College Football Kicks Off — and the Wolverines and Spartans Both Exhale The Wolverines and Spartans can both breathe a sigh of relief after week 1. Every November the MAC (Mid-American Conference) takes over ESPN on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for extra prime-time publicity — a genius marketing move, putting your product in a slot where die-hard football fans will tune in and no other NCAA program is airing. Fans get their football fix almost every day of the week. Brilliant! The phrase born from it is now known as "MACtion," and two of the better teams in the MAC have become Toledo and Western Michigan, proudly nicknamed the Rockets and the Broncos. Michigan State and Michigan are great institutions with proud football histories, and every September they host one of the MAC schools early in the schedule — a one-shot chance to take down Goliath, and a nice payday for the athletic program of whichever team is traveling to East Lansing or Ann Arbor. This past Labor Day weekend was another chance for that scenario to play out. Friday night in East Lansing we saw Toledo holding a 20-19 lead early in the fourth quarter, only for MSU to come back and send the Rockets home to Ohio with a 30-20 loss. Phew — an exhale was taken in the capital that night as the Spartans dodged a repeat of that Central Michigan nightmare from back in the day. Move ahead to Saturday night, on NBC's national game of the week, and the Western Michigan Broncos came into the Big House with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Midway through the third quarter the Broncos put together a 20-play, 13-minute drive that ended in Michigan's end zone — the longest, most astonishing drive ever against Michigan at home. Don't look now, but the Mighty Wolverines trailed 12-7 with no momentum at all. This wasn't the national champion WMU hockey team on the field from a few years ago. It was football in September. Goliath was on his heels, about to be slain by David. Then up off the mat rose Goliath, driving to near midfield with under a minute to play. With 0:07 left the ghost of Sean Connery — "Bond. James Bond." — came into play, and Bryce Underwood, UM's QB for the moment, hurled a Hail Mary some 50-plus yards into the end zone and out the back of it. It fell to the turf with 0:00 on the clock. WMU ran onto the field in jubilation. Goliath had been slain. Wait: "the previous play is under review." After further review, one second goes back on the clock. 0:01. "So you're saying there's a chance?" Echoes of Spartan Bob rippled through every seat in the Big House. Underwood faded back again, escaped the rush, and heaved it toward the end zone as he was hit and driven to the ground, never seeing the result. The ghost of the Colorado Buffaloes' Hail Mary shone down on the Big House from years past. Bodies went up, and a maize jersey rose higher than the rest, grabbed the ball, and fell across the goal line. TOUCHDOWN! A miracle, witnessed by over 100,000 in the stadium and millions across the country. Hearts break in East Lansing and Columbus. Haters filled social media like there was a blue light special at Kmart. Fans rushed the field and celebrated like they'd just won the Super Bowl. They rushed it like Christmas morning, with the gifts still waiting under the tree. What a way to kick off the 2026 college football season. Couldn't paint a better picture. As ABC's Wide World of Sports put it years ago: "The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat." Here we go again — a few days to wallow in the outcome of another sporting event. It is hard to be a sports fan, but it is what brings us back week in and week out. We all move on to week 2, and a traditional power, Oklahoma, comes to Ann Arbor for another chance at a story line. Another MAC school comes to East Lansing as Eastern Michigan shows up to take its shot at Goliath in Spartan Stadium. Deep breath, everyone — 12 more weeks to get through and plenty of games to enjoy. David will take on Goliath many times this fall, so sit back and get your social media ready to Monday-morning-QB. A wake-up call for both the Wolverines and the Spartans, and one they needed. Go Blue, Go Green, Go White!
