MAC Official Apologizes To Western Michigan

What you just watched is a video Brian Cook shared with you earlier this week of the final play of Akron's 39-38 comeback victory over Western Michigan. It was a thrilling comeback to watch for anybody who saw it, but if you were to ask Western Michigan what they thought, they would probably tell you that Akron's win was a crock of naughty word.

What you saw happen there was Akron's Alphonso Owen pick up a free kick from Western Michigan at the eleven yard line. You then saw him return the kick 14 yards before tossing the ball to teammate Andre Jones, who then took it all the way for the game winning score.

You know what you didn't see? The illegal block in the back thrown by Akron's Tyler Campbell early in the return. Don't worry about it though, the officials didn't see it either. They even admitted as much in an apology to Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit.

Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit said a Mid-American Conference official apologized to him for two uncalled penalties that resulted in two Akron touchdowns in the Zips' 39-38 victory over the Broncos.

Cubit told the Kalamazoo Gazette that he received an apology from Carl Paganelli, the MAC's coordinator of officials. Paganelli said conference rules prohibited him from commenting, while the league's office told the newspaper that any reprimand of officials would be an internal communication.

It doesn't end there either. Officials missed another critical call earlier in the game. With a little over five minutes to go in the game, Akron's Chris Jacquemain completed a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jabari Arthur to cut WMU's lead to 38-31.

One slight problem there though, as after reviewing the tape it's pretty obvious that Akron's left guard and tackle were both moving before the snap, which should have been a false start penalty. In other words, Western Michigan got screwed. On the bright side, at least Sportscenter got a Top 10 highlight.