencies in flight decks. I’ve handled witnesses on the stand in federal courtrooms that did things that I didn’t expect. It is not like, one, two, three, IKEA assembling furniture kind of thing. You want to show why you won-and we’re fighting to do that. But we’re also really proud about the learning experience here and this is a way for us to say to the rest of the world: If you come to Western, you learn how to win with dignity, you learn how to lose with grace, and if it’s in between, you still have sportsmanship.

“If you are around young people and you give them a chance to try and grow and learn through achievement or difficulty, that is really inspiring. That’s what motivates Lance. That’s what motivates me. So, we’re going to keep trying to win games, but the truth is, we have momentum, and you can’t let that go. You can’t measure it, but you can feel it.”

It was indeed palpable on Saturday, with 24,605 fans packing the stadium for the largest home-opening crowd since 2017 and turning the stadium into a party befitting a place called the “Zoo.” Students turned on their phone flashlights as the loudspeakers began booming during the two-minute warning, smoke guns and DJ speakers lit up on the sideline during breaks and an LED light show before the fourth quarter was accompanied by “Crazy Train” blasting loudly around a venue built cozily into the side of a large hill.

The team has given them reason to celebrate and believe in even bigger things after showing the rest of the college football world that they’re every bit the equal of their big blue brothers.

“What we did last Saturday night, we earned the respect of the nation. I’ve had so many people who never watched a Western Michigan game, don’t even know where Kalamazoo is, reach out and offer, not just support, but pride in what they saw in our football team-in how disciplined, how well coached we were,” Taylor says. “They felt like we were the better team on the field, and I think that those are examples that you need to continue to elevate the standard. Any time that we get to play on national television, that’s a 60-minute or four-hour ad campaign for what our culture and standard is. I think that those things are showing up and it may have even been elevated more because we lost than because we won.”

That loss will remain officially on the record books as the Broncos continue this season, looking like a good bet to win back-to-back MAC championships for the first time in program history. A playoff bid lingers if they beat Boise State in a few weeks, too.

Those are goals for another day. Until then, a slight respite occurs, pausing in the final few moments of win No. 1 to reflect on a campaign that is quite memorable despite being so young.

“We’re 2–0, and I don’t care what anyone says,” Kavalhuna says to Taylor before embracing.

For this weekend at least, both Michigan and Western Michigan believe that as they both start to move on from the final second which will forever link them.

PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated‘s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s college YouTube channel or on SI TV.

This article was originally published on www.si.com as A Week After the Bail Mary, Two Michigan College Football Teams Turned the Page.

Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Read more Andy Reid Talks Chiefs, Cheeseburgers

This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 3:00 AM.