2025 MAC Football Week 15 Game Recap: Miami RedHawks 45, Ball State Cardinals 24

For the third-straight year, the Miami RedHawks (7-5, 6-2 MAC) are headed to Detroit, Michigan to play in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game, taking care of business in a 45-24 dispatching of the Ball State Cardinals in front of the home crowd at Yager Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The first quarter suggested an early shootout after Thomas Gotkowski’s 23-yard pass to Braylon Isom put the RedHawks up 7-0 with 9:07 to go in the period was replied to a mere 55 seconds later by Ball State’s Jalen Bonds rushing for a score from two yards out— set up by 56-yard Kiael Kelly rush— to tie the game at 7-7.

Passes of 44 and 15 yards to start Miami’s next drive would set up the RedHawks’ second touchdown of the day, when Gotkowski and Isom once again hooked up for a quick scoring opportunity from 10 yards out to reclaim the lead.

Ball State’s first play of their next drive saw a deep connection between Kelly and Donovan Hamilton, as the two connected from 47 yards out to set up inside Miami territory. A holding call later in the sequence halted the advance, but the Cardinals were still able to send a responding salvo in the form of a 43-yard field goal from DC Pippin to cut the gap to 14-10 in favor of Miami with 2:33 remaining in the first quarter.

Rushing gains of 18 yards and 27 yards by Thomas Gotkowski and Keith Reynolds respectively gashed the Ball State defense and set up a Jordan Brunson 12-yard rushing touchdown to put Miami up 21-10 to effectively end the first quarter.

The two sides combined for 31 offensive points in the first 15 minutes, but the tenor of the game would change drastically over the next 30, as Miami would ride a 24-0 run to enter the fourth quarter ahead by a margin of 38-10. Ball State’s offense was kept under the RedHawks’ thumb in that time, punting five times (with three of those drives going three-and-out) and being kept to a kneel to end the first half.

The Cardinals managed to notch a two-yard passing touchdown from Kiael Kelly to Qua Ashley thanks to the defense forcing a turnover-on-downs to snap the streak with 7:44 remaining in the game, but Miami was able to kill five minutes of clock before punting the ball back, putting BSU at their own 14-yard line on the ensuing possession.

Two plays later, the RedHawks defense put the game to rest with Jayden Fuller’s strip-sack fumble of Kiael Kelly. Jermaine Agee would follow the ball and land on it in the endzone, putting the RedHawks up 45-17 with just over two minutes remaining.

Ball State would score one last touchdown to end the game, as Eric Weatherly would cross the goal line from 35 yards out with 1:21 remaining to put the game at its final tally.

The RedHawks won their second-straight game with Thomas Gotkowski starting at quarterback. The redshirt freshman finished 12-of-24 for 226 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions, while rushing for an additional 44 rushing yards.

Jordan Brunson (14 rushes, 54 yards, touchdown), D’Shawntae Jones (eight rushes, 47 yards) and Tito Glass (seven rushes, 41 yards) all contributed to the rushing attack, while Braylon Isom went 2-of-2 on catches converting to scores. Cole Weaver (five catches, 66 yards) paced the receiving corps.

It was a banner day to be a RedHawks defender, as six different Miami RedHawks picked up at least one tackle-for-loss and five picked up at least one sack. Miami also forced four fumbles and recovered one on the day and limited Ball State to 5-of-13 on third-down plays.

Jackson Kuwatch led the Miami defense with eight tackles, 1.5 TFLs and a sack on the afternoon. Roosevelt Andrews, Adam Trick, James Schott and Jayden Fuller each had a TFL and a sack, while Fuller, Brock Uihlein, Jermaine Agee, Christian McKinney all forced a fumble.

Ball State had a hard time keeping Kiael Kelly upright, giving up six sacks on the day, and were also limited in the run game, combining for 103 yards on the day.

Kelly finished 14-of-23 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns, rushing for 61 net yards (118 before sacks.) Qua Ashley, typically a dynamo for BSU, was limited to 11 carries for 23 yards, while Jalen Bonds had the team’s lone rushing touchdown on seven carries for 13 yards. Donovan Hamilton finished as the team’s receiving leader with four catches for 72 yards. Eric Weatherly (three catches, 54 yards) and Ashley (two-yard score) pulled in the two receiving touchdowns.

Caden Johnson and Joey Stemler shared the joint-lead in tackles (six), while Nate Voorhis concluded his banner season with an additional two tackles-for-loss, a sack and a fumble. Alfred Chea finished with a TFL and a forced fumble.

Miami now looks forward to their third-straight trip to Detroit for the MAC title game, hoping to avenge their loss in last year’s edition. They sit at 7-5 as they prepare for next week.

Ball State concludes the season on a three-game losing streak, ending new head coach Mike Uremovich’s first season at 4-8 overall. BSU had a promising start, knocking down Ohio in the MAC season opener, but was never able to maintain steady performances, ultimately falling out of bowl eligibility last week.