The story of Week 1 of the college football season was undeniably Michigan’s last-second, referee-assisted victory over its intra-state foes from Western Michigan on a Hail Mary touchdown that was controversial if nothing else.
In the aftermath of the Wolverines’ comeback, officials from the Big Ten as well as NBC — whose broadcast clock drove confusion when the officials added 1 second back to the clock and time for the game-winning throw — scrambled to explain and defend the decision. Western Michigan leadership threatened to challenge the result even as its coach took the high road and refused to blame the refs. Commentators weren’t so kind: Some of college football’s biggest voices took the opportunity to crush the Big Ten.
The fact that the decision benefited the far bigger Blue Blood program only made fans more skeptical. Michigan’s season could have ended with a loss to the MAC underdogs, and the Wolverines have a ton to figure out even if they were the beneficiaries of the shenanigans in Ann Arbor.
Faced with intense scrutiny and significant skepticism, Michigan alum (and recent booster) Dave Portnoy is choosing denial. The Barstool boss said in an appearance Monday on FS1’s Wake Up Barstool that the Wolverines won “fair and square” and mocked those questioning the game’s outcome.
“This is what great teams do,” Portnoy said. “They find a way, even when all seems lost.”
“We beat these guys fair and square. Western Michigan and the MAC conference say we beat them fair and square. The only people saying something nefarious happened are jealous losers who either didn’t get into Michigan, have Michigan envy, grew up in the South and wished they grew up in a more populated area … that’s it. There’s nothing to see here. We didn’t play well, but we won fair and square in a game that everyone will remember where they [were].”
“The only people that are saying something nefarious happened are jealous losers” -Dave Portnoy talking about the Michigan game pic.twitter.com/7bN0E6cEsS
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 7, 2026
Portnoy even claimed he preferred the dramatic result over an easy, sound victory.
“I’m going to tell stories about this game. This is going to become like an urban legend, a song that people sing to their grandchildren in Michigan,” Portnoy said.
“You want to say they cheated, that’s just wrong. Every single person with influence, that would have seen the clocks, including Western Michigan, the MAC conference, says there was nothing nefarious. The clocks were right.”
Portnoy never wastes a chance to take a Michigan victory lap, and even contributed money to help the Wolverines sign quarterback Bryce Underwood. And in fairness to “El Presidente” and all of Big Blue, many are overlooking the degree of difficulty in completing the game-winning Hail Mary.
It’s clearly going to take a lot more than a nail-biting W to change Portnoy’s mind about the team.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.