Middle Tennessee Wins It 51-42 on the Last Play
The last play of the game was a touchdown, and it came one second after a field goal. Aidan Singleton's fumble return at 0:00 turned a 45-42 lead into a 51-42 final over Western Kentucky, and the box score gives no more explanation than that.
The ending erased a comeback that had looked complete. Middle Tennessee led 14-0 after Roman Gagliano threw 25 yards to Neo Clifton and 65 to Ziyon Butler in the first quarter, and kept the Hilltoppers at arm's length for most of the day: 21-13 at the half, 35-20 in the third. Western Kentucky kept scoring (Brock Glenn ran in from 2 yards, threw 21 to Moussa Barry, and Ajay Allen ran in from 8), and with Rodney Tisdale Jr. in at quarterback they got a touchdown pass to Quincy Burroughs, a two-point conversion and then a 5-yard Tisdale run with 31 seconds left to tie it 42-42. Dominic Bourgeois answered with a 48-yard field goal with a second left, and then the fumble return came.
Both teams moved the ball. Middle Tennessee had 513 total yards and Western Kentucky 497, and neither threw an interception. The Blue Raiders ran 30 times for 201 yards, with Antonio Martin getting a 75-yard touchdown run to start the third quarter and a 2-yard score later.
The Blue Raiders are 5-4 after the win and Western Kentucky is 3-6.
Fantasy managers who held Gagliano got 38.3 points with four touchdown passes, and Martin chipped in 25.7. Glenn's 26.3 on the other side was no small thing either.