EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsKALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Silence hung over the Western Michigan locker room.Quarterback Broc Lowry sat in front of his locker, struggling to comprehend the reality of the final play.Cornerback Jarvarius Sims, who was in the end zone during the second Hail Mary, was too distraught to make it off the field on his own; assistant coaches Kyle Perkins and Nick Coleman had to help carry him through the Michigan Stadium tunnel.Several other assistants couldn't even get to the locker room, unable to fight their way through the crowd of Michigan fans that had stormed the field.As they checked their phones, players saw dozens of deleted texts and social media messages from friends and family who'd initially believed the Broncos had pulled off one of the biggest wins in Western Michigan history."You become almost numb," Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor said. "It was surreal. Did this really happen?"The disbelief carried over to Sunday, as players trickled into the Bill Brown Alumni Football Center to lift weights, still processing one of the most controversial endings in recent college football history.After the game appeared to be over, Big Ten replay officials put one second back on the clock, giving the Wolverines another play. Bryce Underwood then connected with JJ Buchanan on a 47-yard Hail Mary for an improbable 13-12 Michigan victory."It was just stunning," Sims said. "When you want to win so bad and you sacrifice everything for the team and it don't go in your favor, especially the way it ended, it was very painful."By Tuesday, the Broncos had begun turning their pain into fuel. Just before Western Michigan's first practice since the Michigan loss, Sims addressed the team, urging his teammates to unleash that pain on every remaining opponent."You'd think we won the game by the way we practiced," Lowry said. "Guys were just on fire."Elsewhere, the debate surrounding Saturday's ending only intensified.Later Tuesday, Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher wrote letters requesting that the NCAA overturn the result and that the College Football Playoff selection committee recognize the Broncos as the winner in its "evaluation and deliberations."The NCAA even issued new guidance "to establish a standard timing protocol" with game clocks. The MAC contends that had the proper protocol been followed in Ann Arbor, the extra second would not have been added.Yet inside Western Michigan's football building, the focus had already shifted from what happened to what comes next."Hey, don't feel sorry for us," Taylor said. "Feel sorry for the teams that we're going to play -- because we're going to use this emotion."LAST SEASON, WESTERN Michigan won its fourth MAC title and first in nine years.Group of 6 schools are gutted annually by bigger programs that can offer players far more money. This past offseason, 80 MAC scholarship players transferred to Power 4 schools, including 27 who earned All-MAC honors in 2025.After last season, Western Michigan identified 28 players it wanted to keep. The Broncos lost only one: deep snapper RJ Todd, who went to Oregon."It's like, why not come back?" said Lowry, the reigning MAC offensive player of the year. "You go to a different team and make $800K but be miserable, or you could stay here and do something really special. ... We wanted to build off what we did last year, and we wanted to keep playing for each other."They also wanted to keep playing for Taylor."I'm willing to run through a wall for that guy because of how much he cares," Sims said. "All of the starters that came back, there was never a doubt."Taylor, the only Native American FBS head coach, took the job in 2023 and quickly turned Western Michigan back into a winner. The Broncos started 0-3 last season before making Lowry the starter.Western Michigan has lost only twice since, including Saturday in Ann Arbor."We don't have the money to spend to compete," university president Russ Kavalhuna said. "We have the culture -- and that culture has real currency. ... That's the reason I say that Coach Taylor is the best coach in the country."Sitting in his office overlooking Waldo Stadium, Taylor fought back tears discussing the "devastated" faces of his players after the Michigan game."As badly as I wanted to win that game, I wanted it for them because I know how hard they worked and how much they put into it," Taylor said. "You think about what the Michigan win would've meant. We haven't had that type of win here."So to have that ripped out from our young men, you feel for them."In the locker room after the game, Taylor addressed the players for roughly three minutes, beginning with how proud he was of them."Hey, it's OK to hurt," he then said. "It's going to hurt because you guys poured it all out, you gave everything that you had. And we came really close to having a historic victory."Despite coming up short Saturday, the Broncos say they believe their biggest goals remain within reach.In Week 4, they play Boise State at home in a showdown that could carry implications for the Group of 6's automatic playoff berth. Boise State, the Pac-12 preseason favorite, nearly upset No. 2 Oregon in Eugene last weekend."Beating Michigan, that would've been amazing," Sims said. "But at the same time, we want to do something bigger than just beating Michigan. We want to be the first G6 team to win a playoff game and even go further. That's our mission. We want to make history."DAYS LATER, THE city of Kalamazoo still can't let go of Saturday.Across the street from the stadium, a banner hangs above the entrance to Waldo's Campus Tavern: 12-7, flanked by screenshots of the first Hail Mary with 0:00 showing on the clock.General manager Eric Bowler was about to buy shots for the bar and play the Western Michigan fight song on the jukebox until officials put the extra second back on the clock."Obviously, Western won the game," said Bowler, who put up the sign. "Even the Michigan fans I've talked to agree we got hosed."At the Brick and Brine bar downtown, patrons are still buzzing about that extra second while sipping wine and martinis."It's a travesty," Liam Mulligan tells Dan Williamson, a Western Michigan alum. Williamson says his daughter went to bed after the first Hail Mary, thinking the Broncos had won.At the bar's other end, Don and Tamra Puckett, both Western Michigan alums, say their son Trace, a Western Michigan student, was so upset the following morning he ran five miles to burn off the anger."I know they won," bartender Cari Merrill said. "We all know they won."Inside the football building, the message has been different: Let it go.Less than 24 hours after he had to be helped through the Michigan Stadium tunnel, Sims stood before his teammates during Sunday evening's walkthrough and told them "to flush" what happened."If we dwell on the past," he said, "we'll never be able to get to where we want to in the future."Flush the result. But don't forget the pain."We're going to work even harder and channel that anger and all the feelings we have toward the rest of the season," Lowry said.Taylor doesn't want what happened at Michigan to define his team.What comes next, he hopes, will mean even more."I think that it's going to be a scar that sticks with us forever but also binds our team closer together," he said. "And the way that the guys have responded, I think it's going to be a springboard for our season."ESPN's Max Olson contributed to this report.
