Oklahoma State Upset By Central Michigan: Will Football Game Results Be Overturned?

It’s only the second week of college football games, but the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Central Michigan Chippewas may have played the craziest game of the season already. A controversial final play ultimately gave the Chippewas an upset win over the Cowboys. However, some analysts and fans believe the results should be overturned for the No. 22 Oklahoma State team.

Oklahoma State rolled out to a 14-0 lead in just the first quarter which made it seem early on as if the Cowboys were on their way to a 2-0 start to the season. However, The Oklahoman reported that a final Hail Mary play by Central Michigan should never have happened, let alone counted, per Mid-American Conference referee Tim O’Dey.

That final play featured an untimed down that should not have gone forth by his officiating crew, according to O’Dey. Chippewas quarterback Cooper Rush took the snap and threw a long pass down the field which found Jesse Kroll. While Kroll was being tackled, he managed to toss a lateral pass to teammate Corey Willis. From there, Willis eluded the Cowboys’ defenders and ran diagonally until he eventually broke the endzone plane with an extended arm for the touchdown.

Unbelievable! @CMU_Football shocks #22 @CowboyFB 30-27 with a ridiculous play to end the game! https://t.co/kOvdA4ldZq

— FS1 (@FS1) September 10, 2016

The incredibly crazy and controversial play gave Central Michigan a 30-27 win, but is it a decisive victory? As of this report, it was unknown if any sort of appeal would go forth, or even be allowed. However, the controversy of the win is hard to ignore.

The controversy is due to the fact that Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph was called for a last-second intentional grounding penalty on the previous play. According to the rule book, the game should have ended on a loss of downs for the penalty, rather than the unbelievable Hail Mary touchdown play with no time on the clock.

Rule 3-2-3. "The period is not extended if the foul is by the team and possession and the penalty includes loss of down." Oops.

— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) September 10, 2016

As ESPN reported, O’Dey later talked to a reporter about the calls that were made including the Oklahoma State penalty. He indicated that that final untimed play should never have occurred.

“So in that situation, we’ve had the opportunity to run it back through our hierarchy, which includes the national rules editor, and he confirmed that should have been a loss of down and the end of the game at that point, so that extension should not have happened.”

According to Associated Press, Saturday’s final play was similar to one the team ran in the Bahamas Bowl two seasons ago. In that game, Central Michigan scored to make it just a one-point contest, but attempted a two-point conversion. Their attempt failed which resulted in a loss.

Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy took responsibility for his team’s final play call, admitting he hadn’t really considered the ramifications of it.

“To be honest with you, I never even thought of intentional grounding being called at that point in the game. As much time as we put into end of game situations that never really crossed my mind. Unfortunately, that’s a difficult way to learn a hard lesson.”

While Oklahoma State and its fans will be upset by the loss, it will likely go into the record books as a huge upset victory for the Chippewas. Central Michigan head coach John Bonemago spoke about the finale of the football game.

“It’s an improbable finish, but it’s a situation that we practiced and rehearsed. We were able to execute and pull out the win.”

Outcomes are final in CFB. https://t.co/sVUbxA7RwT

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) September 10, 2016

The resulting loss drops the Cowboys to 1-1 in the early part of their 2016 NCAA Football season. The team had gained some hope for possibly moving up in the polls after their in-state rivals, Oklahoma, were upset a week prior. Meanwhile, Central Michigan is now 2-0, with a huge win over a Top 25 opponent.

Should today’s victory have counted for the Chippewas, though, or was this one taken away from Oklahoma State on a bad call?

[Featured Image by Joe Robbins/Getty Images]