PTI - Was Western Michigan ROBBED By The Refs?!

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss the Michigan Wolverines, College Football, and Aaron Judge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early morning on a Manhattan sidewalk, a shooting caught on surveillance video. It was an assassination style killing, and everybody saw it. A new podcast series from ABC Audio in 2020 goes inside this captivating case. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmeyer. Listen to Burden of Proof, Luigi Mangione, wherever you get your podcasts. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. The lake. We put a statue honoring Phil Jackson outside their arena, Tony.

Where would you like a statue of you to be? I'm Tony Kornheiser in the passenger seat of my car so I can use the HOV lanes. There you go. Never get stopped. You're not on 66. You're not in the HOV. When is the last time you were in HOV? In 1999.

995, I'm on HOV. For what? When I go out to the beach on 50. Oh, the beach. I think, yeah, I think that would be good. I'm glad Phil Jackson's getting a statutes. I'm glad for him. He should have one in Chicago where he won more championships than he won in L.A.

He should. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, LSU rolls over Clemson. Aaron Judge is back, and Jeff Saturday joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with the Hail Mary Pass that saved Michigan against Western Michigan on Saturday in what would have been one of the biggest upsets of all time. Referees said they had one second on their replay clock, even though the game clock on TV had clearly expired.

That second allowed for that 47-yard Hail Mary, which gave Michigan its 13 to 12 victory. The Mac today contended the wrong clock was followed and has appealed to be recognized as the actual winner. Wilbon, you were enraged about this over the weekend. You called me with screaming. Are you still? I'm not as enraged because time has passed.

but it's a fraudulent outcome. It's fraudulent. Western Michigan was cheated in my eyes. And I'm watching live, and I watch all the replays, and I also reached out to some people who know about clock management and running it at big sporting events, including all the Big Ten.

And I was told that even if you accept that statement as accurate, that the clock on the field might be slightly off from the superimposed clock that NBC used, We're talking 1 30th of a second. The game is still over. So what is this? Russia versus the United States men in the Olympics in 1992. Let's just give them as many chances.

The Big Ten looks complicit. It was a long time ago. 1972. Doug Collins. Doug Collins. Yes. Okay, so the U.S. men got cheated. They kept giving Russia chances.

And finally, you hit a layup. How many chances Michigan get? Why? Because the Big Ten, Big Ten. Big Ten doesn't want Michigan to win? How bad does it look if Michigan in the big house with 107,000 people can't beat Western Michigan?

This outcome to me is fraudulent. So I didn't watch it in live time and wanted to see it the next day. I was actually looking at the Hail Mary pass because the clock thing, by the way. Yeah, the clock thing was confusing to me. I have to say, I didn't understand it. When I'd heard about it, I didn't understand it.

And until today, because I'd read a lot of stuff as you had until today, I was under the impression that Western Michigan and the MAC conference had accepted this. And they had said, okay, I understand there's another clock involved in this, and they didn't seem alienated by it until today with what the Mac is doing now. I had Ryan McGee on my podcast yesterday,

right after you, actually, and Ryan McGee told me that his dad was an official in the ACC, a football official. And that sometimes, as a back judge, he had a clock in his pocket, in the event that the scoreboard clock failed. It was a hedge against that. It wasn't the official clock until it had to be.

But it made it seem to me that one second or even two seconds or three seconds, there might be, you know, a gap in between the official crime. I'm told it's fraction, fractional. Not a full second. I would have said, and I would say this now, absent the loss, and I understand it's a big loss, I think Western Michigan should be ecstatic. Everybody now knows who they are.

and everybody thinks they got host. So their coach was voted Coach of the Week. How about that Bear Bryant Award? Well. Co. And, but here's a problem. Western Michigan could win its conference. And Western Michigan could be that outlier school.

Oh, no, no. There'd be a clamor to put a in this game. Well, people think they won the game. Let me ask you this. How bad does it look when you're the big tent? It looks bad. A conference I'm pretty intimately involved with. Where you need that to be Western Michigan,

and you're opening, and then you come out with various stories that don't even all jive. It ought to be embarrassing. There ought to be shame, and I don't feel it. I just want to ask one other question. Do I understand this correctly that in college, if there's pass interference, you don't get it at the spot of the foul?

What if it's in the end zone? What is it before the end zone, one yard or two yards. If I'm the coach of that team, I say, if you think anybody can catch that, knock them down. Let him keep trying it. Let him keep trying it. What a, what a, what a, you get plus 15 yards.

Let them keep trying. College football. Love it. We love it. What you said about boxing? Love it. God help me, but I love it so. Love it so.

Let's move to the other college football headlines, Lane Kiffin. And number 11 LSU, clobbered Clemson and Baton Rouge. Number two, Oregon, barely beat Boise State. Number nine, Ole Miss, when a shootout against Louisville. Notre Dame pulled away in the second half to beat sloppy, mistake-prone Wisconsin, cheeseheads. And number 19, SMU won a three. Florida State last night on a late field goal. Tom, what stood out to you most

from the broader college football week? So if you tell me that Michigan did not lose, and that Oregon did not lose, and that Auburn did not lose, and that Old Miss did not lose, and I think that's what actually happened to this point, then I will tell you the biggest winner by 1,000 miles is Lane Kiffin. Because LSU destroyed Clemson

51 to 10, and Kiffin was immediately fond of saying, We didn't even play our pros. All right? So I'm looking at that game. My first question is, what happened to Davosweeney and what happened to Clemson? They had months to prepare for this. They got routed in this. And Davosweeney, let's be fair, he's not a guy who milks cows for a living.

He has won two championships and beat Nick Sabin in both. He has been to two others. He's been to four national championships in five years. And they were outgained by a total of 400. 99 yards rushing 309 to 40. Tony, what happened? They don't have the horses. I don't want to overreact.

They should be better than this. Let's not overreact on the LSU side of it because I have people on this network now have LSU winning the national championship because they beat a bad Clemson team. Here's the thing. How did they get bad? Tony, all the greats get bad at some point.

What happened to Nebraska of Tom Osborne? What happened to Southern Cal of John Robinson? No, they did bad. bounce back, Southern Cal, obviously. What happened to Penn State? Even the U took a dip, a big dip. All the greats, Michigan became

insignificant for several years. It happens. Notre Dame. Notre Dame went through this, and we'd sit here and say, well, when is Notre Dame? You know what? Clemson's done. They're done, and they're going to have to figure out how soon they hit the reset. Okay.

We have both read all the same stuff that Davos-Sweeney does want to deal with the transfer portal. Then get out because football now, he did. Football is the transfer portal. He got a dozen or so transfers. But that's what, Nick Saban got out because he didn't want to deal with that.

Davos-Sweeney, he is now four and six against his last ten, top ten teams. You know what he was before that? 28 and 8. I mean, look, this is not Florida State where Mike Norvell, you know, is now 2 and 12. Speaking of a team that had its moments. Florida State. They should have made sure that that the lights didn't work. To me, the story's Clemson.

And I think so. I'm not saying it's LSU. It seems to be over. Lane Kippin was a big winner. Big winner. For the moment. Big winner. Let's move to baseball.

Yesterday, Shoah Atani returned to action for the first time in five games. Walking one, striking out three times. After the win against Cincinnati, Otani indicated through an interpreter that he was, quote, most likely, unquote, not going to pitch again this season in including the playoffs. Tonight, Aaron Judge will be back in the Yankee lineup after missing 84 games. Wilbon, what is the bigger baseball news?

Judge returning or Otani taking himself off the mound? They're both big. And my first response, my first inclination is to say judge. But the Yankees sort of, you know, they held on. They're plus six in the games the judge. State above water. And he's missed so many games, Tony. I don't think the judge is going to come back and be Aaron judged

judged multiple time MVP. I don't see that happening overnight. right? Otani can still impact a lot of it. Maybe you know I wanted the rest. I wanted more than four games. Not necessarily in succession. But Otani, he just had a 54 home run,

59 stolen base season. That doesn't include anything on the mound. That's right. That's important. We also, Tony, may have looked at the beginning of the end, the notion that Otani can do both these things. He's superhuman things that set him apart.

He's set apart already. He's an MVP if he never walks to the moment. He's a mouth. He's an MVP. So I think it's O-Tani and the Dodgers who are up and down and win five, lose five. I'm going to agree with you. I'm going to agree with you down the road on this. Look, it's a hard question because they're the two best players in baseball. They are the reigning MVPs, and they have won seven MVPs over the last five years between them. They played against each other in the World Series last year. They're likely to do it again, or certainly could do it again. My first inclination like yours was to say, judge, on the speculation as to what he would do. But it is, an important thing to point out in the past. By the way, he's been gone for solo, and they were playing hockey the last time he played. Yet, they're going to put him in the outfield, apparently, starting tonight.

Right. So here's the record, 36 and 23 with him, 45 and 39 without him. 45 and 39, they usually collapse when he's out. And 45 and 39 in the American League gets you solidly in the playoffs. So the reason I would say Otani is Otani's thing is more finite. It's not speculative. He's not going to pitch. On a macro level, that might sound bigger.

But to get to your point, on a micro level, two years ago when he didn't pitch at all, 310, 54 homes, 130 RBI. And 59 solar basis. No, Judge numbers. No, judge numbers. Let's take a break. Coming up to the Chiefs start, Patrick Mahomes,

if their left tacklers out, we're going to ask Jeff Saturday. We'll also ask him whether the return of Aaron Donald might be overstated. I know you think it is. Yeah, I do. Yeah. By the way, Aaron Donald walked right into Canton,

but people don't come back and be as great as they were unless their names are Lemieux or Jordan. Yeah, I was going to say the rest of list, team sports. No. There are some people who walk out and walk back. The NFL is back starting tomorrow night, so it's time to dig into the trenches with our great friend ESPN NFL analyst. Jeff Saturday.

Let's start with this. Andy Reid said today that there's a good chance Patrick Mahomes will start on Monday night, but his left tackle, Josh Simmons likely won't as he is injured. You're an offensive lineman. How risky does this sound to you? Oh, there's always risk. But there's one of the things about football, right? It's one of the few sports where you put so much in, so much effort, energy, time, you know, mental force, you name it, physical ability, you lift, you do all the things. you only get 17 guaranteed opportunities, brother. If you're Patrick Mahomes, you ain't missing one.

You ain't missing one because some other guy decides he can't play or he's not capable of playing whatever it is. Players play, dude. When you're healthy at the play, you go play irrespective of who else can. And so I got a lot of respect for Patrick Mahomes, what he's done in his career. But as toughness is one of those other things that I hold special about the type of player he is.

All right, we're going to really jump into your wheelhouse now Talk about some defensive linemen that people are saying, Invincible Aaron Donald will not travel with the Rams to Australia, but so much has been made already, as you know, Jeff, of Aaron Donald being paired with Miles Garrett. I am not one who believes in their invincibility, but you would have to block these guys. What are you thinking?

Yeah. Oh, it's scary. It's a scary problem. And I'll tell you why. And again, like, it's their ability to move and be in different places and be productive out of those places, whether it's the left side of the line, the right side of the line,

like wherever they can kind of move to, can they overload a side of a line and then give you pressure? It's all the little nuances. It's not just them lining up, but I would tell you as a play caller, as a coordinator, as an offensive lineman,

give them a bunch of different looks. I mean, listen, I love Aaron Donald. He is an absolute beast, but he's 35 years old, and I'm going to make him run for everything, right? chase, pursue, you name it, run away from them, make, you know, chip them, bring motion, you know, give them all the different looks, crack him, wham them, you name it.

Whatever, whatever news is saying they could say in football, I'm going to give them all those different looks, same for Miles Garrett. Again, if you're in third and long all the time and they know where you're going to be and you got a spot as a quarterback that you don't move off on, it's an overwhelming proposition. Otherwise, you know, you got to show them different looks, go run at them. It's going to be a formidable task. But again, as an offense, that's what you got to do. You got to think about how to figure out those blocking schemes well before you get to third and long.

I'll stay with Australia for a second. A little off road here. Would you rather have been in Australia for a week like the Niners working out, practicing, blah, blah, blah, or fly in and out like the Rams are doing? Yeah, I'm on the ram side of this. Listen, I think that from my perspective, it's not just being there and getting acclimated for one week. It's coming back home. And what does that do after being in Australia for an entire week or however long they're going to ultimately be there? I would much rather be a business trip. We're going to come in. I've got to get myself mentally and physically prepared to go play three and a half hours. We're going to get back on the plane and come back home. You know, when you start, the one thing I can understand from the 49ers is, We haven't really found that rhythm or routine as a player yet. You know, you've had training camp. You know, you've been gone.

You kind of come back. There's nothing set yet routine-wise. Week eight, I can see this being much more difficult. But being week one, a division opponent, you know well, you know the style. I'd probably be on the side of the Rams. Now, as a preseason trip like I did to Japan, Mexico City, like, I'm all about the week, right? But regular season, let's get in and out and get back to routine. I will get you out of here on this. Jalen Hurts has a new offensive coordinator and Sean

Mannion and will be mostly under center, whereas he has played out of the shotgun in the past for a while now. How difficult does that transition and does it make sense to you? Oh, I love it. I am a huge proponent of it. I think shotgun has a time and place like everything in our game, but I don't believe in living in it. I think Jalen Hurts being under center, turning his back to the defense where the defense doesn't always know. or get a predictive look based on, you know, strength or where the back is lined up or positions, all those things. I think this will benefit them.

I think I think last year, to me, the Eagles looked very predictable and it showed, right? Explosive plays. I think they led the league in three and outs. So shaking it up a little bit, giving teams something else to prepare for is what I'm excited about. I think Jalen Hertz takes a ton of shots and, you know, he takes a, a, uh, a, uh, a, a, uh, a lot of criticism, and people can say it's deserved, it's not deserved, whatever it is. He's won a lot of games in the NFL, y'all.

And him going under center to me is a massive benefit for him and this Eagles offense. Two things I'll say about the Eagles, offensive line and defensive line. Two of the top three in the league on both sides of that. That typically wins in the NFL. Just do your part, whether it's hurts, any receiver, any running back, whether Shaquan, anybody else. Those two groups, offensive defensive lines play, well, the Eagles will be successful. Thank you, Jeff.

It feels like four. It feels like the season has started. Voice of reason. Let's go. Thank you, Jeff. Let's take one last break. Thank you. Still to come, the Falcons pick their starting quarterback with an asterisk.

And we got a big match on the men's side of the open tonight. Don't you like it when Jeff says these following words, crack them? Wham him. Wham him? Yeah, because he actually cracked people. You know what? I like that. He cracked people like Aaron Donald, including Aaron.

That's right. And then Aaron Donald didn't just get a clear lane to Peyton Manning. Happy time people. Happy 36th birthday, Garrett Cole. The Yankee Ace missed the 2025 season after Tommy John surgery. Came back this May and since then he's 8 and 8 with a 314 ERA, 113 strikeouts and 111 innings. Earlier this month, Cole won a game against the Angels.

His 161st career win. That tied Cole with Mike Moore. for the most wins ever by a pitcher who was drafted number one overall, as Cole was in 2011 by Pittsburgh. Cole is now four wins ahead of David Price, who was number one in 2007. There are famous pitchers who went number one, like David Clyde, Stephen Straussberg, Paul Skeens,

and there are pictures you ain't never have heard of, like Brian Taylor, Matt Anderson, and Brian Bullington. Never heard of those? But 161 is the most ever, 161? Tony, I know that people are bigger and stronger and faster and all that. But this is where baseball to me seems inferior to the product I grew up with

because 100, and I'll take Garrett Cole any day. Sure. But come on now. I mean, Sandy Kofax could come back now in 93 and win eight. Happy anniversary, Andy Roddick. Around this day, 23 years ago, Roddick won his only major, the U.S. Open.

The year before, Pete Sampras won the Open. Four years before, Andre Agassie won it. Those three American men produced seven U.S. Open Championship, championships in 11 years from 1993 through 2003. U.S. men have not won the Open in the last 23 years. Until 2024, when Taylor Fritz caught to the finals and lost to Yannick's center, no American man had gotten that far since Rodick back in 2006. This year, three American men are in the quarterfinals.

It's ironic and a great pleasure that Roddick is on TV coverage, talking about the prospects of United States men's tennis players. Roddick is fabulous on TV, simply fabulous. And Tony, without Center, you know, you look at this as a chance, maybe, for those American players. We're primarily talking about as we interdetermine, Fritz, and Tiafo, right? And Shelton. And Shelton, who plays the big match tonight. Interested in seeing that, but we're waiting.

Andy Rodick, to his credit, says, hey, take me out of the trivia question, and let's have another American man win. A melancholy trails to Matt Sui. The longtime Bears fullback has passed away at the age of 68. Suey cleared the way for Walter Payton during Chicago's great run in the 1980s that included the beatdown of the Patriots in Super Bowl 20. Sui actually scored in that game while Peyton famously did not. Sui and Peyton were more than just backfield mates. They were the closest to friends. Peyton became the godfather to Suey's youngest son in 1994, and after Peyton's death in 1999,

Peyton's son Jarrett said Sui became the biggest father figure he had. Tony says way too close to home, not because of the Chicago connection, but Matt Sui, It's my neighbor living in North Scottsdale. And I got to see him. I got to sit and have breakfast with him. It was my great pleasure to say to my son, you better learn who this man is. You know Walter Payton, but you better know who this guy is.

And they were so close as families, Connie Payton would be there often visiting the sueyes. And it was just great to see, but we knew Matt was struggling lately, and this is just this hard news to take. Sad. Let's go quick to the big finish. Patriots and cornerback Christian Gunnottles of a week for a four-year extension with $102 million in guarantees.

Big deal? He's 24 and he's terrific, but how long do corners remain great? Great Britain and Ireland came back to beat the U.S. and the Walker Cup. You watch, significant? Eight to ten things had to happen for that to happen. The United States was that far ahead. They all happened. Two will start for the Falcons against the Steelers in week one.

No decisions beyond that. Make sense? No decisions beyond that. That's what makes sense. Arena Sabalinka advanced to the semis over number six, Lindenoscova. Thoughts? She's great to watch.

Temperamental on the court, powerful on the court, great to watch and to listen to afterwards. Last one, as you mentioned, Shelton Alcarathe in the men's quarters tonight. Who you got? I'm rooting for Shelton, but it's hard to go against Alcarat. He looks great. Oh, you can't. Looks fully recovered.

You can't. We're out of time. We'll try and do better the next time. I'm Tony Cornhut. I'm Mike Wilbarn. We're on the deuce tomorrow knuckle-h.