MAC may have returned last week, but Wednesday night is the night when #MACtion officially takes back its rightful place in our hearts.
Western Michigan State leads Toledo 41-38, improving to 2-0 in the young season. But the final score does not explain the crazy degree of this ending.
Fast forward to the last three minutes-Toledo scored a touchdown, raised the lead to 38-28, and ended a game that was characterized by a 4th and 11th transition from the 15-yard line in Western Michigan. This is due to the wonderful position of the official (and the first mark down).
The Broncos subsequently took over without a timeout, and quickly played 1
Capps immediately executed a perfect counterattack and made up for his mistake. The Broncos resumed their offense, which gave them the last chance to attack.
With 44 seconds remaining, Western Michigan took over its 49-yard line. When quarterback Kaleb Eleby found D’Wayne Eskridge for 18 yards, the Broncos advanced to the Toledo 9-yard line in three games . Eskridge was in the penalty area, and Western Michigan’s offense rushed to the line, ostensibly hitting the ball for a bell, stopping the bell. Then this happened:
Somewhere, Dan Marino was smiling. Toledo Middle School did not consider the presence of Broncos receiver Jaylen Hall, who was alone in the end area waiting for Elleby to pass.
The chain reaction of this game will almost certainly be small. There is no impact of college football playoffs to consider, and this year’s bowl qualification requirements have been reasonably waived. The game is close to midnight Eastern Time, so in fact not many people actually participate in it to witness its majesty.
But during one season, it suddenly appeared in the water and was fighting the weekly cancellation of the game caused by the epidemic. Western Michigan’s failure to succumb to the daunting odds is downright ambition (or at least, the best Wednesday night sports movie ending you will see on live TV).
#MACtion once and for all.
