2020 Rocket Mortgage MAC Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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Conference Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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Date | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
Season | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Ford Field | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Detroit, Michigan | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Offense: Drew Plitt (QB, Ball State) Defense: Jimmy Daw (LB, Ball State) | ||||||||||||||||||
Favorite | Buffalo by 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Tom Stapleton | ||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Clay Matvick (play-by-play), Rocky Boiman (analyst) and Katie George (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
East Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 25 Buffalo xy | 5 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kent State | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Miami (OH) | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Akron | 1 | – | 5 | 1 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling Green | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 23 Ball State xy$ | 5 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Michigan | 4 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Toledo | 4 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Central Michigan | 3 | – | 3 | 3 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Michigan | 2 | – | 4 | 2 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Illinois | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship: Ball State 38, Buffalo 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from AP Poll. |
The 2020 MAC Championship Game was a college football game played on Friday, December 18, 2020, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, to determine the 2020 champion of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). [2] The game was contested by the Buffalo Bulls, East Division champions, and the Ball State Cardinals, West Division champions. Sponsored by mortgage lending company Quicken Loans through their Rocket Mortgage brand, the game was officially known as the Rocket Mortgage MAC Championship Game. Ball State defeated Buffalo, 38–28 to claim their first MAC championship since 1996. [3]
Ball State entered the championship game as West Division champions, having compiled a 5–1 record, all in conference games. After losing their first game of the season to Miami (OH), the Cardinals won five consecutive games leading up to the conference championship game. Ball State's only prior appearance in the MAC Championship Game had been a loss to Buffalo in the 2008 edition.
Buffalo entered the championship game as East Division champions, having compiled a 5–0 record, all in conference games. The Bulls scored at least 42 points in each of their five games, winning each game by at least 19 points. Buffalo's two prior appearances in the MAC Championship Game had been a win over Ball State in 2008 and a loss to Northern Illinois in the 2018 edition.
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Ball State | 7 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 38 |
Buffalo | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
at Ford Field • Detroit, Michigan
Game information |
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Statistics | BALL | UB |
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First downs | 22 | 23 |
Plays–yards | 79–429 | 71–499 |
Rushes–yards | 47–166 | 29–134 |
Passing yards | 263 | 365 |
Passing: comp–att–int | 20–32–1 | 29–42–1 |
Time of possession | 32:39 | 27:21 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Ball State | Passing | Drew Plitt | 20/32, 263 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT |
Rushing | Tye Evans | 18 carries, 94 yards | |
Receiving | Yo'Heinz Tyler | 6 receptions, 91 yards, 1 TD | |
Buffalo | Passing | Kyle Vantrease | 29/42, 365 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
Rushing | Kevin Marks Jr. | 9 carries, 93 yards, 1 TD | |
Receiving | Antonio Nunn | 13 carries, 182 yards |
Turner Hillery Gill is an American college athletic administrator and former gridiron football player and coach. He is the Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development at the University of Arkansas, a position he assumed in 2019. Gill has served as head football coach at the University at Buffalo (2006-09), the University of Kansas (2010-11) and Liberty University (2012-18), compiling a career college football coaching record of 72–84. He was one of 11 black head coaches in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision at the time of his hiring at Kansas.
The MAC Football Championship Game is a football game between the winners of the East and West divisions of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to determine the conference champion.
The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot.
The Buffalo Bulls football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University at Buffalo located in the U.S. state of New York. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Bowl Subdivision and is a member of the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo's first football team was fielded in 1894. The team plays its home games at the 25,000+ seat UB Stadium on University at Buffalo's north campus in Amherst, New York. The Bulls are coached by Maurice Linguist.
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The 2019 MAC Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, to determine the 2019 champion of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). With sponsorship from Marathon Petroleum, the game was officially the 2019 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game. The game featured the East division champions Miami and the West division champions Central Michigan, and was the conference's 23rd championship game. The game was won by Miami, 26–21.
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