3 blown calls from Big Ten refs that gave Michigan a free win Ohio State fans are hating

Everyone is talking about the "Bail Mary". The play that turned all of college football on its ear in the waning hours of Week 1's Saturday games. But there was more to the failure of the Big Ten officials than that abominable call.

The controversial decision from the Big Ten refs is going to be talked about until the sun goes down. Michigan is 1-0 on the season, but come on, they should be 0-1, and not even the biggest UM homer can argue with that.

The Hail Mary that should never have been gifted handed the Wolverines a free victory, but that awful mistake wasn't the only one that screwed Western Michigan.

Late in the action, the zebras appeared to look the other way multiple times to help save the day for the Wolverines. Ohio State fans and just about everyone else in the country have reason to be upset about how things played out, especially with these three controversial decisions opening the door for Kyle Whittingham and Co. to avoid the ultimate embarrassment.

3. No facemask on 3rd-and-long for Western Michigan?

With a little over 11 minutes left in the contest, Western Michigan was facing 3rd-and-11, and a run play was called. Hey, no problem there, as you don't want to risk a turnover. However, as you can see in the video below, running back Cole Cabana raced outside, and he was brought down by a facemask. No call?!

That should have been a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down. WMU ended up kicking a 39-yard field goal to take the lead, but imagine if they took advantage of this penalty by scoring a touchdown. We'll never know, though, as no laundry ever hit the turf.

2. Running into the Western Michigan punter isn't a flag?

Then, with a hair more than three minutes to go in regulation, Western Michigan was facing 4th-and-7 and up 9-7. They decided to punt, but there was a clear running into the punter foul that somehow, someway, was not called. You've got to be kidding here!

This would have set up 4th-and-2, and given head coach Lance Taylor something serious to think about. Would he have gone for it? Sure, Bryce Underwood fumbled later in the game to help WMU kick a field goal anyway, but again, you never know what might have happened had the correct call been made. It was a total blunder from the refs, as they missed what was right in front of them.

1. The Big Ten refs robbed Western Michigan in the loss to Michigan with the 'Bail Mary' call

You know what's left to close us out. Ohio State fans are still cracking up at the Big Ten releasing a pathetic statement, doing everything possible to defend putting one second back on the clock. We all saw how this game ended. The clock hit zero, period.

There was absolutely no reason to put time back on the clock and to have the two teams go through an extra play, despite the contest being 100 percent over. Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan, but you'll never be able to convince me it should have happened.

Yes, you can make the argument that WMU should have defended better, but that's not the point. They started celebrating because they thought the game was over, which it should have been. WMU was robbed of one of the biggest wins in program history. You've got to feel terrible for those players.

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