On the opening kickoff, Western’s Alex Grace forced Justin Hall to fumble, which bounced off of one of Ball State’s player's helmets and popped in the air and was brought down by Western’s Obbie Jackson, who returned the ball 21 yards for a touchdown.
“It was a good first play; we talked about setting the tone from the get-go,” head coach Tim Lester said. “I heard the guy that knocked it out was actually their own player, and [Jaskson] scooped it up and scored. It was good because at that point we had the momentum and never gave it back.