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Western Michigan and Ball State ends in lateral and chaos, but with the right winner

We got peak MACtion with the Ball State Cardinals storming the field after what they thought was a win... and they were right eventually.

By Collin Sherwin
A general view of the Mid-American Conference logo on the field before the college football game between the Northern Illinois Huskies and Western Michigan Broncos on November 28, 2020, at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, MI. Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

We almost had the most exciting moment since The Stanford Axe in 1982 decide the MAC West Division Champion today.

In the de facto MAC West Division championship game today, the Ball State Cardinals took a 30-27 lead late via a field goal. That left the Western Michigan Broncos in desperate straights, so they headed to Lateral Town, which is where the dreams of the most desperate tend to die.

But when they don’t...

Apparently the stream was cut by ESPN3 before the outcome was decided, but... sadly in a part of the video we didn’t show, there was an illegal forward lateral so the incredibly dramatic runback was all for naught. While both Ball State and Western Michigan were on the field, those penalties offset. The one for the illegal forward pass however did not, and that’s how the game ended.

The Cardinals advance to the MAC Championship Game next Friday in Detroit against the Buffalo Bulls. But a great game for the Mid American Conference today, and it almost finished with an unforgettable ending.

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