Brandon Walker rips Portnoy as MAC fights to reverse Michigan's Hail Mary win

It's been almost a week since Bryce Underwood found JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard, second-chance Hail Mary that gave Michigan a 13-12 win over Western Michigan, and the fallout has only gotten louder. The finish was controversial from the jump: officials put 1 second back on the clock for a review that Western Michigan never got a real explanation for, then Underwood got his second try at the end zone. On Wake Up Barstool, that review has been the whole show all week, with Dave Portnoy defending the win as fair and Brandon Walker treating it like daylight robbery.

Viva La Stool

@VivaLaStool

DAVE AND BFW GOING AT IT!!!

Walker hasn't let up since. He's called Underwood's performance bad football, told Portnoy flatly that he should be ashamed of the win, and cracked that he wishes he could quit the show but doesn't have any other options. At one point he said only Michigan fans are actually fine with how the game ended — which, as of this week, apparently includes the entire MAC being decidedly not fine with it.

That's because Western Michigan's coach Lance Taylor and the MAC didn't just complain and move on. The conference filed a formal appeal with the NCAA FBS Oversight Committee and the College Football Playoff, arguing that the Big Ten's replay crew broke its own protocol — using the clock feed embedded in its replay system instead of the game clock shown on the actual broadcast, which is what the rulebook requires. The MAC's position is that if the correct feed had been used, no time would've been left and Western Michigan wins the game 12-7.

Barstool Sports

@barstoolsports

Western Michigan Coach Lance Taylor on the review they were shown before Michigan’s Hail Mary

That's a real, filed appeal from a conference office — not just fans venting on Twitter — and it's why this hasn't died down the way most Week 1 controversies do. Brandon Walker, who's spent all week playing the wronged party on Wake Up Barstool, treated the MAC's move as validation and posted a simple message aimed straight at the league that actually presides over this mess.

Brandon Walker

@BFW

Reverse it, @bigten

MACtion

@MACSports

Official Statement Regarding Western Michigan - Michigan Football Game 🗒️: t.co/eYw49T9ABR

Not everyone in the Barstool building is convinced the truth is even out yet. PFT Commenter, never one to rush a verdict, said he's still waiting on all the facts before deciding who actually won a football game from last Saturday.

PFT Commenter

@PFTCommenter

I am still waiting for all the facts to come out to decide who won a football game last Saturday

Nothing about the appeal is binding on Michigan's actual record — the NCAA and CFP aren't in the business of flipping final scores after the fact, and the Wolverines are still 1-0 no matter what the MAC's letter says. But it does put real institutional weight behind the idea that the review was botched, which is more ammunition than Brandon Walker had a week ago. Expect this to stay a Wake Up Barstool centerpiece until the Big Ten or the NCAA actually responds on the record.