Michigan’s controversial extra second against Western Michigan has already produced statements from two conferences, an NCAA clarification and days of national debate.
Now it has reached the classroom in East Lansing.
A Michigan State professor took a rivalry shot at the Wolverines in a video that quickly spread across social media Wednesday. The setup was simple: students at MSU should not expect the same treatment Michigan received when the clock appeared to expire Saturday night.
“At Michigan State, when the clock hits zero… you’re not getting an extra second on the test,” the professor said in a clip highlighted by The Detroit News. FOX College Football later amplified the video nationally, pushing a classroom joke directly into one of college football’s most enduring rivalries.
Michigan’s One Second Has Become Rivalry Material
The joke works because nearly everyone watching Michigan’s opener thought the game had ended.
Western Michigan led 12-7 when Bryce Underwood’s desperation pass fell incomplete as the television clock reached zero. Replay officials restored one second after determining Broncos safety Micah Davis touched the football while established out of bounds. Underwood then found JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown on the next play, giving Michigan a 13-12 victory.
The Big Ten initially explained why the second returned, but the controversy grew when the MAC later argued the proper replay protocol had not been followed.
That led to a direct conference disagreement, with the Big Ten eventually standing by its ruling.
The professor also joked that television ratings may have helped Michigan receive another chance, according to additional coverage of the video. There is no evidence that ratings influenced the replay decision. The comment was part of the rivalry jab, not an established explanation for what occurred.
Clock Jokes Have Some History in This Rivalry
There is another layer to an MSU professor building the joke around the clock reaching zero.
Michigan State owns one of the rivalry’s most famous finishes precisely because the Spartans kept playing until the final second disappeared.
In 2015, Michigan appeared to have beaten MSU before punter Blake O’Neill mishandled a snap with 10 seconds remaining. Jalen Watts-Jackson recovered the ball and scored as time expired, producing the play forever remembered as “Trouble with the Snap.” The moment remains such a central piece of Spartan history that Michigan State revisited it on its 10-year anniversary.
Eleven years later, the clock has supplied Michigan State with another Michigan joke.
This time, nobody needed to leave the classroom.
