Watch: Ball State’s Antonio Phillips with Pick-Six in Arizona Bowl

Antonio Phillips with a Pick-Six for Ball State

The minor bowls still give players a major opportunity to show what they can do.

On New Year’s Eve at the Arizona Bowl, Ball State got off to a quick start against undefeated San Jose State.

Antonio Phillips picked off Nick Starkel and returned it 53 yards to paydirt. The score remained 6-0 as the PAT failed.

Must See: Incredible end to game that wasn’t

Ball State’s win over Western Michigan on Saturday almost wasn’t due to an all-time crazy final play of the contest.

There appeared to be a situation on Saturday that had the Stanford band eating it’s heart out as it was as ridiculous as any final play to a game in college football could ever possibly be.

Western Michigan surrendered 17 straight Ball State points in the fourth quarter and faced a final desperation in hopes of a miracle.

And it appeared they got exactly that on an incredible final play of the game.

#MACtion, indeed.

I feel safe in stating I’ve never seen a single play in a football game take as long as that one did, whether it counted or not.

However, the illegal forward pass meant the return was ultimately called back and Western Michigan’s miracle was too good to be true, afterall.

Regardless, still one of the most ridiculous finishes you’ll ever see to a game anywhere.

And congrats to Ball State for wrapping up the MAC’s West Division with the win.

Watch: Insane play to end Ball State win over Western Michigan

The end of the Western Michigan-Ball State game saw one of the wildest plays in history, which almost worked

Ball State led Western Michigan in the final seconds. The Broncos had the ball down three when all hell broke loose.

Talk about the wildest of endings.

The Ball State team came on the field, thinking the play was dead as Western tried the series of laterals. However, it wasn’t and Western kept the laterals live.

One of the Broncos somehow weaved through dozens of Ball State players and made it to the end zone.

Reports were the ESPN feed cut out before the referee announced the bad news for Western: One of the laterals was deemed an illegal forward pass, so the Cardinals held on for the victory.

2nd & 10 at WMU 49

(0:19 – 4th) Kaleb Eleby pass complete to Skyy Moore for 1 yd to the WMich 38 lat. to La’Darius Jefferson for a loss of 1 yard to the WMich 38 lat. to Kaleb Eleby for no gain to the WMich 38 lat. to Skyy Moore for a loss of 2 yards to the WMich 38 lat. to Mike Caliendo for 1 yd to the 50 yard line WESTRN MICHIGAN Penalty, illegal forward pass (Skyy Moore) to the WMich 38

The victory earned Ball State a spot against Buffalo in the MAC Championship.

Return of the MAC – Schedule released

MACtion is back. See what days you’ll get to see MAC football back in your life this fall!

The MAC is officially back in business for the 2020 college football season.

Sure, it will last only five games for MAC teams but for some of us that enjoy flipping through their televisions on a Tuesday night and finding a live college football game to watch, the MAC’s return fills a football void.

Notre Dame was previously scheduled to play Western Michigan this season before the pandemic wound up forcing the cancellation of that contest.

The MAC today released their 2020 football schedule and it’s unique even by MAC standards.  It goes as follows:

Week 1 – Wednesday, Nov. 4
Buffalo at Northern Illinois
Ball State at Miami University
Eastern Michigan at Kent State
Ohio at Central Michigan
Bowling Green at Toledo
Western Michigan at Akron

Week 2 – Tuesday, Nov. 10
Miami University at Buffalo
Akron at Ohio
Kent State at Bowling Green
Wednesday, Nov. 11
Central Michigan at Northern Illinois
Eastern Michigan at Ball State
Toledo at Western Michigan

Week 3 – Tuesday, Nov. 17
Akron at Kent State
Buffalo at Bowling Green
Ohio at Miami
Wednesday, Nov. 18
Northern Illinois at Ball State
Toledo at Eastern Michigan
Western Michigan at Central Michigan

Week 4 – Saturday, Dec. 5
Ball State at Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan
Toledo at Northern Illinois
Bowling Green at Akron
Buffalo at Ohio
Kent State at Miami

Week 5 – Saturday, Dec. 12
Central Michigan at Toledo
Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan
Western Michigan at Ball State
Akron at Buffalo
Miami at Bowling Green
Ohio at Kent State

Conference Championship – Friday, Dec. 18
held at Ford Field, Detroit, MI

3 things to know about Colts new OL Danny Pinter

Some things to know about the Colts new OL.

The Indianapolis Colts continue to add depth to their young roster by grabbing offensive lineman Danny Pinter out of Ball State with the 149th pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

The 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman is a great addition to one of the best offensive lines in the league and will be able to fill in at multiple positions.

The selection of Pinter shows that Chris Ballard is not done building a strong, deep roster in the trenches. Here are three things to know about Pinter:

1. The Indiana native comes home

Pinter returns home to the Hoosier state after being selected by the Colts in the fifth round. The South Bend native attended John Adams High School, but his hometown program Notre Dame did not recruit him. He ended up committing to Ball State in 2015 as a redshirt freshman.

Being an Indiana native isn’t something new for draft picks with the Colts. They keep plenty of tabs on the local prospects and the up-and-coming scene.