ESPN made it extremely clear that the broadcast clock was not official FSU-SMU game clock

Stop me if you’ve heard this over the past 48 hours: the broadcast clock is not the official game clock.

On Saturday night, Michigan’s season-opening matchup against Western Michigan went from a college football game to an all-time timekeeping scandal.

Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood launched a Hail Mary out of the end zone as the clock hit triple zeroes. The Western Michigan Broncos thought they’d pulled off the 12-7 upset. After review, officials concluded one second remained on the clock, giving Michigan a second chance. Underwood found JJ Buchanan for the game-winning touchdown, shrouded in controversy.

On the NBC broadcast, rules analyst Terry McAuley was flabberghasted by that phantom second. The Big Ten released a formal statement, including the official internal video used for review. On Sunday, NBC’s John Fanta stated, “The official time of the game is kept by the Big Ten. Our cameras are not the official arbiter of timekeeping within the game.”

By Monday night, ESPN’s broadcast of Florida State and SMU experienced a lengthy delay due to a power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium. Finally, officials surmised they’d restored enough light and power to play the game, but with several caveats. No replay, no scoreboard, no PA announcer, and no coach-to-play communication.

Oh, one more thing.

You guessed it.

The official time had to be kept on the field.

I thought this was a jab at NBC but it’s just your average power outage. https://t.co/jZojbGX5Tu pic.twitter.com/wRMeLUcCYa

— Brandon Beery (@NDominator) September 8, 2026

Once the game finally began, ESPN play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch repeatedly made it explicitly clear that the broadcast’s game clock was unofficial. The ESPN scorebug also intermittently displayed, “OFFICIAL TIME BEING KEPT ON FIELD.”

It’s gonna happen again, isn’t it… pic.twitter.com/Bl8DFN0Ijk

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2026

“All the timing is being done on the field because we are still under a power outage up here in part of the press box, so the game clock and the play clock are being kept by the officials,” Pasch said midway through the second quarter. “We are syncing our timing with the officials every commercial break.”

By the two-minute warning, Pasch relayed, “Our clock is now perfectly synced. It is now working in sync with that of the official clock.”

As of this writing, SMU leads Florida State, 17-10, at halftime, so ESPN isn’t out of the woods yet. All it takes is one controversial play. Just ask NBC.