UMass Beats Ball State 31-30 in Overtime After a Missed Extra Point
One point. Ball State scored first in overtime, missed the extra point, and UMass walked in from 13 yards, kicked the PAT and won 31-30. Take that miss out of the equation and the Cardinals are lining up for a second overtime.
It was a back-and-forth game from the start, with five lead changes and two ties. Ball State went up 7-0 on a 20-yard Keldric Luster pass to Jamarion McDougle, UMass tied it at 7-7 early in the second quarter, and a 22-yard field goal put the Cardinals back in front with 0:33 left in the half. UMass needed 21 seconds to flip it, William Watson III finding Jabari Lewis from 64 yards with 0:12 on the clock for a 14-10 halftime lead. Jalen Bonds ran 42 yards for a 17-14 Ball State lead in the third, and Watson's 1-yard run with 2:31 left in the quarter had UMass up 21-17 going into the fourth.
A Derek Morris field goal made it 24-17 with 2:14 to play, and that looked like enough until Luster ran in from two yards out with 0:25 left to tie it at 24-24. Bonds then scored from a yard out in overtime, the PAT failed, and it was Watson's turn: a 13-yard run, a good kick, a 31-30 UMass win.
The box score is a funny one. UMass had 456 yards to Ball State's 351, with 302 of them through the air, and lost two fumbles (both by T.Y. Harding) against Ball State's none. Neither team threw an interception. UMass is now 5-4, and Ball State falls to 3-6, with a loss that comes down to one missed extra point.
For fantasy, both teams got their value. Watson ran for two touchdowns and threw for 302, and Bonds carried 17 times for 132 and two scores in a game his side lost by a single point.