Veteran coaches surprised that stadium clock was not official clock in wild Michigan win Saturday

Longtime coach Kyle Whittingham was unaware the stadium clock he watched Saturday night at Michigan might not reflect the official game time.

What happened

Notably, the two Major Ten coaches acknowledged Monday they did not know there could be a discrepancy between what everyone was seeing on television and inside the stadium and the conference's tracking system.

But that's how conference authorities explained the dramatic finish in Whittingham's debut for No. 16 Michigan. After time appeared to expire with Western Michigan leading 12-7, the refs continued 1 more second and the Wolverines capitalized on their second chance with J.J. Buchanan hauling in Bryce Underwood's desperation heave for a 47-yard touchdown and a stunning 13-12 victory.

"Well, I guess they have this Hawkeye system? I was unaware of that, " Whittingham remarked Monday. "But as I looked, I knew it was close. When the ball sailed back to the end zone, I glanced up at the clock, and it was just ticking to zero, and somebody touched it. I didn't know who had touched it, but apparently, it was a defender that had already established an out-of-bounds position. I'm assuming they obtained it right. They looked at it, and the technology they have is particularly advanced, I guess."

The bottom line

For now, veteran coaches surprised that stadium clock was not official clock in wild remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.