The Sixth Ball Brother

Signing off....

2009-01-09T01:05:00.002-05:00

After a little less than a year, what I thought would happen has happened.

I am not as motivated as I thought I was to do this.

I made no posts related to the Western Michigan game or Buffalo game besides the Boise State commentary. That was probably a sign I needed to not do this, and it probably wasn't right to prop myself up as a "Ball State blog."

Working two full-time jobs didn't help. Being lazy didn't help either. And in all honesty, I am not that great at the "bloggy" things that are supposed to make sites like this work and generate page views (although we had plenty and plenty of those).

There were plenty of things to blog about this year's Ball State football team and I flat-out ignored them. So with that being said, I have basically decided to shut this bad boy down.

I'll leave the old posts up in case anyone gets bored, but I really don't think anyone's going to miss the site too much. And I apologize if you do.

Alan over at Over The Pylon does a phenomenal job of doing everything that makes a blog so great, so if you aren't already reading his blog (but I surmise most of you do) then consider that you're one stop-shop for all things Ball State football.

I'll be around, whether it's leaving improper comments over at OTP or arguing with Alan on Gmail Chat about the Boise State situation, or doing some things here and there for BallStateInsider.com Or if you're desperate, I am all things Clinton County sports over at The Frankfort Times. No one covers four high schools by themself quite like I do. You can also check me out on my my new entertainment blog Hit Your Demo! which will probably be nothing more than TV and movie reviews, two things I watch a lot of.

If I feel the need, I'll do a post once a year or something (haha) and hope you see it with Google mail alerts.

Take care, Cardinal fans!

PHIL

Did not see that one coming...

2009-01-07T00:48:00.003-05:00

Every time I watch a sporting event and something bad happens to my team, I always say to myself, "I'm flying through the air, this is not good."

It's the line from Talledega Nights when Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) gets into the horrific crash. It's also a line I said to myself roughly 150,000 times last night from the hours of 8 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.

If there's any consolation, it's that the game wasn't as brutally horrifying as the Buffalo one. The Cards got beat by a much better Tulsa team tonight, pure and simple.

I always hate to say my brother was right, but he was on the money about this game.

We had absolutely nothing to play for and he predicted we'd play like it. I disagreed with him — maintaining that we'd like to be ranked in the preseason top 25 next year — but he was right. We played like we had zero interest in being on the field. Maybe we underestimated how much Brady Hoke meant to this team.

That was a tough one to swallow. That Ball State football team we saw on the field tonight against Tulsa looked nothing like the one we saw all season. It looks like we discovered some truths about our squad tonight. Here they are.

1. The MAC is a terrible conference.

0-5 in bowl games, including clunkers by us and Central Michigan. Ball State had not seen a team with that kind of speed and precision on offense. They had speed everywhere and we did not. How bad was the MAC? Maybe we are a bunch of Sun Belt Conference rejects. Sounds brutal to say, but we did not represent at all tonight.

2. We missed Brady Hoke.

I think it's clear who was calling the defense this year. There was absolutely no fire on the defensive side of the ball, but then again, they were on the field an awful lot. Five three-and-outs by the Cardinals in the second half. Brady would've had that defense much more revved up (and the O, t00).

3. Nate Davis will be back next year.

I guess we can take some solace in that. What the heck happened to him the past two games? Eight turnovers and just an abysmal night passing the ball. He was phenomenal in the first 12 games of the year, and followed that up with two huge clunkers. You could make the argument that Nate has had his worst games in the three biggest games of his career: last year against Rutgers, and this year's game with Buffalo and Tulsa.

I apologize to Tulsa fans for insinuating yesterday that Nate was way better than David Johnson. What an offense Tulsa runs.

4. Our offense spent the night relaxing in the Gulf.

As I sat at Fox and Hound with the Ball State fans that hadn't already bailed in the fourth quarter, we talked about how it was inexcusable that MiQuale Lewis wasn't involved in the game. Where was the dominating offensive line and the sick running of Lewis? Tarrion Adams had a HUGE game, rushing for 207 yards and three touchdowns.

Tulsa outgained us 632-223. Yes, re-read those numbers again. Ridiculous. Included in that was 439 rushing yards from the Golden Hurricane. Come on. Davis was 9-of-29 passing.

I know a lot has to do with Brady leaving and what not, but I was surprised our team couldn't get past that. We looked disinterested in both the Buffalo and Tulsa games after playing like gangbusters in the first 12.

I think this and Nate is what befuddles me the most. Tulsa's (and Buffalo's) defenses were lightly-regarded going into those games, and they both lit us up. I don't get it.

5. Mark Smith won't be our defensive coordinator next year.

I consider that a good thing. I can't make any sort of argument that would favor him returning next year. Speaking of our assistants, rumor has it all but three of our coaches are heading to San Diego State University as well. We made outgoing Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Mahlzahn look like a freakin' genius.

6. We made every single commentator who dissed us all year look really good.

Include in that the likes of Kirk Herbstreit, Craig James and Chris Fowler, who waited as long as possible to rank us in the top 25. Maybe they were onto something. Look at the teams we're ranked ahead and where do we really fall? 40th best team? 50th? Hard to imagine that two weeks ago we were No. 12 in the Bowl Championship Series. Unbelievable.

7. Tulsa set a record tonight for two things: uncalled holding penalties and third-down conversions.

David Johnson owned third down. He made it his bitch. It seemed like every time I looked up, there he was converting a third-down conversion, either with his legs or with a perfect throw. We've all come to expect things like that from Nate, but that was nowhere to be seen tonight.

Good golly, Tulsa's offensive line holds....A LOT. Every time we were about to get to Johnson, a Tulsa offensive lineman would grab cloth out-of-position and let Johnson escape. Look, I know holding penalties occur on every play, but there were a lot that were excessive and should've been flagged.

I'll be back tomorrow with a more positive, glowing review of the season at hand as we try to wipe away the stink of the last two games.

Awfully close to Gametime!

2009-01-06T17:27:00.002-05:00

Hello, folks. Just wanted to say one last hello and goodbye before the games starts in two and a half hours. I'll be at Fox & Hound on 82nd St. in Indianapolis watching the game with a group of friends that secured six tables for us, so that'll be plenty. If you happen to be there, feel free to stop by and say hello. I'll have my computer with me, so hopefully, we'll have a running diary so you can go through the ups and downs of the game with me. No one does it better than I do. If they don't have it, i'll post it tomorrow. See ya on the flipside.

Of course, there's always the possibility that I will get too caught up people to keep a running diary, which will most likely happen.

GO CARDINALS!!

TALKING POINTS: GMAC Bowl, Ball State vs. Tulsa

2009-01-05T21:07:00.004-05:00

Hello, fans of the furry robin-sized bird. I type to you as I watch the Texas-Ohio State Fiesta Bowl and I'm in shock it's 3-3 in the second quarter. Anyway, let's break down this game Phil Friend-style.

Talking Point #1
Can Tulsa's defense stop Nate Davis?

No. Trick question. Only Nate Davis can stop himself.

Last summer, Davis went on a two-week vacation to the Virgin Islands. It is now just called "The Islands."

Talking Point #2
Tulsa is a 3-point favorite

Boy, the gambling world really soured on Ball State after everything went down. The Cardinals opened as a 2.5 point favorite. I'm not much of a gambler, but I don't think games swing 5.5 points like that. If you like Ball State to win, hopefully you placed your bet as 3-point underdogs rather than 2.5 point favs.

Talking Point #3
Who's got the better QB? BSU's Nate Davis vs. Tulsa's David Johnson. Who's got the better running back? BSU's Miquale Lewis or Tulsa's Tarrion Adams.

For what it's worth, not too many teams had success passing the ball against us, if I recall correctly. It's been so long since a Ball State football game. So something has to give here. Tulsa is 7th nationally in passing yards (310.2). Oh, wait, Tulsa is also 7th nationally running the ball (254.9 per game) and 1st in total offense (565.1). That could present some problems. Ball State sits 22nd in passing offense (266.7), 24th in rushing offense (192.7) and 11th in total offense (459.3). In a completely unbiased opinion, I'm taking Nate Davis and his laser, rocket arm and the little giant MiQuale (no, YourQuale) Lewis.

Talking Point #4
How does Johnson fare against Ball State's opportunistic defense?

Our defense has played bend-but-don't-break all season long, while at the same time causing turnovers at the right time. Johnson does have a propensity to turn over the pigskin, throwing 18 interceptions. I will predict a pick-six (or TAINT, for the Bill Simmons readers) for the Cardinals.

Talking Point #5
Battle of the newly contracted coaches

With Stan Parrish being the new head coach and stuff, the Golden Hurricane coach also got a new contract. Todd Graham got a 10-year contract extension. Not too shabby. I guess that means Steve Kragthorpe isn't coming back, no?

Talking Point #6
The Brady Bunch minus Brady

How much will Ball State miss its fearless leader of the past six seasons, Brady Hoke? I think we might be in for a surprise...and not in a good way. Whether we want to admit it or not, he deserves all the credit in the world for making our football program the front porch of our university, whether we like it or not. Let's hope coach Parrish keeps it there.

Talking Point #7
Does it matter that BSU is the nation's least penalized team?

Probably not. Going into the Buffalo game the Cardinals were in the top five in turnover margin. Look where that got us. But it's fun to say we are the least penalized team. Discipline's got to count for something.

My Prediction for tomorrow:
Tulsa wins.

FALSE

I'm taking the alma mater. Ball State 35, Tulsa 31.

FIGHT TEAM FIGHT FOR BALL STATE.

And if you need some motivation, please just go back and read my soliloquy to the team before the Central Michigan game. Sure, some things need to be taken out. But the idea's the same.

The Bird's The Word

2009-01-04T19:59:00.006-05:00

At the very least, things have calmed down quite a bit in Cardinal Nation since the disastrous MAC Championship game.

It looks like most of the Cardinal have come to grips with everything that's happened since we lost to freakin' Buffalo. Just a brief reminder: Nate Davis fumbled four times and two were returned for touchdowns as we somehow lost to Buffalo in the MAC title game; coach Brady Hoke bolted for San Diego State and former offensive coordinator Stan Parrish is our new head coach.

Nothing groundbreaking there, but here are my few quick thoughts on it all.

1) Buffalo game: I'm not sure I'm fully over the loss yet. It's amazing that one play (not giving MiQuale Lewis the touchdown when he crossed the goal-line) can change the tide of the game like that. That thing sent us on The Downward Sprial (not trademarked by Nine Inch Nails). Let's hope we can use the disappointment of that game as motivation for the Tulsa game Tuesday.

2) Brady Hoke: I still won't get to this day why our administration (and fan base) was against playing Boise State, but I think turning down the invite is what led Hoke to leave. I personally don't believe it was because of the assistants not getting paid (although that was certainly part of it, just not the main reason). When our administration decided to turn the game down, it became clear to Coach Hoke that he didn't think our administration was serious about making our program a national contender. Like last time, someone is going to argue that "Hoke said it was because of the assistants" and say Hoke has no reason to lie, so the Boise thing surely can't be the reason. Well, in case you forgot he told everyone he didn't talk with Auburn, when, low and behold, he did talk with Auburn.

3) Stan Parrish: Welcome, Stan. He was certainly the logical choice to take over Brady's spot — barring that he didn't go to SDSU with Hoke — and now hopefully there will be less turnover. This is still a team that is primed for a BCS run in 2009 if Nate comes back, so the less change there was, the better. He'll get a true test in his first game as head coach.

I had a talk with my brother this afternoon, and he informed me that he didn't think we had anything to play for in this game. I couldn't disagree more. A victory gives us a springboard into the 2009 season, especially in the polls, where we'd be ranked higher in the preseason. We got all the way to No. 12 without any pollsters looking at us in the beginning of the season. Where can we get to next season?

Look, the last three weeks have been rough for us. But...this is what we wanted. This is what it feels like to be a national power, a team everybody wants to beat. Will this feeling last beyond this season? Time will tell. We'd kill be the Utah of the Midwest, and with the great recruiting classes we've had and the one we have coming up next year, the seeds are certainly in place for that to happen.

Even if Coach Parrish doesn't have an office.

We'll talk a little more shop tomorrow and in the coming weeks or so, get down to breaking down the upcoming year's recruiting class, one of the reasons I created this site. I know that I was absent during long stretches, but I won't make any excuses. I'm just lazy. And for the Buffalo week and beyond, I was a mess along with everyone else at BSUFans, who were practically losing their minds. But as I said, this is what it's like to be a national powerhouse and I hope that doesn't change.

See ya Monday.

One gigantic missed opportunity for Ball State

2008-12-04T16:38:00.002-05:00

I, for one, refuse to toe the company line or drink the juice being spewed from the Ball State athletic department, and unfortunately, Brady Hoke that this game is not in our overall interest, financially or program-wise.

We've said all along that to be the best, we've got to beat the best. All Ball State ever wanted was to be recognized for having a great football program. The opportunity went to new heights when the Humanitarian Bowl reached out to us to try to get a Boise State-Ball State matchup.

Instead, Ball State pussed its way out of this. Plain and simple.

You want drama? You want action? You want national attention between two of the top three non-BCS teams who could go mano-a-mano? It's a dream matchup for both teams, for the nation and for both fan bases (don't listen to Boise State's fans because I'm willing to bet Ian Johnson and company would love a shot at Ball State in a battle of the unbeatens).

Look, I understand WHY Ball State said no. The financial implications would've been astrononical. Keeping everybody in hotels for five days, airplane ride for the team, blah blah blah, I get it. But it terms of the progress of the football program, it's a killer. And isn't that is most important?

Everyone's looking at us like a bunch of pussies who didn't want to strain in a game or come close to blemishing our undefeated record. When Bubba Cunningham was our AD, he said he wanted Ball State to be the front porch of the university.

Now, wouldn't being 13-0 and playing a 12-0 Boise State team in the biggest bowl outside of the BCS (and you could argue, better than the BCS game that will involve Cincinnati) put us in that prime position to do it? Any money lost on it would be well worth it.

Would it be a road game? Yes. Remember Fresno State coach Pat Hill's motto? "Anytime, anyplace, anywhere." This is our first year in the national spotlight. If we wanted to get back there next year and try to get in a BCS game, playing this game and beating Boise in Boise would've done it. In case you forgot, we would have the best player on the field. Now, the media — and everyone outside of our little Ball State nook — look at us as a bunch of cowards, and I am almost inclined to agree.

Shame on you, Tom Collins. This decision falls on you. I'm sorry that a battle of unbeatens in a huge bowl game with all of the national spotlight on us wasn't good enough. A win would've more than made up for the financial loss. Yes, it would've turned out to be a road game. Yes, Boise State somewhat bullied us. But you know what? In the non-BCS world, they've earned it. They are where we want to be. And Ball State missed the biggest opportunity possible to do that.

Let's say Ball U were to have gone in there and beats Boise or it's a close loss. If Nate comes back...where would that have set us up next year? Top 15 preseason if not better, not to mention the Boise game fresh on everyone's minds. We could've ruled the roost in the non-BCS teams. Instead, we're a bunch of pansies who looked like we're too scared to play Boise State.

Don't give me the financial bullshit or the fact that beating another non-BCS team would only hurt our standing. A win puts us in prime BCS position for next year and, oh, a $14 million payday, which would've more than recouped the financial losses from the H-Bowl.

Would our fans not get to see us play? Sure. I can't afford the $600 round trip ticket plus three days in the hotel. But don't we want to set ourselves up for the future? I don't understand why nearly everyone on BSUFans is toeing the university line and wants to play in the Motor City Bowl or (puke) GMAC Bowl against Minnesota, NC State, Rutgers or whoever else.

Instead, we're running scared in the eyes of everyone else.

Do you think Central Michigan would've passed on this game?

I don't think so.

Nate has a police escort

2008-11-21T00:15:00.002-05:00

I left out a lot of things I wanted to address about the game in the last post, and I'll get to them in a second, but here was the most interesting part I noticed in re-watching the game last night.

Nate Davis had a police escort.

Now that's superstar treatment. You know when you're a name when you have a policeman following you around.

Of course, I don't know what the circumstances were. I wonder if Nate received a death threat or something of the sort via Facebook or e-mail during the course of the week. Maybe CMU staffers didn't want Davis to get hit with an errand ice ball. Maybe they thought their fans would storm after him on the field. That I don't know. I was unable to find a photo anywhere of this and didn't use my camera to take a photo of it with my DVR. So if anyone has information, let me know.

A few more thoughts.

- Boy, it sure looks like Alex Knipp had that interception. On the one view, it looks like the ball hits the ground. But you can't see his hands. On the front replay, it really looks like he has his hands underneath the ball. There certainly wasn't enough to overturn it. Had Central come back and won that game, Ball State Nation would be throwing a huge hissyfit and rightfully so. The announcers showed their true colors on that without even once considering the possibility it was caught. That play was awfully close and they just dusted it off like it was obvious. Todd Harris and Ray Bentley suck ass.

- I have no clue about those 4th and 1 and 3rd and 1 plays. It does not look like we got them at all, yet somehow we did when they brought the chains out. But we'll take it.

- That last CMU drive was just as nerve-racking on the replay as it was live.

TSBB Morning Quarterback: I spell redemption B-A-L-L S-T-A-T-E

2008-11-20T20:25:00.004-05:00

Oh sweet molasses! Where do I start? I'll start with me. I watched the game with my brother and three friends at the Buffalo Wild Wings on 86th Street and Township Line Road in Indianapolis and I may not be allowed there ever again. I became the fan I despise most. Complaining after every bad play, cheering loudly after every great play. I WAS Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde. And I let out very loud YEAAAAHS after the biggest Ball State plays. But it was all worth it.

What a game. I was on an emotional roller coaster all night long. Before I get into our happy happy's, let me just say this: Ball State did exactly what championship teams do in the fourth quarter. The defense buckles down and the running game takes over. The Cardinals defense didn't allow any points on the final three possessions and on our offense's final possessions, MiQuale Lewis ran, and ran so far away. There were so many memorable plays I don't know if I'll ever forget them. Let's get into it.

The Very Good

1. MiQuale Lewis

The sparkplug didn't find the end zone but he rumbled for a career-high 177 yards. He was kind of quiet in stretches, but when the Cardinals needed him the most, he was there. On the final touchdown drive, he plowed off runs of 21 and 19 yards which set up the final TD pass to Briggs Orsbon.

2. The defense (sort of)

On two of CMU's final three possessions, the defense stiffened up and didn't allow the Chippewas the score. On the final possession, they intercepted Lefevour twice. It was dicey there for a bit though. After the first interception was overturned, the Chippewas promptly marched to the BSU 30. But luckily, Lefevour had flashbacks to the end of the Purdue game and overthrew the receiver and Sean Baker is awesome.

3. The efficient Nate Davis

Completion and yardage-wise, a very quiet 12-of-22 for 175 yards. BUT...four touchdown passes. And all four were picture-perfect. Not to understate it, but Nate has a cannon. The first TD pass to Louis Johnson was perfectly placed in between four Central Michigan defenders. The throws to Ifft and Orsbon were just on the money. Please stay.

4. Butch Kelly's play-calling.

I've always been a fan of the fake punt. But on 4th-and-18 with four minutes to at like the 45-yard line? Come on. That was downright dumb. He had think we'd be in a punt-safe formation, right? Right? RIGHT? I guess not. That really hurt CMU field-position wise when setting up for the last drive.

5. Brady Hoke's cajones and the incorrectness of the yellow line

Wow...4th and inches on our own 40 early in the third. That REAKED of desperation. And I'm not so sure we made it. But by golly, we did it and it led to a touchdown. The same with the other time we went for it on 4th and inches. HOLLER! Thank you for having the balls I may not have had Brady.

6. Louis Johnson

That's how you make the most out of your two catches. 65 yards and two touchdowns.

7. Dan Lefevour

The kid's good. He's a perfect college quarterback. He's not a very good thrower, yet he threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns. But the biggest key was that we contained his running, his strongest attribute. He knows how to slip tackles, I don't know how, but he does. He looks like a two-year old kid, but he just makes play. Thank you for overthrowing your receiver, though. He's got the moxie and when I see him on the field I shudder because the kid is good.

8. Andrew Aguila

A thousand thank yous for missing two field goals.

The Very Bad

1. BJ Hill

Hey thanks for showing up to the game today, BJ. FALSE, BIG FALSE. On two occasions, Hill tried to make interceptions when he had no chance whatsoever. And on the touchdown which gave CMU its 24-17 lead. Cripes. He overran that thing way more than anyone should. He has just had a horrible past two games. Kind of crappy for someone who might end up being All-MAC.

2. Third downs

On the 3rd and 15 play in which LeFevour took off up the middle and ran 18 yards for the first down...seriously. What the fuck. Yes, I'm leaving the curse word. We sat in a soft zone on every play and let them run rampant on third down. It was demoralzing. 3rd and 15, 3rd and 1, 3rd and 5. Whatever it was, CMU got it.

3. Todd Harris and Ray Bentley

They probably deserve a post of their own, but let me just say this: Both of them suck. Good god. What the hell was that? Bentley showed so much blatant homerism that he might've taken LeFevour's jock strap out to dinner last night. And somehow he got Harris to join him. My favorite was when Sam Woodworth left the game after taking an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit and he said, "I've taken harder hits in my day" without mentioning the helmet-to-helmet at all. You stay classy. How Bentley was given this assignment is beyond me. And Harris, our quarterback is not Nate Lewis.

4. Myles Trempe

Myles, thank you for dropping that pass and preventing us from ever throwing the ball deep again. Nate's sorry for throwing the ball right at the numbers and 40 yards on the button. Our mistake. Now go join Jordan Trask on the bench.

5. Offensive play-calling

Evidently Stan Parrish did not get the memo that Central Michigan's defense is terrible. I didn't really analyze the Central defense too much during the game but I hope they sat in a Cover 2 Nickel or Dime or something that didn't have us exploit everything downfield. I just thought that was really confusing. I know our philosophy has been "take what we're given" but it seemed discouraging. But then again, we won. So whatever.

Cardinal Roundtable: Central Michigan

2008-11-19T16:04:00.004-05:00

(There isn't much left to be said about this game. Let's see what myself, Over The Pylon and Ball U Nation think about this one as well.)

1. Obviously the big news this week is Ball State dropping three spots in the BCS poll and being passed up by both BYU and TCU. In your opinion, was it our rather lackluster win against Miami or our schedule that led to us dropping?

I haven't the slightest clue why we dropped. Personally, I think it was rather bush league that this occurred, but what can you do? I'm sure the drop had to do with the computers who downgraded our schedule. Regardless, there's no reason a two-loss TCU team should have passed us. Their conference is not THAT superior to ours. As for BYU, that was a risk we knew we were taking rooting for them to beat TCU. It was a worst-of-both-worlds type of situation.

2. Our chances of making it to a BCS bowl are obviously on life support, do you think a victory over Central Michigan will help us in the BCS or just add fire to the charge that the MAC and our schedule is weak?

I don't think it's going to help all that much. Wishful thinking says yes, playing the 29th and 20th teams in the next two weeks will raise our Q rating. But what about everyone else? Is there enough? I mean...at 17 we are the FIFTH highest-rated non-BCS team. Ball State picked the wrong year to do this unfortunately. But we really need to win this conference championship and that's what we're playing for right now.

3. If you could save one Central Michigan player, who would it be and why?

I have no idea and don't feel like looking anything up, but Ill take Bryan Anderson.

4. Central Michigan has been the top dog in the MAC for the past couple of seasons, how confident are you that this will finally be the year we knock off the Chips?

Probably more confident than I should be. They've owned us the last four meetings, but every single stat points Ball State's way...especially Central Michigan's putrid defense. We've got to exploit that for all it's worth. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be confident watching the game. I promise I will be a glass case of emotion. 38-28 BSU.

5. Central Michigan and Ball State both have powerful offenses, do you think this game is going to be a shootout or will Ball State's defense be able to slow down CMU?

I'm taking Ball State's defense in this one. This squad is much much MUCH improved from year's past and while Lefevour will certainly get his yards, I have full confidence in the Cardinals limiting him from being able to do too much.

OVER THE PYLON
BALL U NATION

The biggest game in the history of Ball State football

2008-11-19T12:56:00.003-05:00

It's here.

Ever since the 58-38 embarrassment Ball State endured, we've been pointing to this day.

We knew this was going to be a special season, but not too many expected us to be 10-0 at this point. So here we are, against a team that has beaten us up the last four years. Going against a quarterback who had one of the biggest games of his career against us last year.

We knew that in order to go undefeated, win the MAC title and maybe get to a BCS game, the road went through Mt. Pleasant. We've been pointing to this game since the shit-stomping against Indiana University.

It's here.

The biggest game in the history of Ball State football. Against one of our own sworn enemies. Against a school who somehow feels they have a superiority complex against us. Somehow the Chippewas think they can just walk onto the field and automatically beat us.

Apparently they haven't got the memo about this Ball State team. Our offense can score points practically whenever it wants. That's no surprise. But what will surprise you tonight is our defense. It is much improved from team's of years past. This defense has playmakers. They force turnovers. They don't give up as many rushing yards. They don't give up the points.

That's the biggest difference from last year. Our defense is good. Very good. Go ahead and underestimate them. They'll make the difference tonight.

Ball State, this is it.

It's the game we've been waiting our entire lives for.

The biggest game in the history of Ball State football. It's historical significance is not lost on the seniors. They've been here for five years now. The games against Iowa and Auburn, that was all for this. That's why you saw the field as a redshirt freshman. So when we got to this moment, we'd be ready for our best game on the grandest stage.

It's all out there. The heartbreaker against IU in 2006. 1st and goal at the 2 against Michigan. Ray Rice. This has all been building up to this point. We learned from these mistakes.

It's shown throughout the first 10 games of this season. Size, experience, smart football, yards per game, point allowed, we outrank Central Michigan in every aspect. We win this game on paper. Unfortunately, it's not won on paper.

Represent yourself, represent the school and represent the team as you march out and try to turn away the naysayers one more time.

Fight.
Team.
Fight.
For.
Ball.
State.

Hey, basketball season started!

2008-11-16T21:57:00.002-05:00

Who's that Jones'n on the court for Ball State?

Oh, that's Jarrod Jones. The true freshman had a marvelous first game, getting 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Cardinals defeated Eastern Illinois, 72-59.

The score is definitely a little misleading, as the Cardinals were up 20 points or so for most of the second half.

What's not to like about Jones? He's 6-foot-9, for starters. So wait, you're telling me we have an athletic big man who can score points? Get outta here! 7-of-11 from the field, 7-of-10 from the free-throw line...AND...3 steals just for show.

Only 3,874 peeps there. Sad day.

But senior stud Anthony Newell wasn't far behind as he scored 19 and finished with six boards. No one else was in double figures, but Laron Frazier added nine and Brawley Chisholm eight.

Here was the starting five.

G - Brandon Lampley
G - Laron Frazier
F - Maurice Hubbard
F - Anthony Newell
C - Jarrod Jones

Maurice Hubbard scored zero points. We'll see how that lineup works for the remainder of the season. But right now, we're 1-0!

BSU drops from 14th to 17th in the BCS

2008-11-16T21:44:00.004-05:00

If that's not a kick in the nuts I don't know what is.

My biggest issue with this drop is that the Cardinals got passed by a TCU team that's already lost twice. How in the world do we drop from 14th to 17th while TCU goes from 18th to 16th?

Look, I get it. Our schedule wasn't very good this year. We've had to defend this fact for God knows how long. It's not like Ball State plays crappy teams year in and year out. This is the first time we've played this easily a schedule in who-knows-how long. Of course, this happened in a year in which we're on the cusp of the BCS and have the best team in the history of Ball State football.

That's what makes this all the more painful.

I don't think our BCS chances are completely out the window, but they certainly look bleek. We knew that when/if BYU beat TCU, there's a chance BYU would come back and pass us. And as much as that sucks, that's exactly what happened. Now, how TCU re-passed the Cardinals is an explanation I'm still waiting.

Two weeks ago, we talked about how we needed a lot of things to happen. Well, slowly, they were happening, and now...it just feels like it's all out the window.

Of course, all that's thrown out the window if we lost to Central Michigan and/or Western Michigan (or the MAC title game). But this was uite the death knell for those of us who were hoping, wishing, wanting a trip to Miami.

TSBB Morning Quarterback: Ball State vs. Miami (OH)

2008-11-13T23:58:00.004-05:00

I know this is a few days late, but when we're on national TV, I like to watch the game a second time before writing this. Because usually during games, I'm in a glass case of emotion and just flat-out not focusing on certain things.

Every time we're on national television, I just cannot watch the game. I'm jittery, I'm nervous and most of all, always pessimistic. I always fear the worst, wait for the bottom to fall out and then something catastrophic to happen.

It's how I'm built. I'm a Cubs fan so that happens by nature. Although I must say that I was VERY confident in this year's Cubs team and looked what happened. I should know better.

There were about 10 times during the Miami game I thought bad things were going to happen. Let's start.

1. The 4th-and-1 play on the opening drive.

Oh, I see that we calmly marched down the field 50-some yards in five plays, only to not score a touchdown on the freakin two-yard line. I have no problem with us going for it. I'm glad we did. It's what we should've done. But the Cards HAVE GOT TO convert those. Even if we shouldn't have handed the ball off every play, a BCS team needs to convert that against Miami, Ohio.

2. Who knew Daniel Radabaugh could complete so many passes

We did a better job in the second half against him, but his completion percentage was unbelievable. Why is this guy completing every single pass against our defense? Apparently we didn't get the memo that Radabaugh sucks.

3. End of first-half timeouts

I could write an entire book on this. Look, the end result, even if we use the timeouts, is still probably a field goal. But I'm much more confident in McGarvey kicking a 25 yard field goal than the 46 one he made. WE HAD TWO TIMEOUTS LEFT!!! WTF! Why Davis, Hoke, Parrish, or whoever's in charge of calling timeouts didn't call them, I will never know. It's the second straight week and roughly the 1,000th time in Hoke's career we mangled the "timeouts at the end of the first half" strategy. If this comes back to bite us in any of our remaining three games, I feel a 2,000 word post with 50 percent of the words being expletivies coming. For those who read Bill Simmons and know who the VP of Common Sense is, we need a VP of Common Sense timeouts following Hoke around. For that I'm nominating....Jason Whitlock.

Alright, that's the end of the negativity. Just a few things to think about. Onto the happy happy's.

THE GOOD

1. MiQuale Lewis
During the liveblog thingy, I'm not sure what it's officially called, over at Over The Pylon, they officially adapted to calling him OurQuale. Ehh...I'm 50/50 on whether or not I like it, but Lewis had a hellacious game - and please note I gave Lewis my pre-game Helmet Sticker. Twenty-six carries, 165 yards, two touchdowns...my god what we could've been last year with him. The kids' been a beast and will play just as important role next week.

2. Nate Davis
When I think of Nate Davis, I always think to myself, he's such a smooth operator. And to honor him, let's listen in Sade's "Smooth Operator." He's a smooth operator...oooohh oohh operator.

We've been ridiculously spoiled with Davis' play. Let's recall that near-touchdown pass to Orsbon. Calmly rolls out of the pocket, a flick of the wrist leads to a 45-yard spiral right on the money. We've been very spoiled. Nate has been unbelievably awesome. That's why we need to make the BCS this year. This is a once in a lifetime player for us.

3. Miami receiver Armand Robinson

Good gosh almighty, thank you very much for deciding to drop a wide open touchdown pass. It does not break my heart to see you do that. One of the Treys slipped on the play for whatever reason, leaving him wide open and a score would've made it a one-score ballgame. Thanks, Armand!

That should sum everything up. We only have the most important game in the history of Ball State football coming up. Should be a good one.

Can Ball State make the BCS? Round two

2008-11-11T01:33:00.004-05:00

Cardinals fans definitely got their wish last Thursday when TCU's BCS hopes came crashing down in a loss to Utah.

Like I said last week, it really was a lose-lose situation for the Cardinals. We still had four non-BCS teams ahead of us and now it's down to four with Utah, Boise State, us and unfortunately, BYU.

Let's break it down.

Here is our dream scenario.

1. Nov. 22 becomes Hail to the Cardinals Day

This is a very big day in the history of Ball State football. Utah and Boise State's best chances to lose fall on this day. Nevada plays Boise State while Utah takes on BYU. What that would is likely put us as the No. 1 non-BCS team (unless BYU got a HUGE bump) and we'd get an automatic berth. I creamed my pants just thinking of this possibility. Nov. 22 feels like a LIVE BLOG! Day.

2. The Big East champ is ranked No. 17 or lower.

I've read many, many different interpretations of the BCS rules, but this is my understanding. If one of the BCS conference champions is ranked No. 17 or lower and a non-BCS team is ranked higher than that, than that non-BCS team gets an at-large berth.

So let's say only one of those teams falls on D-Day. If Cincinnati wins the Big East and only gets to 17, viola, the Cardinals should be in.

3. Many, many teams lose more games.

And by team, we specifically mean Ohio State. I got to be honest, I'm not fully sure how OSU losing helps us although everyone keeps saying that. I presume that would mean they get a third loss and thus, wouldn't be eligible for the BCS. But who knows. Feel free to fill that part in.

But most important, just win out, baby. Let the "cards" fall where they may.

Mark Schlabach is a master researcher. False

2008-11-11T01:09:00.002-05:00

This has been talked about quite a bit on BSUFans, and it's probably worthy of an entire post. On today's main college football page at ESPN.com, the lead read is Mark Schlabach's "On The Mark" column and he addresses the three non-BCS schools that are undefeated (Utah, Boise State and Ball State) (Note 2: "On The Mark" is cheeky and easy to make fun, but then again my columns at my newspaper are called 'Phil'osophy so I will be quiet. At ease).

The thesis of his argument is that the only team worthy of getting a BCS bid is Utah. Which is weird because they're the only team that's had the close games. I'm sorry, didn't Toledo beat Michigan at Michigan as well? And didn't Ball State shut out Toledo, 31-0, at their place? I think so. These arguments were left out in his pro-Utah stance.

Let's decipher this doozy.

The Tar Heels and Panthers have done more to deserve a BCS berth than Ball State, Boise State or Utah.

Are we talking about the same Pitt teams here? The same Pitt team that lost to Bowling Green. Does either Pitt or North Carolina have as impressive of victory as Boise State over Oregon? A quick check shows the answer is no. This team is three weeks removed from losing to Rutgers by 20. And a week ago, it took FOUR OVERTIMES to beat a terrible Notre Dame team. Another note, Schlabach. Pitt beat traditional dormant Buffalo by 11 points. Woo! You're right, they're way more worthy. And in case you didn't notice, Louisville sucks. So that means nothing.

Pitt's best win, South Florida, isn't that much more impressive than Navy Mark. Not enough to make it the entire thesis of your column. Pick some better teams next time.

However, I do not have as strong as argument for North Carolina. Maybe we'll see them in the Orange Bowl and decide once and for all.

I enjoyed this comment as well.

No. 14 Ball State, known more for its canning jars and alumnus David Letterman than football, also is a perfect 9-0.

Ooooh. Someone either knows how to use Wikipedia or, is in fact a jar connesieur. Which is a possibility I guess. Maybe he's visited the Ball Jar Museum. Free tours! Learn all about Ball Jars, here. This is surprisingly detailed.

One more comment from Schlabach.

If the Cardinals win their last three games and finish 12-0, they would certainly be deserving of a date in the Motor City Bowl.

Well if that wasn't the fist-up-the-you-know-what compliment of the night, I don't know what is.

Cardinal Roundtable: Miami

2008-11-11T00:36:00.005-05:00

(Cripes...this past week flew right by. I can't believe it's GAMEDAY! already. What we have is another great opportunity to make ourselves famous with what should be a great performance against Miami. And most important, shut people up like Mark Schlabach, who sucks at life. I'll tackle that column in a bit but let's just say TSBB isn't happy. The phrase I use to describe Miami is "sneaky bad." Because when someone says "Miami" most people automatically think "Ooooh, they're good." In fact, this year, they are atrocious.)

Let's get it on...

1.) Ball State has three games standing in the way of being undefeated for the regular season. Two of the games are against upper echelon MAC teams in Central Michigan and Western Michigan. This Tuesday's contest pits the Cardinals against 2-7 Miami. How concerned about a "trap game" are you for the Cardinals?

Not in the least bit about this game. One of these days, that comment is going to bite me in the ass. But let's face facts. Yes, I know Miami is our rival and anything can happen. I've made many bold proclamations about blowouts and been wrong. But Miami is terrible. Atrocious. The aforementioned "sneaky bad." If we want to attain our goals, this better not be a trap game. But from what I've seen so far from both schools, I don't think this is a trap game at all for the Mighty Bird.

It wasn't that long ago when it was Ben Roethlisberger's junior year and some people thought we'd hang around because of the rivalry. We lost, 49-0.

Think about that.

2.) The BCS standings released on Sunday put the Cardinals at 14th. How have your hopes for a BCS berth changed over the last week or so, with Ball State's victory, their move up in the polls, and teams ahead of them dropping?

Mine haven't changed at all. As I've said all along, let's focus on us, go undefeated and let the chips fall where they lie. To quote Mr. Dewey Cox, it's a long, hard walk. If we make it to the BCS, it'll be awesome. If not, I won't be disappointed. I'm not gonna go on BSUFans and fire off an unbelievable rant about how we got screwed. Unfortunately, our schedule isn't very good and we happened to be having the once-in-a-lifetime season in a year in which there are two other non-BCS schools who are also very good and have the rep to go along with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping, wishing, wanting, but I try to stay releastic. But that doesn't mean I haven't been checking out hotels in Miami or estimating mileage for the drive ;).

3.) With the emergence of Louis Johnson on Wednesday, the Cardinals are not only talented, but very deep at the wide receiver position. Who on the offensive and defensive side of the ball do you expect to have a monster game on Tuesday?

Oooh, predictions. My pre-game Helmet Stickers go out to MiQuale Lewis on the offensive side and Brandon Crawford on the defensive side. Lewis has been over 100 yards the past few games, but we haven't "heard" heard from like we did in, say, the IU game. This feels like a 150-plus, 3 TD game for him. It hurts a little in that we'll call off the dogs so we can't get 150 from Lewis and 350 from Nate, but whatever. Defensively, hopefully we'll pin our ears back and get to Miami's backup QB a few times, and if it does happen, it'll be Crawdaddy.

4.) What Miami player would you like to see suit up in Cardinal and White?

No one on their roster really stands out to me. I have been saying wideouts the past two weeks because we're missing an elite one, but it almost feels like none of the receivers we've played against are even as good as Briggs Orsbon. So I'm gonna go with kicker Nathan Parseghian. He's got the bloodline (descendant of Ara Parseghian) and he's been quite the kicker this year. 18-of-18 on extra points, 13-of-15 goals, including 6-of-7 from 30-39 yards and 2-3 from 40-49. Feels like an upgrade to me.

5.) What do you expect from the Cardinals and Red Hawks in this mid-week contest. Does Ball State walk away 10-0 for their best start in school history or does Miami shock the world and shake up the BCS standings on their home turf?

If Miami shocks the world, I will run the streets of Frankfort naked. Luckily, only about 10 people live in this town. But I think the Cardinals run away with this one easily, 52-7. These predictions won't be so brash in the next two weeks.

6) BONUS QUESTION ASKED BY ME TO ANSWER MYSELF: What were your thoughts on the Northern Illinois game?

My first reaction was: Brady Hoke (and Stan Parrish), you sandbagging son of bitches. Myself (and quite a few others) have wondered what exactly was wrong with the BSU offense. Why aren't we scoring points at a furious pace? Why does it seem lackadaisical? Well, I think we saw why. We're saving it all for this four-game stretch run. 45 against Northern Illinois (and it could've been more). That's the best defense we'll see and we got 45. The possibilities are endless against the remaining three teams.

The sandbagging idea was actually my brother's. He sent me a text during the game saying that he felt like we've definitely been holding back. And to quote Maximus, "On my command, unleash hell."

Welcome to Ball State football.

Mid-American Conference Football Redefined.

Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

Can Ball State make the BCS?

2008-11-03T23:04:00.005-05:00

[NOTE: I had to edit this because I completely spaced about Utah.]

There were a couple interesting articles in the Chicago Tribune today. One discussed Ball State's chances of making the BCS, and the other related to Northern Illinois' plight in 2003. For a refresher, NIU actually beat some quality teams that year in Maryland and Alabama, reaching No. 10 in the BCS and No. 12 in the AP poll before losing to Bowling Green and Toledo.

Granted, the Huskies were beset by injuries, but it should serve as a reminder how quickly dreams can fade.

Here are the two scenarios in which Ball State can make the BCS

• They would earn an automatic berth in a BCS game if they win the MAC and are ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS rankings.

• Or they can earn a berth if they win the MAC, rank in the top 16 and that ranking is higher than that of a champion from a conference that has an automatic berth in a BCS bowl.

Fingers are crossed because the Cardinals will likely need the latter scenario to get in. I'm not sure Boise State is going to lose for starters. Not to mention that TCU, Utah and BYU are still ahead of us in the BCS. Here's how loyal reader Andy Roberts explained to me.

Andy: TCU/Utah play on Thursday night so one of them will fall behind us. Then whoever wins has to lose - Utah still has BYU on the schedule so that might be our best shot.

So in other words, a clusterf*ck. And that's just to get us into the No. 2 non-BCS slot. Andy goes on to say that Ohio State would need to lose again to give us a legit shot. And if Boise could lose to Fresno, that'd be great.

Needless to say, we need a lot to happen. And that's the beauty of it.

But right now, I don't see a scenario in which the Mighty Bird can earn a BCS bid. I've been championing this team forever, but for right now I will remain pessimistic. The last thing we need to do is get our hopes up, only for the crushing realization we won't make it, even if the Cards go 12-0. Maybe our best bet is to prepare for the inevitable. But at the same time, we still have to win our games. Win out, and things might take care of themselves.

Cardinal Roundtable: Bye week edition

2008-10-17T18:13:00.005-04:00

(Every week, The Sixth Ball Brother and the other two Ball State sports blogs, Over The Pylon and Ball U Nation, participate in a Cardinal Roundtable, where we attempt to answer the key questions concerning this coming week's opponent. However, we don't have an opponent this week, so we'll play along anyway. Enjoy)

1. As I type this, TCU is beating BYU 23-0. Will TCU leapfrog us and, if so, will they lose again so we could get by them?

I have a sneaking suspicion that TCU will probably jump over us in the polls since they picked up an impressive win. But at the same time, I undoubtedly feel that the Horned Frogs will lose a game somewhere down the road. They always do, and the more these non-BCS teams keep sliding, the better it is for us.

2. What's your biggest concern with the Cardinals at the midway point of the year?

Even though the Cards have been way better defensively and against an agile quarterback, WKU's Dexter Taylor briefly reminded me why I should be wary of Dan LeFevour when we play CMU late in the year. I almost feel like the team has become stagnant at this point. Besides that, still need a receiver to step up and assume the No. 1 spot.

3. What's your favorite aspect of this team?

Just the fact that this offense can do so many things and just thinking about it brings a smile to my face. Who knew that someday we'd have one of the top running backs in the nation when we went nearly a decade without having anyone doing that for us besides Marcus Merriweather — sidebar, both Merriweather and MiQuale Lewis are both from the same high school, Ft. Wayne's R. Nelson Snider High School. With Love, I'd be fully confident this team goes 13-0.

4. What's your favorite college football moment of all time?

I have four. Here they are in particular order.

1. Rhett Bomar gets pulvarized by UCLA linebacker Dennis Keyes in 2005

2. Everything Chris Simms

I miss that guy. He brought me so much joy as a player because he was so overrated and he never beat a Top 10 team in his life. I believe he was 0-11 and he was basically a running joke between me and my friends for four years. There was nothing you could count on more than Simms losing a big game. I wasn't a gambler but he would've made me a lot of money back then.

3. Chris Rix

As a Florida State fan, he brought me so much unhappiness. I remember the final team Miami beat FSU and the information flashed across the screen that Rix became the first quarterback in NCAA history to go 0-5 against the same team. And sadly enough, Scott Van Pelt frequently used it in his analysis, when describing bad quarterback play about someone, he'd say "sometimes he just Chris Rix's it out there." Ouch. I do not miss him. So much talent, so many mistakes. Here's my favorite Rix play of all-time.

4. FSU wins 1993 national championship

I have a 1993 national championship T-shirt that says, "You always remember your first time." I loved that team. How they almost lost to Nebraska is beyond me. How they lost to Notre Dame is beyond me too. An awesome Charlie Ward, freshman Warrick Dunn, just talent all over the place.

5. What TV shows are on your season pass?

I have lot. Let's see...The Office, Entourage, Saturday Night Live, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, PTI, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Heroes, Don't Forget the Lyrics (yup, I got sucked in), College Football Live, Mad Men

6. What are your top five favorite movies of all time?

1. Swingers
2. Dumb and Dumber
3. Anchorman
4. Back to the Future
5. Hoosiers

Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

Dante Love released from rehab center

2008-10-13T20:34:00.004-04:00

Good news! Dante Love has officially been released from the Indianapolis rehab center and will continue to do his rehabilitation on campus.

According to the AP story, well, there wasn't really anything new.

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) -- Ball State receiver Dante Love has been released from an Indianapolis rehabilitation center and will continue therapy on campus for the spinal injury that ended his playing career, coach Brady Hoke said Monday.
Love, who was leading the nation with 144.3 yards receiving per game at the time, was injured on a hard tackle during the Cardinals' 42-20 win at Indiana on Sept. 20. He underwent surgery the following day.

"He's doing great," Hoke said during the weekly Mid-American Conference teleconference. "He's got a great attitude, and he's really becoming his old self."

Western Kentucky fan attempts to start brawl with TSBB

2008-10-13T20:09:00.004-04:00

So here was the highlight of my Saturday trip to Bowling Green.

During the first half, a group of about 5 Western Kentucky students were sitting a few rows behind taking jabs at Ball State. Their comments were pretty lame, so me, my brother Grant and friend Kyle pretty much ignored them. As we came back in for the second half, the most drunk of the kids gets in my face and says, "Ball State sucks dick." Cool. So I say, "Oooooh, big talk." And keep on walking.

So either you're thinking, Phil, either you're a pussy or you're the better person here. Look, I'm not a fighter and I'm certainly not drunk. I have no reason to fight this kid whatsoever, but I feel at this point he's looking to brawl. And we get that answer a few minutes later.

After I stood up and started celebrating a big Ball State play — the play before the first touchdown of the second half — the kid throws a beer can at me. I choose to ignore it. On the next play, we score, I cheer again and he tosses another beer can at me. Well that's enough.

I stood up, looked at him and said, "Hey what's your f*%&*n problem?" And I'm paraphrasing the rest here but he then said to me, "You wanna fight? We can take this outside."

Well that was fast. Clearly someone wanted to brawl. And to that I said, "Why in the hell would I want to fight you? I have absolutely no reason to." And, here's my favorite part, he followed with calling me a pussy and putting his hands up in the triangle to show it and did it with a little tongue action. And I started laughing and said, "Are you kidding me? What are we, in seventh grade? Get out of my face." After a few more verbal sparrings, and apparently about 1,000 cuss words from me, the police showed up and escorted the kid out of the stadium.

I typed all of that, and I know everyone's disappointed, so I apologize to everyone for choosing not to fight. Most people probably would have, especially with the beer cans being tossed. But whatever, the kid was the just hammered drunk and being a jackass.

I definitely would've taken him though. That's a given.

TSBB Morning Quarterback: Ball State vs. Western Kentucky

2008-10-13T19:48:00.003-04:00

I've had a few games to digest this, and my opinion from Saturday night has not changed: We played poorly.

I spent most of the second half wondering what was wrong with this team. Yes, I know, we should be grateful where we are right now looking at where we were three years ago. And this is the last time I'll mention that because an opportunity like this doesn't come too often. Where's Marshall at now? Exactly.

Saturday's game against Western Kentucky was the first time I truly felt we missed Dante Love. I am not sure Ball State can run the table without him. Briggs Orsbon, Darius Hill and others are good pass catchers, but none not nearly as good. I also get the impression that Nate Davis doesn't quite trust any of the receivers since Nate is tucking the ball and running quite a bit.

The bye week couldn't come at a better time. Our offense — especially our passing offense — looks stagnant and hasn't shown any creativity. We did run one reverse, and the Cards ended up fumbling. Note: If B.J. Hill gets that handoff cleanly, that's six points for us, but alas. Instead of the great, good, bad and ugly, let's break down a few things here.

1. Run defense

Here we go again. Dexter Taylor was clearly the fastest guy on the field and we didn't have an answer for him. Thankfully, the Hilltoppers didn't run Wildcat too much so that was alright. But here's my question. Why didn't we put eight or nine guys in the box to stop them. It was clear from the beginnign that WKU cannot throw deep or intermediate deep for the life of them so why not leave everyone single coverage and shut down their run. I have enough faith in our DBs to take some chances. But then again, the Cardinals only gave up one touchdown, that's why I'm the armchair quarterback. But also, when BSU finally started blitzing, David Wolke was toast. However it took a half for us to do that. WKU had the first nine first downs of the game, but no points to show for it. Good times.

Dan LeFevour and Central Michigan are salivating at the mouth.

2. Louis Johnson

Hey Louis, next time you make a diamond with your hand when Nate throws you a perfect pass in the end zone, how about you catch it instead of letting it get through there.

3. Ian McGarvey

The missed field goal doesn't bother me. It was from the right hash at a pretty difficult angle. I remarked to my brother that we should've taken a five-yard delay of game penalty.

4. 7-0

There's the biggest positive I can find. This might've been the boringest game I've seen in awhile. But we're there, still undefeated, ranked No. 24/25. Survive and advance. That's all the Cards have to do, survive and advance.

5. MiQuale Lewis

Let's give him the ball more than the two times he touched the ball in the first half.

6. Cory Sykes

I think it's safe to say that the Frank Edmonds era is over in Muncie. This kid is good. Very fast and will be a great compliment as the year goes on. People keep saying why can't we make Sykes the new Love. First, he's a freshman...second, I have a feeling that he isn't much of a pass catcher. If he was, I think Stan Parrish would've went to that well by now.

Cardinal Roundtable: Western Kentucky

2008-10-10T16:29:00.002-04:00

(Every week, The Sixth Ball Brother and the other two Ball State sports blogs, Over The Pylon and Ball U Nation, participate in a Cardinal Roundtable, where we attempt to answer the key questions concerning this coming week's opponent. Which is, Western Kentucky. You can click on their answers at the bottom of this. This week's questions come from Alan at OTP — and you know me.)

1.) So... Western Kentucky. Are you remotely worried about this game?

The only thing that really piques my interest is their schedule. They've played an extremely difficult one and won't exactly be worried about hosting a Top 25 team. It reminds me of Ball State last year when it became clear we weren't going to be intimidated going into someone's huge stadium and competing with them. I also worry about their version of the "Wildcat" formation, in which running back Dexter Taylor takes the direct snap like the old Single Wing offense. Pretty crazy, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.

2.) The first half against Toledo was simply brutal to watch. Is that slow start cause for concern as we go forth to Bowling Green?

Look, nobody's perfect. Every undefeated team has had some random temporary roadblocks, close calls or slip-ups. At the moment, I'll just say it's a blip on the radar screen. We have had a little bit of trouble scoring in the red zone, but maybe I'm too confident in our team in that I expect a touchdown every single drive. This is the new Ball State (cue Jo Ann Gora voice).

3.) This game has the potential to be a stat padder for some of the Cardinals and a chance for some younger guys to showcase what they can do. Who would you like to see get more reps than normal?

I'd like to see Nate reach the 400-yard mark with five touchdowns. He hasn't had the big, gaudy stat-like games yet. That being said, he hasn't had to because MiQuale has been unbelievable. And I'd like Briggs Orsbon to be on the receiving end of this big game. I really like the kid. No wonder Purdue tried to steal him away from at the last second (although he says this isn't true, I want to run with it, haha).

4.) What's the best thing you took away from the Toledo game? Conversely, what's the one thing of concern you took away from the Toledo game?

The best thing is our defense. Wow. I am officially on the bandwagon with these guys. The Cards have been hampered so much in the past by the lack of defense, that it's unbelievable seeing guys fly around like this. And I've never seen a defense with this many playmakers.

Concern...Hey Ian McGarvey, make some field goals!

5.) The term "mid-major" and "BCS buster" gets thrown around a lot. Of the non-BCS teams ranked above the Cardinals, are there any you think the Cardinals couldn't beat?

I'm not sure we'd beat BYU. I almost think that the Cougars are going to make it to the national championship game. It would definitely be a shootout for sure, somewhere in the 52-49 range. But I think the Cards would beat or stay within a point or two of the others. Our offfense is too good.

6.) Is there a player on Western Kentucky you'd like to snap up and switch shades of red and white?

I'm biased because I saw way more of Dexter Taylor in high school than one should, but that kid is a legitimate threat. No one could touch him in high school and if anyone knows how to use him correctly, it's his high school coach, Kevin Wright, who is now Western Kentucky's offensive coordinator. I would bet the house we're going to see A LOT of the Wildcat formation (or Single Wing, whichever you prefer depending on your age). Hopefully the defense is up to the task.

7.) There's been quite the chatter this week about rankings and what they mean. Who is your Top 5 so far this season. More importantly, who do you have playing it out in the BCS Championship game?

Well, my preseason national title game was Missouri vs. Ohio State, so that's not going to happen. But I'm still sticking with Missouri. That team's sick. And the thought of Alabama making it to the title game makes me want to puke because I hate Nick Saban so much. This looks like another LSU year where they'll pull rabbits out of the hat again. So I'm going LSU-Missouri. If USC makes it to the NC game, I'm going to go nuts. We had to listen last year about how USC was the best team in the nation, blah blah blah, but didn't make it. Hey, you guys had the worst loss out of everyone in Stanford. And you have it again this year in Oregon State. Sorry 'bout cha.

Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

Football team in the news

2008-10-07T16:26:00.003-04:00

I thought I'd just throw up everything here. Hope everyone enjoys.

Ball State defensive end Brandon Crawford is awesome. He was on ESPN's First Take with Jay Crawford and Dana Jacobson.

I couldn't really embed it here onto the Web site, but Brady Hoke was on ESPN Radio on Monday and you can find the link here. It's about seven minutes long.

And here's the full audio from the interview that play briefly on Monday's College Football Live.

And lastly, our boy David Letterman talked about us briefly last night too. If you go to the home page of Ball State sports, ballstatesports.com, it comes up automatically. Enjoy!

Ball State reaches AP Top 25, world ends

2008-10-07T16:02:00.003-04:00

In the past few days, whenever I get depressed or upset about something, all I do is think to myself, "Ball State is in the Top 25." I still cannot get over it. It brings a huge smile to my face. Sunday was probably one of the happiest days of my life and I wish I were kidding.

The amount of press the Cardinals are receiving is unbelievable. Just as earlier as this spring, I could easily find and link to every story written. Now, it's getting harder and harder because there's so much content out there. But you know what, I love and I wouldn't want it any other way.

The Cardinals slipped into the No. 25 spot following the 31-0 win over Toledo. Only 13 more spots until the Cardinals reach the AP Top 12 and then we can seriously discuss this team's BCS hopes. As I've said before, they're still not very good and I don't know if the Cardinals' strength of schedule is going to be enough to get them to the BCS. But as the cliche goes, let's get this done one day at a time.

Quick thoughts on the Toledo game

2008-10-07T15:40:00.005-04:00

So, a lot has happened since we last chatted. There was no TSBB Morning Quarterback because I didn't get to watch or listen to any of the Toledo game, so it's kind of hard to provide any sort of analysis. But based on what I've read and heard, the first half was kind of alarming in that the defense was unbelievable, yet Ball State only scored three points. You can't let a team hang around. Luckily, Toledo sucks, and Ball State's offense poured it on. Receivers were OK, I think the lack of Dante Love is going to rear its ugly head as the season draws to a close.

But good God, how awesome is MiQuale Lewis? What an unbelievable performance. 160 yards, two touchdowns. Pretty freakin' sweet. And from what I understand, Sykes' run was great too and he's lining up in the slot from time-to-time.

Cardinal Roundtable: Toledo (Four days late)

2008-10-07T15:25:00.004-04:00

(Yes, yes, I know, I haven't posted anything for a week. I have my reasons, but I will try to get back on the horse in an attempt to bring the best possible news. Anyway, I missed last week's version fo the Cardinal Roundtable, but here's how I would've answered them if I had done it on Thursday. The other two participants are Over The Pylon and Ball U Nation. Enjoy.)

1. One of the biggest questions going into the Kent State game was how Ball State would be able to replace Dante Love. How well do you think Ball State was able to replace him?

You can't replace your top playmaker on a dime and expect everything to stay the same. Maybe at an Alabama, but not at Ball State. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I was worried about our last three games and how missing Dante could hurt us down the road. But it almost seems as if Nate could make Myles Trempe and Briggs Orsbon superstars in his own right. Trempe is slowly starting to make a heck of an impression on me.

2. One of the weak spots in this year has been the run defense. How much do you think this will hurt Ball State as the season progresses?

I'll cheat here since we saw what the defense did in the Toledo game, but man this defense's improvement has been freakin' ridiculous. I've never seen a Ball State defense play as well as it did against Toledo. Never in my lifetime. They made the Rockets look ridiculous. But as we keep saying, the truest test will come against Central.

3. Brady Hoke is starting to get mentioned for other jobs, assuming he leaves, who would you like to see replace him?

Well, obviously Stan Parrish would be the ideal fit. The question is, does he want it? If he were to leave with Brady wherever he goes next (and it's probably a safe bet Brady leaves when Nate does), I really have no idea who'd replace him. Maybe Lee Corso?

4. If you could save one Toledo player and make him a Cardinal, who would it be and why?

When we did this question earlier about which MAC player we'd want, I chose Toledo's ball-hawking safety Barry Church and I still stand by that one.

5. One of the biggest playmakers for Ball State was supposed to be Darius Hill, but he has been all but invisible in all but the Northeastern game. What do you think is the problem and is it correctable?

It's kind of weird in that he has ALWAYS had a case of the butterfingers, yet no one ever talked about it until this year. I think it's more noticable because Ball State is, in fact, 6-0. For all the hype he gets, he sure drops a lot of footballs and I've got to think that scouts notice it. But I wouldn't trade him for too many tight ends in college football, his size and ability to get open underneath are pretty solid.

Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

We're creeping, we're creeping and we're creeping (in the polls)

2008-09-29T01:46:00.003-04:00

I will apologize for the lack of TSBB Morning Quarterback, but I didn't get to see too much of the game and I was way busy yesterday.

But let's talk about what's going on in the polls. The Ball State football team is 29th in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches Poll! There's a considerable separation between 25th and 29, but hey, we're four spots way from the Top 25, and most important, the Cardinals are 17 spots from the proverbial Top 12.

In the AP poll, the other receiving votes are : Maryland 46, Michigan State 42, Kentucky 40, Ball State 38. Coaches poll: Northwestern 98, Michigan State 88, Kentucky 86, Ball State 43. So close, yet so far.

Cardinal Roundtable: Kent State

2008-09-26T13:55:00.004-04:00

(Every week, The Sixth Ball Brother and the other two Ball State sports blogs, Over The Pylon and Ball U Nation, participate in a Cardinal Roundtable, where we attempt to answer the key questions concerning this coming week's opponent. Which is, Kent State. You can click on their answers at the bottom of this. This week's questions come from...me.)

1. How important was last week's victory over IU last Saturday?

In terms of Ball State finally beating a BCS conference team, it's huge. It finally gets the Cardinals over the hump and now they can look at the bigger picture, which is going 12-0 and possibly reaching the BCS. And, at the very least, it shuts up the IU fans. The win almost makes up for the heartbreakers against Indiana in 2006, Michigan and Nebraska, and all of the stupid MAC losses we never should've had.

2. Feel free here to share your favorite Dante Love moment and what his loss will mean to the football team.

For me, it'll always be his touchdown reception against Nebraska, where Nate Davis heaved the ball 65 yards in the air and hit Love on the button with a touchdown pass. Love was draped by two Nebraska defenders too. It's at the 1:31 mark.

Dante was anything and everything to the receiving corps. And even better, Dante's a great person. He was the sparkplug to this offense and could be used in any capacity. He will be sorely missed, but at least he will be able to live a healthy life, and that's all that matters. Just the thought of that play makes me sick to my stomach.

3. With Saturday being Homecoming and all, what is your favorite Homecoming memory?

Definitely Homecoming 2001. It was a combination of a lot of things. The Late Show with David Letterman was here for a skit, and most important, I'm actuallly in it! You can see me at the 4:12 mark in the Cubs hat and blue Aeropostale sweatshirt. But of course, it was the game that stands out. The Cardinals stunned a ranked Toledo squad on Corey Parchman's electrifying kickoff return with just a few minutes to go. Being part of the group of kids that carried the goal post from the football field to the Duck Pond was just unbelievably sweet.

4. Kent State has a MiQuale Lewis of its own in the MAC's leading rusher last year in Eugene Jarvis. Can the Mighty Bird shut him down?

We did a pretty decent job in shutting down Marcus Thigpen for the game, so hopefully that will carry over. Jarvis and Lewis are near identicals in size and stature, but Jarvis seems to be more durable. Can we shut him down? Absolutely. We will probably have to if we want to win this game.

5. Julian Edelman is another guy who has shown ability to run the ball in the past. Was the shutting down of Kellen Lewis in the second half just an aberration or has the defense turned the corner?

I hope that I didn't just get drawn in with our second-half performance against Indiana, but Edelman is nowhere near as talented as Lewis is. As has been stated a million times before, if this team wants to accomplish all of its goals this year, the defense has to play better. Hey I gave Mark Smith a tip of the cap last week, we're going places, baby!

6. Does Saturday's game at Kent State feel like a trap game at all?

Not at all. I think we'll still ride the mometum off the Indiana victory for a least a few more weeks. And coupled with the fact that it's Homecoming and there will be a lot of fans at the game, the Cards should win this game easily. We always seem to play our best in front of big crowds and Saturday is no exception.

7. I'll keep this tradition alive: What one player on Kent State's team would like to have roaming the Ball State sideline?

I'm going to start sounding elitest at this point, but I don't know if there's anyone on Kent State's team I'd rather have than the guys we got going right now. Jarvis has only rushed for 204 yards on the year, and Edelman is their leading rusher. But it couldn't hurt to have another receiver, and Shawn Bayes could fit the ball, who has 204 receivng yards and two touchdowns.

8. Where do you rate Ball State's BCS chances at this point?

Yes, I'm going to send you to another place to read it because I wrote about it in a column for today at my big-boy job. But here's the part I wrote about the BCS:

It's going to be awfully tough to get there. For starters, the Cardinals have to go 12-0. Second, the other non-BCS teams who are undefeated - like BYU, Utah and Boise State - need to lose a game. And even then, that might not be enough. The Cardinals lack now and will lack later a marquee win. They'll travel to Auburn next year, a game that would've looked much nicer on this year's schedule to the BCS computers if Ball State could pull out a win.

Hope I'm wrong.

Here's everybody else's answers
Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

MiQuale and Derrick, you're fine men

2008-09-25T00:05:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to MiQuale Lewis and Derrick Henry, who continue a strong run of Ball State excellence so far this week. Lewis was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week and Henry picked up defensive honors. ^{Lewis tied the school single-game record with four rushing touchdowns. Lewis gained 166 rushing yards on 29 attempts for a 5.7 yards per carry average. It was his third consecutive game with 100-plus rushing yards. He twice scored on runs from one yard and added scores from two and three-yards out. Lewis scored the Cardinals first two touchdowns for a 14-6 lead, and then helped BSU close out the game by scoring the team’s last two touchdowns.}

^{Henry had a team-high nine tackles and a tackle for a loss in the Cardinals 42-20 win at Indiana. Henry led a BSU defense that allowed just one touchdown in the game and no points in the second half.}

Final thoughts on the IU/BSU game

2008-09-24T23:22:00.003-04:00

In case you missed it, we're BACK on LETTERMAN! The Ball State alumni made a reference to the Cardinals' big win over IU Saturday. Enjoy. I had forgotten about the "fiercest-sized robin bird." Tears of sorrow.

I re-watched the Indiana - Ball State game on the ol' DVR last night and a few things stood out for me that I didn't notice before. The reason I didn't notice some of these things, mainly because I was pacing through my apartment praying that the Cardinals wouldn't blow the game.

- Dante Love's hit was just a disaster. The IU defender behind him had his collar and just left him up there for the pickings, and Chris Adkins just put a hard hit on him. Dante putting his head down there was just an unfortunate turn of events, but that hit was very loud.

- Speaking of loud, I still can't get over how loud the crowd was at Indiana. Ridiculous.

- I can't say enough about the offensive line. Unbelievable performance.

- Nate Davis is unstoppable.

- The Indiana Daily Student says coach Bill Lynch needs to step it up.

- The Indy Star's Terry Hutchens says IU's next game is a must-win.

Cards slowly creeping their way toward Top 25

2008-09-22T15:55:00.005-04:00

R-E-S-P-E-C-T...find out what it means to me!

Oooh, the soothing sounds of Aretha Franklin bring up this week's update of the Top 25 Associated Press and Coaches Polls.

We're not quite there yet, as the Associated Press voters weren't all that impressed with our 42-20 beatdown of IU. We did go from one vote to six though this week. It might be a little harder to track down the six who did than the one from last week. Although, it's possible that there were only three who each put us 24th. Who knows. It's a crazy world out there. And we jumped five spots from 43rd to 38.

In the coaches poll, we received 16 votes, which is a huge jump from the two we got last week. We were 43rd in the coaches last week, and now we're 36th.

UPDATE: I went and check out J.P. Giglio's blog this week to get his Top 25, and he has us 23rd. So if I did my math right, that's three of our six points. If anyone knows the others, let me know.

Dante Love probably won't play football again

2008-09-22T15:31:00.004-04:00

According to a statement released by Ball State today, wide receiver Dante Love will live a "normal and happy" life, but his football career is "expected to be over."

Not surprising news, but very unfortunate.

According to Doug Zaleski's blog, he may be released from the hospital this week. The biggest news out of all this, though, is that he has feeling in all his extremities and suffered no paralysis. Zaleski's story in today's Star Press is a must-read and some pretty interesting analysis from one of the doctors at Ball Memorial.

He suffered a cervical spine fracture on a hit by IU's Chris Adkins. There has been some hulabaloo over what Adkins' Facebook status was leading up to Saturday's game. According to a commenter on ESPN.com, his Facebook and MySpace status said the following: "a BSu playa leaves the field on da cart or in da bodybag!!!!"

Well, then.

But let's be honest here. I'm willing to bet there was no sort of intent on Adkins' part. It's just football players doing normal trash talking. I think. Football coaches always compare games to war, and maybe that comment was an outreach of that. We'll see though.

There's been a few things said about what Adkins' Facebook status said during

TSBB Morning Quarterback: Ball State vs. Indiana

2008-09-21T13:55:00.003-04:00

Make no bones about it, this 42-20 smackdown was one of the most important wins in the history of Ball State football. It's kind of a weird thing to say, being that conference should be most important and IU just isn't that good.

But it's clear this Ball State team is on a mission for something special. IU was just another step in the race for a 12-0 season, albeit an important one. One of the posters on Peegs kept saying that "this was our Super Bowl." Yeah, I don't think so. This was step two, step one was beating Navy. Step 3 is navigating the tough MAC West. Toledo looked great in losing, 55-54 to No. 25 Fresno State in double OT. Along with Central Michigan, who should've beat Purdue but let it slip away. Should be fun. I think it's pretty clear that there isn't a defense on our schedule that can stop our offense even without Dante Love. I fully expect Briggs Orsbon to fill the No. 1 receiver role.

Let's break down the IU game, kiddies.

THE GREAT

1. MiQuale Lewis

Oh my, what a difference a running game makes. Last year, we were very one-dimensional. This year, the offense is unbelievably awesome. Lewis ran the ball 29 times for 166 and — duh duh duh — four touchdowns. Remember in 2006 when Larry Bostic led the team in rushing with something like 519 yards? Yeah, those days are long gone. MiQuale, you get a helmet sticker from me and ESPN.com.

2. The Offensive Line

The big nasties had their way with Indiana's defensive front seven, creating huge holes for Lewis and giving Nate plenty of time on almost nearly every play. There were times when Nate stood back there for literally 5 seconds. So Robert Brewster, Andre Ramsey, Kreg Hunter, Mike Switzer and Dan Gerberry, I salute you guys. Great job all the way around.

3. Second-half defense.

An amazing TSBB tip-of-the-cap to defensive coordinator Mark Smith, who for the first time since he started coaching here, made all the right halftime adjustments. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw running backs and quarterbacks being stopped for 1 and 2-yard gains, and on a couple occasions, stopped in the backfield. Brought a tear to my eye.

4. Davis' TD pass to Myles Trempe

That was just a thing of beauty. The timing of it was impeccable too, just a few plays after Dante Love left the game with. Davis was running to his left and then decided he could throw the ball 45 yards on the button to Trempe, who made a heck of an adjustment on the ball and coasted into the end zone.

THE GOOD

1. Nate Davis

Nate is at the point now where he can do basically whatever he wants. It didn't even seem like he was doing anything, yet he finished with 239 yards and a touchdown pass. Where those numbers go the rest of the year will depend on how the team responds without Love.

THE BAD

1. These hands

"These hands they are my own, they're not yours they are my own." Yes, that's a lyric from a crappy Jewel song. I know, I'm well aware. But I feel like our receivers and tight ends need to start embracing the ability to catch the ball. Madaris Grant flat-out dropped a pass in the end zone. Darius Hill, for everything great that he does, had a tendency to drop passes and had a few Saturday too. Hopefully this doesn't become anything major.

THE UGLY

1. Indiana's pass offense

Take away the two deep completions to Andrew Means, and holy crap, Kellen Lewis is a terrible passer. As great as he is running the ball, he's as terrible throwing. Yeah, Lewis ran for 148 yards and sure, LeFevour will probably put up something simliar, but I was esctatic to see him actually throw the ball. And I think the reason he took off so many times is because he has no confidence in his arm. He neglected to throw to open receivers in order to take off.

All in all, a great win for the beloved Bird. On to Homecoming and Kent State.

FIGHT TEAM FIGHT FOR BALL STATE!!

The latest on Dante Love

2008-09-21T13:47:00.003-04:00

Here's the good news: Ball State wide receiver Dante Love is able to move all of his extremities.

According to a press release from Ball State today, Love had five hours of surgery Sunday morning at Methodist Hospital. He suffered a cervical spine fracture and spinal cord injury.

By all accounts, his football career appears to be over.

Our thoughts and prayers are still with Love and his family.

Sorry, elitist IU fans, the Hoosiers just aren't as good as lowly Ball State from the MAC

2008-09-20T22:19:00.005-04:00

We'll be back tomorrow morning with TSBB Morning Quarterback, but just a few things here.

- The posters over at Peegs are up in arms about our performance

- It's our first-ever win against a BCS team

- The 42-20 score wasn't even close to an indicator...56-20 seemed more realistic

- A HUGE tip of the hat to defensive coordinator Mark Smith (the first time that's ever happened), Kellen Lewis was contained for the entire second half

- I can't say enough about MiQuale Lewis and his performance — 164 yards, four touchdowns. Just another day at the office.

- How big was Myles Trempe's touchdown reception?? Unbelievable. And huge, coming right after the Love injury.

- Ball State's offensive line was DOMINANT. They had their way with Indiana's defensive line.

- And of course, Nate. 16-of-25, 241 yards, one touchdown, barely looked like he worked. And that late run for first down on 3rd and long is what makes him so special.

- 461 yards of offense. Holler.

We'll be back tomorrow.

Ball State nation prays for Dante Love

2008-09-20T22:09:00.003-04:00

Get well, Dante.

There has been no new news of his condition since halftime when the Big Ten Network's sideline reporter said that Love was transferred from the Bloomington hospital to Methodist Hospital in Indy. I'm no expert, but I don't view that as a good thing. Hopefully that was just a precautionary measure.

At the very best, let's hope this is just a stinger or a pinched nerve. Whatever the result is, my prayers are with Dante Love and his family. He's always been a class act and someone you'd never wish anything bad upon.

GAMEDAY!: Ball State vs. Indiana

2008-09-20T15:26:00.003-04:00

I just want to say that I just turned it to the Purdue-Central Michigan game and they have a cheerleader that's, well, plump. And CMU just took the lead with 1:13 only to have Purdue come right back and score at touchdown.

But let's get to the main thing here, and that's Indiana vs. Ball State. All of the storylines have been played out, and then some. Who can stop Nate Davis? Who can stop Kellen Lewis? Why did the other two Ball State sports blogs say that Marcus Thigpen was IU's key player and not Lewis? Can Ball State finally beat a BCS school? Is this the Ball State defense's coming-out party? All things will be answered tonight.

Here are your GAMEDAY! stories.

The Star Press
BSU defense must contain Indiana QB
IU football coach: My team respects Ball State

Ball State Daily News
Taking it personally (really good story about BSU students wearing IU T-shirts)
BSU looks to bust BCS losing streak

Indiana Daily Student
Ball State bout will provide answers

Facing Ball St. emotional for Indiana's Lynch (Associated Press)
Friday mailbag (ESPN - Brady Hoke mentioned as possible replacement at Syracuse)
IU vs. Ball State: stop 'em (if you can) (Indianapolis Star)
Ball State takes aim at IU (Ft. Wayne News Sentinel)
Ball State likes its area ties (vindy.com)
Long plays exaggerate Hoosiers' run stats (Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette)
Ball State, Central Michigan get crack at Big Ten (Indy Star)
IU football coach: my team respects Ball State (The Star Press)
Ball State defense eyes chance to make mark (Ft. Wayne Journal - Gazette)
Five thoughts heading into Week 4 (FOXsports.com - good read here, another columnist is drinking the Ball State juice)

Cardinal Roundtable: Indiana

2008-09-19T14:22:00.004-04:00

(We're back once again with the Cardinal Roundtable with the other two kids who do the whole Ball State sports blog thing, Over The Pylon and Ball U Nation. OTP provided this week's questions. Enjoy.)

1.) So it's Indiana week. Do you see this game as a rivalry? If no, why not. If so, why?

Well, it's kind of like the Yankees-Red Sox thing circa 2003. It's not a rivalry unless you can actually beat the other team. We're still looked at as the red-headed stepchild — and more or less, rightfully so. The sting of the 2006 game still lingers with me and we were never really in last year's matchup. So, no, I don't see this as much as a rivalry. The Mighty Bird is 0-4 against IU lifetime. But if there's ever a year we need to beat them, it's this year.

2.) What player on Indiana's team concerns you most?

I'm not going to be all supercool and pull someone random out of the hat. It's certainly Kellen Lewis. The Cards have never stopped a running quarterback ever, and if you remember, Lewis has his coming-out party against us in 2006. No one could tackle him, it's like he was wearing PAM. In order to win this game, Ball State will basically have to have 1 or 2 spies on him at all time. No one else on this team remotely scares me besides Marcus Thigpen. And thankfully, there's no James Hardy this year. And if the defense has improved like we all believe, we'll find out Saturday.

3.) Bill Lynch. Thoughts?

When I think of Bill Lynch, I remember that he drove our program into the ground. He never went after elite prospects and we were getting players that were choosing between us and the University of Indianapolis. Really? And you want to win a MAC title that way? Here was Bill Lynch's offensive strategy: run, run, pass, punt. Ugh. And in 2001, when we were a quarter away from getting to the MAC title game, we pissed down our leg against Northern Illinois. My first two years at Ball State, I experienced the 21-game losing streak, as did OTP and maybe Ball U Nation too (I don't know when he matriculated there). But it appears he's actually getting pretty good prospects in this year's recruiting class, so I ask: Where the hell was this at Ball State? But he's a great guy, one of the nicest guys I've ever talked to. And I can't say enough about Joey, a class act all the way around.

4.) What one player on Indiana's roster to do you want to snap up for Ball State and convert to good instead of evil?

I pulled the Dan LeFevour so he could be on our bench thing last week, so I wont' do it again. But I will stick to the defensive side and say Greg Middleton. It never hurts to have more quality athletes on the defensive side, especially in the MAC, and he did lead the nation in sacks a year ago. He'd tear the MAC up, for sure.

5.) Since it's IU Hate Week, what is the one thing you dislike most about the IU football program?

I don't know if there's anything I hate specifically, in all honesty. The only thing that rubs me wrong is the fact that IU fans are delusional in that they view their program as far superior to ours. And that's certianly not the case. All four games have been relatively close so it's not like they're Kansas State beating us 76-0. I don't know where they get the idea that they're a lot better than the kids in Muncie. Especially on the football field.

Here's everyone else's answers:
Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

Let's go round-and-round!

2008-09-19T00:18:00.004-04:00

Yeah, that's 80's one-hit wonder Tevin Campbell. Remember his '80s hit "Round and Round"?

Pretty interesting breakdown from Rumors and Rants. It's kind of weird in that there are a few potshots at both schools, but at the same time, makes a semi-decent breakdown of what to look for Saturday. I agree in that Marcus Thigpen will probably return a kickoff for a TD (he did it in 2006) but I can't say I feel the same about Andrew Means.

The Indy Star's Terry Hutchens tries to take a mathematical look at who the best team is in the state of Indiana. I wonder if this story idea was caused by the fact that Ball State is actually good? I bet yes.

There will probably be more of these, but a story from the Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette about Kellen Lewis and Nate Davis.

IU defense is clicking? Blah, you played Murray State.

Kind of a roundup about a few key points for Saturday's game from the Ft. Wayne News Sentinel.

Here's the first of four ESPN stories. It's scary to think that Bill Lynch has been the head coach at two of Indiana's four Division I-A schools.

Pretty good read here about Dante Love's, er, love for blocking.

The Cardinals are not quite ready to say they're big-time yet. But the buzz we're getting at this point is palpable. Although Miss Graham Watson, UConn wasn't a BCS school when we played them. How dare you.

Oh, Adam Rittenberg, you know the way to my heart. The ESPN.com writer predicts a 45-42 Ball State victory.

If you want to be bored forever, go read this blogger's preview. But be forewarned, he picked IU to win, 45-24. Yeah, about that one...

Former Card Reggie Hodges will punt for the Jets Sunday. Punter U!

A little news for your Tuesday

2008-09-16T20:23:00.003-04:00

Nothing too major to report here to your Tuesday, nothing like, say, oh Nate Davis has a separated shoulder. That would be bad, that'd be very bad.

I will mention a few things here. In normal years, I'd probably dedicate an entire post to this, but since it appears we're going to be getting a lot of publicity this year, I'll just slide this in. On ESPN's First Take, they talked about Brandon Crawford for a couple minutes. I think in a month from now, his entire story will be memorized by everyone in the United States. But it's a good thing, we love Crawdaddy.

If you need more Crawdaddy, check out The Star Press' Reel Time With The Cardinals, where Doug Zaleski has a 10 minute interview. VERY good interview, definitely worth a look.

Coach Brady Hoke says there will be changes on kickoff and kickoff return, but of course, no specifics are mentioned.

The anticipation for Saturday's game is building.

Chris Korman of the Bloomington Herald-Times sets it up for readers to shoot down the notion that Ball State is worthy of an AP vote.

The Indianapolis Star's Terry Hutchens makes an interesting note as to why this game is important.

The Daily News' Ryan Wood has a story about Darius Hill's butterfingers.

According to HoosierNation.com, IU starting safety Austin Thomas is doubtful for the showdown.

And finally, the Hoosiers are ready to play after having a bye week last week.

Sean, you're a fine boy

2008-09-15T17:56:00.002-04:00

From the "least surprising award of the week" award, it was announced that Ball State freshman Sean Baker was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week.

Most important, please go vote for Sean on the USA Today Web site. He is one of the five finalists for USA Today's National Player of the Week. VOTE FOR SEAN! NOW!

Baker tied a school record with three interceptions and also returned a fumble for 33 yards and a touchdown in a 41-24 win at Akron. Baker was also credited with a pass break up, two solo tackles and seven assisted tackles in the Cardinals league opener. Baker scooped up an errant ball and scored to give the Cardinals a 24-10 margin. He was named the Walter Camp Foundation National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the game.

Since I don't want to make a full post about this, I'll slip it here on the bottom. ESPN's Graham Watson just bumped us up to No. 4 in the Non-BCS/Independent Power Rankings.

Update on Ball State's AP vote

2008-09-15T17:39:00.004-04:00

A tip of the hat to loyal reader Mike for informing me about our lone vote in this week's Associated Press poll. It was linked on BSUFans.com but I had not yet been there today.

But the man who penciled us in at No. 25 is J.P. Giglio of the Raleigh News & Observer. I'll be honest, I expected it to be someone a little closer to Muncie, but we'll take it. He had this to say about the Mighty Bird.

25. Ball State

Record: 3-0
Last week: Not ranked (beat Akron, 41-24)
Next: @ Indiana

I'm the only voter with the Cards on the ballot but QB Nate Davis and up-and-coming coach Brady Hoke won't be incognito for long.

Roger that, good buddy. All we have to do is keep playing like we have been. But most importantly, BEAT IU this week.

Oooh lookie at that them there Top 25 Polls

2008-09-14T22:41:00.003-04:00

What we have is a landmark day here on this Lazy Sunday.

The Ball State football team actually received votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches Poll. The Cardinals are 43rd in both polls, with two votes in the coaches and one in the AP.

I'm willing to surmise that it's been a long time since Ball State has had votes in either poll. We'll have to wait for Monday's press release but I'm going to guess the last time that happened was in 1996 when the Cards may have actually been in the Top 25 for a week or so.

Someone on the BSUFans message board asked if Jason Whitlock is a member of the AP voting, and the answer is....yes. Well, now I'm not so sure. I clicked on Poll Votes, and the last time that appeared to be updated was 2006. So I don't know where the newest ones could be found. If anyone knows, feel free to let me know.

TSBB Morning Quarterback: Ball State vs. Akron

2008-09-14T22:38:00.002-04:00

I’m way late with the TSBB Morning Quarterback and for that I apologize. It’s been a whirlwind weekend. Kind of. I put on my reporter shoes on Saturday and went to the Purdue-Oregon game, which lasted seemingly forever. But it was a pretty good game.

I also didn’t get GAMEDAY! up because I had to go to the Clinton County cross country meet and by the time I got back from that, I…well, took a nap before heading to West Lafayette. Haha. I’ll make it all up to you guys this coming week I promise.

Let’s get started with the Cardinals’ sweet-ass 41-24 victory.

The Great

1. Sean Baker

The redshirt freshman from Ohio did very good things Saturday and that might be an understatement. Baker intercepted three passes and also returned a fumble for a touchdown. Is this a sign of great things to come? I almost put him on the list in last week’s game because he seemed to be flying to the ball. But no one else had mentioned him so I thought I was delusional. If he continues playing this great, that would be very good for this defense. Baker was also named the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Defensive Player of the Week. Congratulations! He also received a Helmet Sticker from ESPN’s Graham Watson.

2. MiQuale Lewis

If he keeps running like this, he’s going to make the list every week. This is what we’ve truly been missing. It was clear from the get-go that getting Lewis established was the game plan, and the junior responded. Lewis finished with 154 yards on the day.

3. Ball State’s all-time leading passer

Nate Davis became Ball State’s leading all-time passer Saturday, His 300 yards Saturday put him at 6,558, shooting him past Mike Neu three games into his junior year.

The Good

1. Nate Davis

It makes me feel great that I get to complain about Nate Davis. It was just a ho-hum day stat-wise, throwing for 300 yards and two touchdowns. I think it’s funny that people were unhappy with his play, along with the fact that we only won 41-24. Welcome to the big time, Ball State. I didn’t listen to this game on the radio or watch the game (damn you, Purdue game), but I’m going to venture to guess that we didn’t show too much offensively. From what I’ve read, Davis’ INT wasn’t very good, along the lines of the two against Navy. He only threw six last year and is already halfway there through three games.

2. Ian McGarvey

A big pat on the back for McGarvey, he’s made all 25 extra points attempts and is 8-for-8 on field goals. Thank the Lord.

The Bad

1. Turnovers

Two ugly ones Saturday: The Davis INT in the end zone and Dante Love dropping the ball at the 10-yard line, allowing the Zips to stay within striking distance. Both mistakes can be rectified though.

2. Defense

As I’ve said a million times before, this is 100 times better than what we’ve seen before. But I’m pretty sure 418 yards is a lot, and that’s includes the 5 turnovers. Granted, I believe a majority of the yards came when the game was out of reach, but you still like to see that number kept down. Akron Qb Chris Jacquemain threw for 299 yards, albeit with four interceptions.

Ball State - Navy does good things for ESPN

2008-09-12T12:10:00.003-04:00

Good news, fans of the furry feather. Last Friday's Ball State - Navy game was the most-watched game by a Mid-American Conference home team since 2005. The game got a 1.2 rating, which translates into 1,164,083 homes. Nothing better to do on a Friday night than watch Ball State be awesome!

The 1.2 rating was the best since the Sept. 9, 2005 Ohio upset of Pitt. Pitt lost to a MAC team? No, never.

Cardinal Roundtable: Akron

2008-09-12T11:51:00.003-04:00

(We've got a new thing going on here at The Sixth Ball Brother. Actually, it's not new, but I'm now joining in on the fun. It's the Cardinal Roundtable, where the three Ball State bloggers will discuss this week's game. I'm not fully sure how this works, but I think the gist of it is, one blogger will ask the questions and then we answer them on our site. The other two Ball State blogs participating
are Ball U Nation and Over The Pylon. Their answers are linked at the end of this.)

1. If you could pick one player from another team in the MAC, who would it be and why?

TSBB: It would definitely be a defender and his name is Barry Church from Toledo. He's a hard-hitting safety who's on the Jim Thorpe watch list, not to mention he's already a two-time All-MAC performer. He was destined to be a star from day one.

If not him, I'd take Dan LeFevour so he could be on the bench and not playing for Central Michigan.

2. What in your opinion is some of the challenges that you face as a blogger for a non-BCS school?

Basically, getting anyone to care. Blogs in general are a niche, let alone one for a middling mid-major like Ball State. But the numbers have increased quite a bit, so as long as people are reading, that's all I really want. I was doing this before the both of you were, and I'll be honest, I don't know if there's a market for three Ball State athletics-related sports blogs, but we'll have fun trying to figure that out, haha.

3. What made you decide to go to Ball State for college?

I'm going to make a mistake here and be honest. It was because I didn't get into Indiana. I don't know what happened there, but I had a 3.0 GPA, 1100 on my SAT, academic all-state for football and somehow didn't get accepted to IU. I can only surmise that I filled out my application incorrectly or I caught the wrong admissions person on the wrong day.

Ball State was the only other school I looked at, plus I had a lot of friends coming here, so I decided to come here. I'm pretty sure I did the whole college recruitment thing all wrong, but I have no regrets. I love this school. I got both my bachelor's and master's from here and get upset at people when even alumni make fun of our school. Sure, it can sometime be frustrating to care about the well being of a MAC team, but someone has to do it.

4. Jason Whitlock has been hyping us as a BCS gate crashing contender and other writers have begun to jump on the bandwagon. What upcoming game worries you the most in terms of Ball State losing?

How about all of them? Akron feels like a trap game, but I think the Cardinals will pull it out. In the history of the Brady Hoke-era, we've never been able to stop a running quarterback. We're going to need that to change if we're going to beat IU and Central Michigan. Lewis has bitch-slapped us around two straight years and LeFevour last year. Let's keep our fingers crossed. WMU worries me as well.

5. What are your impressions so far of the defense? Is it better, worse, or about the same from last year?

It couldn't get any worse than it's been, so it's certainly better. Unfortunately, I was way too happy with us only holding Navy to 348 yards. If we intend on doing great things, it starts with the defense playing much better. Fingers are crossed. Most of the players have been starting for three years, so anything less than the best is unacceptable.

Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

BETTER KNOW A COLLEGE FOOTBALL BLOGGER: Akron

2008-09-12T11:34:00.005-04:00

(Welcome to this week's installment of Better Know A College Football Blogger. This week's guest is Mike Rasor, who is all things Akron sports. He blogs about the Zips on "Rasor on the Zips" and the budding lawyer took some time to answer a few questions in our little niche in the blogosphere.)

THE SIXTH BALL BROTHER: The one person that scares me is quarterback Chris Jacquemain. What makes him such a threat and is there anyone else that should concern Ball State as well?

RASOR ON THE ZIPS: Chris Jacquemain shouldn't be scaring anyone until he puts together a few good games in a row. Most Zips fans still know him as the guy who was a focal part of the team's greatest weakness in 2007 -- the passing game. Can he be a good MAC quarterback? Absolutely. Is he the "scary" part of Akron's offense now? No.

TSBB: Alright, maybe I was wrong about Jacquemain. He lit me up in NCAA Football 09 so maybe my opinion came from there. Who should the Ball State defense be most concerned about?

ROTZ: Haha. NCAA Football's rankings are a little out of whack. I would be concerned about the running game. It should definitely be an entertaining offensive shootout.

TSBB: The Zips are coming off a huge BCS win over Syracuse. Ball State has never beaten a BCS opponent. Tell us what it's like.

ROTZ: Great question. The best part, for me, is watching the reaction from the opposition. N.C. State's coach berated Akron's recruiting tactics in 2006. Beating Syracuse was like delivering a death blow to a suffering animal on the side of the road. Fun, but not quite an upset. With Nate Davis, you guys will feel the exhilaration against Indiana next week.

TSBB: I remember the Chuck Amato outburst. Wasn't he saying something like you guys can take anyone and they cannot? That's not right but I can't remember. I just remember his point being completely ridicullous. No question there, I guess. Just a comment.

ROTZ: MAC teams are allowed to take non-qualifiers (guys who couldn't play NCAA football after their senior year of high school). ACC schools are not. It's a lame excuse, because with taking these risky players comes pitfalls as well as benefits. Amato was on his way out, and didn't feel like being classy as he left.

TSBB: How good is Akron's running game. You mentioned on your blog that there is a lot of talent at the running back position. Who's your pick for a breakout game?

ROTZ: Akron is super-deep at running back. You have an Ohio State transfer (Dennis Kennedy), a University of Miami transfer (Andrew Johnson), and a guy who just scampered for more than 100 yards last week (Alex Allen). The Zips are almost guaranteed to have one guy who's hot each week. I think Johnson is due for a big game.

TSBB: The Cardinals are seven-point favorites as they march into the Rubber Bowl. Fair or unfair?

ROTZ: Quite fair. Ball State looked fantastic against Navy. Davis is a big-league passer, and the Zips' secondary is questionable. I think Akron will cover, but the spread is certainly a fair representation of the teams' accomplishments so far.

TSBB: What kind of environment can Ball State expect on Saturday?

ROTZ: The Rubber Bowl is entering its final year of existence. The atmosphere is probably similar to most MAC stadiums. The fans are friendly and respectful (as long as you aren't from Kent State). Ball State fans should definitely tailgate and feel free to visit some Zips tailgates, too.

TSBB: After our big, nationally televised victory over Navy and with Indiana looming the following week, this Akron game has "letdown" written all over it. I'm not concerned about that (Kellen Lewis' running concerns me more), but what will Akron have to do to pull off this "upset"?

ROTZ: The Zips' offense does not concern me. It's the defense that could give up 500 passing yards or 300 rushing yards on any day. Akron needs to get a couple turnovers and hope to lock down in the red zone. Giving up 3 points versus 7 will win the game for either team.

(You can read my answers to his questions here.)

Your Wednesday Ball State football news

2008-09-10T12:49:00.005-04:00

Either later today or tomorrow, hopefully we'll have the next installment of "Better Know A College Football Blogger." Get excited, people!

Let's start off with Ryan Wood's column in today's Daily News. His thesis is that Nate Davis needs to be marketed for the Heisman Trophy and calls out Tom Collins for not doing so. He does bring up a good point in that Central Michigan put up a 60-foot poster of the hated Dan Lefevour. More or less I agree with Wood. Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich, Randy Moss and Chad Pennington all had at least decent placings in the Heisman voting, so why not put Davis' name out. That being said, I don't think the Cards will play enough marquee opponents to put him up there. But you never know.

I said no more Navy talk, I know. But The Star Press' Doug Zaleski wrote a story about the Cards being in the national spotlight. Hey, kind of like my blog post yesterday!

Ball State has another commit in Cleveland St. Ignatius WR Connor Ryan.

The Indy Star's Jeff Rabjohns tackles the shafting mid-majors get in the pools.

Here are a few things from this week's Akron-Ball State press release:

Nate Davis ranks fourth in the nation in passing efficiency with a 217.0 mark
Davis needs 14 yards to set the Ball State all-time mark and surpass the 6,271 by Mike Neu from 1990-93
Dante Love is third in the nation in yards per game and catches per game

Is the national media falling in love with Ball State?

2008-09-09T15:55:00.003-04:00

This certainly appears to be the case. I have the feeling of the days when it was just Doug Zaleski, Morry Mannies, the Newslink Indiana people, the WCRD kids and me at the Monday press conferences are long gone.

I'm fielding IMs and phone calls and texts messages from friends of year's past about our team, people who normally weren't with me as one of the 50 or students cheering the team on during a game against Northern Iowa or something similar. But it's great that people are talking about this team, I cannot stress this enough.

Let's start with Jason Whitlock's column proclaiming that we'd go 12-0. I'll be honest in that Whitlock is a little biased considering he graduated and played here. But, at the very least, what he did was put it in people's — and the media's— minds that he made this supposedly random prognostication. So when they see that Nate Davis or Dante Love have a huge game or on national TV, they go: Hey, I remember that Fox Sports columnist guy Whitlock said these guys'd go 12-0. I better pay attention.

One biter is fellow FOX Sports writer Pete Flutak. On his list of "Who's Hot", clocking in at No. 4 are the aforementioned Davis and Love.

Davis has been the real deal after two games completing 81 percent of his passes for 616 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions. His top target, as expected, has been Dante Love, who caught nine passes for 171 yards and a touchdown against Northeastern and followed it up with a nine-catch, 165-yard, two-touchdown day against Navy. Love has also run for two touchdowns. The Cardinals kick off the MAC season with Akron next.

Granted, nothing earth-shattering there, but at least we're getting mentioned.

As mentioned in another post, there's Dante Love AP story today. And as also mentioned in another post, The LA Times' Chris Dufresne said we had the best chance of going 12-0 in the MAC. Think Whitlock's column had any help in him thinking that?

And finally, Tony Pauline of SI.com has this to say about Ball State tackle Robert Brewster:

Brewster is the best blocker for one of the most underrated offenses in college football. He's a large and powerful tackle who has surprised scouts this year with his ability to block on the move.

We're also tied for first in the nation with zero sacks allowed for teams that have played two games. Whoever would've thought that?

Tomorrow, we'll officially move into GAMEDAY! mode and break down Akron.

Dante, you're a fine boy

2008-09-09T15:45:00.005-04:00

Let's get a well-deserved round of applause for Ball State senior receiver Dante Love. He was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for his exploits against Navy. Being on national television doesn't hurt. Neither does being awesome. Love leads the nation in all-purpose yards, second in yards receiving and sixth in scoring. In other words, game plan for him.

Love had 336 all-purpose yards on the day. Most importantly, he had nine receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns along with adding 37 rushing yards and another score. The Love Boat is good. There's no doubt about it. I find it hard to believe that there's another WR in this conference better than Love.

There's also a story about Love on the Associated Press wire today. This marks the first time I've ever seen a feature story on there about someone associated with the mighty Card.

Here were the others:
^{EAST DIVISION}^{OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK}

^{Chris Jacquemain, QB, Akron}

^{In a 42-28 win over Syracuse, Jacquemain completed 20-of-26 pass attempts (76 percent) for 260 yards and three touchdowns. His first scoring pass went for 33 yards to Andre Jones for a 7-0 lead. He helped the Zips convert 10-of-14 third down attempts (71 percent) and sealed the game with an 18-yard TD pass to Merce Poindexter.}

^{DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK}

^{Lee Renfro, LB, Ohio}

^{Renfro had a game-high nine tackles (4 solo, 5 assisted) as the Bobcats put a scare into No. 3 ranked Ohio State before falling late, 26-14. The Ohio defense allowed only two touchdowns and limited the Buckeyes to just 5-of-15 on third down plays. Renfro also had a sack and keyed a defense that held the OSU offense to 272 yards of total offense and just 4.0 yards per play.}

^{SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK}

^{Jake Richardson, P, Miami}^Richardson^{set a school record with his 53.9 yards per punt in a 16-6 loss at Michigan. Richardson booted a career-best 74 yarder and had five of his seven kicks go for more than 50 yards. Four of his seven punts were downed inside the 20-yard line and one was a touchback. He leads the NCAA in punting at 51.6 ypk. The 53.9 ypk is the 10th best effort in MAC history and his 74-yard punt is tied for their best in school history.}

^{WEST DIVISION}

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

^{Louis Delmas, FS, Western Michigan}

^{In a 29-26 win over Northern Illinois, Delmas finished with 10 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. The interception was the 10th of his career and the fumble recovery was his third all-time.}

^{SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK}

^{Alex Steigerwald, PK, Toledo}

^{Steigerwald connected on all three of his field goal attempts at Arizona, successful from 20, 35 and 21 yards. Steigerwald added a PAT for 10 of UT’s 16 points in the loss.}

(All information courtesy of MACSPORTS.com)

BETTER KNOW AN OPPONENT: PRESBYTERIAN

2008-09-09T15:34:00.003-04:00

I know that when you glanced at the men's basketball schedule you saw Purdue, Butler and St. Jospeh's, but that's not the one that stood out for me. Simply, it was Presbyterian. I have never heard of this school in my life, so I did what any good blogger would do: look it up. Here's your tour.

Presbyterian College is located in dreamy Clinton, South Carolina. Google maps indicate it's located smack dab in the middle of nowhere, just off I-26 in between Greenville and Columbia. It is a private liberal arts college founded in 1880 by William Plumer Jacobs, a then-prominent Presbyterian minister. 1,300 students attend the school and have an endowment of $100 million, according to Wikipedia. My favorite Wikipedia fact is that Neville Hall is apparently haunted and is also a nuclear fallout shelter. At Ball State, Dehority Complex fills that void.

Here's the best part: their nickname is the Blue Hose. There's so many ways we can do with this, it makes me smile. It is a Scotsman in a kilt and blue stockings, seen above. They are a Division I school and compete in the Big South Conference.

Men's basketball schedule released

2008-09-09T15:18:00.003-04:00

On Monday, the men's basketball scheduled was released to very, very little fanfare as most of the the school's athletic focus is on our football team, especially with a little mention of our BCS shot by L.A. Times columnist Chris Dufresne. Regardless, here's the schedule.

November 15 EASTERN ILLINOIS Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.
November 19 at Butler Indianapolis, Ind. 7 p.m.
November 22 SIU-EDWARDSVILLE Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.
November 25 at Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisc. 7:05 p.m.
November 29 ARKANSAS STATE Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.
December 1 at IPFW Fort Wayne, Ind. 7 p.m.
December 6 at Evansville Evansville, Ind. 7:05 p.m.
December 9 PURDUE Muncie, Ind. 7 p.m.
December 13 EASTERN KENTUCKY Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.
December 21 PRESBYTERIAN Muncie, Ind. 1 p.m.
December 29 at UC-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, Calif. 7 p.m.
January 3 ST. JOSEPH’S Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.
January 10 at Eastern Michigan * Ypslianti, Mich. TBA
January 13 NORTHERN ILLINOIS * Muncie, Ind. 7 p.m.
January 17 at Central Michigan * Mount Pleasant, Mich. TBA
January 20 WESTERN MICHIGAN * Muncie, Ind. 7 p.m.
January 25 TOLEDO * Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.
January 28 at Bowling Green * Bowling Green, Ohio TBA
January 31 OHIO * Muncie, Ind. TBA
February 4 at Miami * Oxford, Ohio TBA
February 7 KENT STATE * Muncie, Ind. TBA
February 11 at Akron * Akron, Ohio 7 p.m.
February 15 BUFFALO * Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.
February 18 at Toledo * Toledo, Ohio TBA
February 21 BRACKET BUSTER Muncie, Ind. TBA
February 25 CENTRAL MICHIGAN * Muncie, Ind. 7 p.m.
February 28 at Northern Illinois * DeKalb, Ill. TBA
March 4 at Western Michigan * Kalamazoo, Mich. TBA
March 8 EASTERN MICHIGAN * Muncie, Ind. 2 p.m.

Let's start with the non-conference schedule. We start off with a relatively easy game against Eastern Illinois (home of fellow 1998 DeKalb graduate Jan Thompson!). I take that back, no game is relatively easy for our men's squad. That's followed by a trip to Butler. I don't know if we've ever played the Bulldogs so early in the season, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

This non-confernece schedule is highlighted with a home game against Purdue. Can Ball State pull this one off like they did in 1999 in a 72-52 stomping in Indy? Only time will tell. It's very hard to see how this team will be.

My other favorite game is Jan. 3 when St. Joseph's rolls into town. I've always liked the way they plat and a fan of Phil Martelli as well. Maybe before the game, we can show a montage of the 2002 NIT game when we rolled over the Hawks at their place.

The rest of the schedule is populated with schools like SIU-Edwardsville, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Arkansas Sate, IPFW, Evansville, Eastern Kentucky, UC-Santa Barbara and Presbyterian.

A few more thoughts about Ball State - Navy

2008-09-08T10:46:00.003-04:00

I re-watched the Ball State - Navy game on the DVR last night, and I just wanted to add a few final thoughts before moving on to Akron.

- Our student section was LOUD. Unless the mics were appropriately placed, but they were very vocal. I also enjoyed the support the student section showed, it was ridiculously packed. I don't know if I've ever seen the Scheu packed like that, and I don't know if I ever will do again.

- The Davyd Jones 15-yard facemask penalty was definitely legit. It actually looked like Jones was trying to rip Jarod Bryant's head off.

- The same with Davis' 15-yard celebration penalty. Although I think the penalty wasn't necessary, the "celebration" was definitely intentional.

- I praised the defense in Saturday's TSBB, but upon further inspection, I would like to retract that. We played great for 26 minutes defensively, but the last 34 minutes were rough. Why was everyone running crazy? Granted, we made the necessary stops, so I guess we'll look at the positives.

- How good was Dante Love? All I have to say is "Oh my."

- The offensive line was awesome as well. Last week, I made the comparison about this Ball State offense to the Byron Leftwich - Marshall offense and that opinion hasn't changed. Davis had all night to throw the football and wasn't pressured at all. I've said this before, but our offense is a video game offense and it makes me smile.

- B.J. Hill's INT was the difference maker. Granted, Bryant hung that up a little bit too much, but Hill was beat and recovered on the ball. Made up for what happened a few plays earlier, when he recovered the fumble and got it snatched from him in the dogpile.

- Nate Davis is good, the two interceptions notwithstanding.

TSBB Morning Quarterback: Ball State vs. Navy

2008-09-06T14:14:00.003-04:00

I don't know if I've ever heard a Scheumann Stadium crowd as loud as I did Friday night for the Ball State - Navy matchup. And the experience was awesome. I've never seem so many people (22,517, including a school-record 10,000 students) wearing Ball State shirts in the same setting. But it was great. It's rare to see the students get behind a Ball State sports team, but by golly, they're finally supporting them.

And let me just say this: this team is something special. Whenever I watch Ball State's offense, it feels like I'm watching a video game offense. I've never once worried about our offense this year. Although it was choppy in parts, it was a great performance. And our defense came to life, and that might be the biggest thing from the game. Along with the fact that Gov. Mitch Daniels made an appearance at the game.

The Good:

1. Nate Davis

The junior had another great game, throwing for 326 yards and four touchdowns. His first touchdown pass to Dante Love was unbelievable. His best pass of the night, however, was dropped by Dan Ifft on a play-action pass.

2. The offense

It had another huge game, talling 493 total yards.

3. MiQuale Lewis

Lewis showed his importance to the team, rushing for 120 yards and one score.

4. Briggs Orsbon and Dante Love

The true freshman caught his first career touchdown pass and Love was his usual self, catching nine balls for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Love is good.

The bad:

1. The defense

This is another one of those things where I need to put something here. I'm very happy with the way our defense played. Yes, we allowed 401 yards, but we held them to three field goals on three key drives. Shun White was held to 126 yards rushing. Yes, I use that as held. That 4-and-1 stop was something special.

The ugly:

1. Nate Davis' two interceptions

Ouch, those two passes were terrible. They went RIGHT to the Navy defenders, with no Ball State defenders.

2. Dan Ifft

Dan, you let me down. I picked you to have a huge game and you had one catch for 11 yards. Boo.

After I rewatch the game on Sunday, I may have more things to add here.

GAMEDAY: Navy vs. Ball State

2008-09-05T10:26:00.003-04:00

In case you were not aware, tonight's game between Navy and Ball State is on ESPN. Yes, set the DVR, or the TiVO, it's on!

I have some bad news. I will not LIVE BLOG! tonight's game because I took the day off work and will be in attendance! I've been extremely excited about this game for a long, long time and now it's here.

So what's it going to take for Ball State to win? Here are a few things to look for:

1. Hold the Navy offense to under 500 yards rushing

The Ball State defense is much improved this year supposedly. We shall see if this is actually true when 7 p.m. rolls around Friday. In all seriousness, I'd like this number to stay under 300.

2. No turnovers

Ball State led the nation with only 11 turnovers last year, so this really shouldn't be a problem.

3. Rip up Navy's pass defense

Towson threw for over 300 yards last week. If Nate doesn't reach the 350-range with four or five touchdown passes, the mighty Card could be in trouble.

4. The crowd

According to a Star Press article, 20,000 people are expected for the showdown. Awesome. The crowd has to be loud and make sure they become a factor. Of course, with this game being on a Friday night, the Cards will be competing with some area high school teams for attention.

Prediction: Pain. For the Midshipmen. In a perfectly unbiased opinion, the Cardinals win, 49-28. The over/under for tonight's game is 60. Bet the over.

Here are your Gameday stories:

The Star Press:
Ground game goes against air attack
Known as Crawdaddy, DE one of BSU's captains
What's working, what's not

Ball State Daily News
Team breakdowns
Comparing the schools
What you need to know about the game
Meet the marine

Other stories of interest:
A blogger questions Ball State's ability to go undefeated (RocketDigest.com)
Looks like former Carmel player Aaron King walked onto the football team (Indy Star)
GoMids.com predicts Navy victory. (GoMids.com)
ESPN's Graham Watson predicts a BSU victory. (ESPN.com)
ESPN's Bruce Feldman predicts a BSU victory. (ESPN.com)
Crawford ready for Navy (Baltimore Sun)
Dante Love likes switching positions. Don't we all. (Fort Wayne News Sentinel)

I'll be here tomorrow morning for TSBB Morning Quarterback. Be ready to celebrate a victory.

Kyle Hoke arrested

2008-09-04T23:23:00.003-04:00

Well, that didn't take long.

Following Kenny Meeks' DUI arrest in the summer, freshman defensive back Kyle Hoke, the nephew of coach Brady Hoke, was arrested for driving while intoxicated on Saturday night. You can read the details on the DN Web site.

According to The Star Press, Kyle — who played in Thursday's opener against Northeastern — has been suspended for Friday's Navy game. While the Cardinals wont' miss him on the field, this is a bad PR blow off it. Hoke did say this though, in a press release.

“We are disappointed in the actions which led to this suspension, and will work with the university to resolve this matter. He made a mistake, and showed very poor judgment. We are thankful nobody was injured, and we will work with Kyle to educate him and help him make better decisions.”

I doubt this is enough to get him kicked off the team, so the least we can ask is that he has learned from this mistake.

Navy talk

2008-09-03T11:59:00.003-04:00

Let's get caught up on some of this week's stories pertaining to Friday's Navy-Ball State game.

It appears senior Jarod Bryant will start at quarterback instead of Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada. The latter is still injured with a partially torn hamstring, but don't rest too easy, Cardinals fans. Bryant is a slotback as well. (Baltimore Sun)

So Navy running back Shun White got a helmet sticker after his performance last week. Big deal, anyone can run for 348 yards and three touchdowns. Should be fun trying to see our defense put a stop to him. (ESPN)

Thank you Washington Post for writing this: White's 348 yards were the most in Division I-A since Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe ran for 353 yards against...duh duh duh...Ball State in 2006. (Washington Post)

Here's a feature story about Shun White. He compares himself to LaDainian Tomlinson. Great. (Baltimore Sun)

BETTER KNOW A COLLEGE FOOTBALL BLOGGER: Navy

2008-09-02T12:21:00.003-04:00

Ball State fans, welcome to the first installment of "Better Know A College Football Blogger." In no way did I steal the idea for the name from The Colbert Report. I would never do that. I'm a master of originality. Anyway, today's guest is The Birddog, who is smart enough to not use his real name. He runs the Navy sports blog, also named The Birddog, and he was kind enough answer a few questions for our niche in the blogosphere.

THE SIXTH BALL BROTHER: There's been some talk on our message boards that Navy fans feel that we were much more inferior to Navy. But our total offense running and passing nearly matched the 524 rushing yards you guys tallied, yet everyone seems to forget that. What are Navy fans saying about last year's game?

Point these people out to me so I can smack them. I'm not sure who thinks of Ball State as an inferior team, let alone "much more." Maybe Ball State isn't as "name brand" of a team, but I would think that's a lesson that should have been learned last year. There certainly aren't any columnists predicting Navy to go 12-0, even if they are kind of playing the homer card.

If Navy fans aren't in awe of Ball State's offensive output from last year's game, it's because they developed one hell of a callus when it came to bad defensive performances. Kind of like the way my wife lost the ability to smell anything after changing so many diapers.You have to remember that EVERYONE put huge numbers up on Navy's defense. Navy singlehandedly added a million dollars to Joe Flacco's signing bonus and made Giovanni Vizza look like the second coming of Dan Fouts. Duke, Notre Dame, North Texas, and Delaware averaged 52 points per game against the Mids. That makes Ball State's 34 look downright reasonable!

That said, Ball State is almost certainly the most talented offensive team on Navy's schedule this year. Wake Forest comes pretty close, but the Cardinals have the big-name playmakers. The only people thinking Ball State is "inferior" are alumni who still think Navy should be playing Penn State and Michigan every year the way they did in the '60s. Everyone else that lives in the now realizes that this is one hell of a game.

TSBB: How much should we be worried about Shun White? 348 is a huge number, and since we haven't been able to stop the run since I stepped foot on campus in 1998, what will White tally?

Shun White is good. I remember watching a Navy game a couple of years ago with my brother (an Auburn fan). When Shun White took the field, my brother pointed him out and said, "Hey! He actually looks like a running back!," noticing the difference between Shun and all 5-6, 168 pounds of Reggie Campbell. Shun is strong and fast, and was our conference 200m champion last spring. But as good as he is, he won't come close to 348 yards ever again. Towson completely sold out to stop the fullback last week. Navy's coaches expected this and told Shun before the game that they were just going to keep feeding him the ball until Towson decided to take it away. They never did. Shun's 19 carries in that game are about what a slotback might expect to get in three games in this offense. Assuming that Ball State's coaches actually, you know, make adjustments after giving up 200 yards to one guy in a half, White won't have quite as ridiculous a performance.

TSBB: The quarterback from last year, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, is still injured and not playing. What seems to be the presiding opinion on Jarod Bryant?

Jarod played the second half of last year's game after Kaipo's knee was injured at the end of the first half. He did a good job running the offense. He's actually a better runner than Kaipo. Jarod doesn't have the same kind of straight-line speed, but he has quicker feet and does a better job between the tackles. Kaipo is more likely to hit the home run ball, but Jarod is the guy who will consistently get you an extra yard or two the way he puts his head down and finishes runs. He's a good enough runner that when Kaipo is healthy, Jarod will be playing slotback in addition to being the #2 quarterback.

What really makes Kaipo the #1 quarterback, though, is his grasp of the offense. When Paul Johnson was the offensive coordinator at Hawaii, the Rainbows won the WAC title in 1992 with a quarterback named Michael Carter. Carter just happened to be Kaipo's offensive coordinator in high school, and he installed Paul Johnson's offense. Add in a year at the Navy prep school, and Kaipo's been running this offense for almost a decade. Since repetition means so much to option quarterbacks, it's understandable why the guy who's had the most reps is the starter. While Jarod struggled at times last year making option reads and running the offense, he spent all spring as the #1 quarterback while Kaipo was hurt. He won't be Kaipo, but he'll be better than last year. As long as he doesn't fumble-- which has been a nasty habit-- the offense should still click.

Oh, and there are some people who think that Jarod is a better passer than Kaipo. I have no clue as to where they get that idea, because it isn't close to being true. It doesn't really matter, though, since Navy's passing success usually depends on the offensive line. And I'm not sure how good they are yet.

TSBB: Does the triple option feel the same with Paul Johnson gone and Ken Niumatalolo in?

It's the same offense. Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper both played quarterback under Paul Johnson at Hawaii, and have been coaching the offense with him off and on for 15-20 years. It's what they know. It'll probably evolve a little bit differently as time goes on, and we're all curious to see how Jasper calls games. But when you see Navy's offense line up on Friday night, it'll look the same as it did last year.

TSBB: Besides White, who else is going to have a field day on Ball State's defense?

It all depends on the defense. If the coaches decide to focus on White, Eric Kettani should have a good day at fullback. Kettani had 100 yards in the second half of last year's game. When the offense is really clicking, though, the ball gets distributed pretty evenly.

TSBB: What's your prediction for the game?

I apologize for being wishy-washy, but I hate making predictions. There's no question that both teams are going to get their yards. I'd like to think that Navy's defense is better than last year, especially the front seven, so hopefully the absolutely insane 262 rushing yards that Ball State put up in the 2007 game won't happen again. On the flip side, Nate, Dante, and Darius are all back and have one more year of experience under their belts.

Nate Davis wasn't sacked in last year's game. If that happens again, then he'll pick Navy apart. If Navy can actually put together a competent blitz package or two and get off the field once in a while, then Navy's offense should be able to keep pace. Then it becomes a question of turnovers, which probably favors Ball State. We'll see.

* You can check out my answers to his questions here.

B.J., you're a fine boy

2008-09-02T12:14:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to Ball State senior B.J. Hill, who won the Mid-American Conference's Special Teams Player of the Week award.

Hill returned three punts for 90 yards, including a career-long 72-yard return in the second quarter. That second quarter return set up a two-yard TD run for the Cardinals that gave Ball State a 28-0 lead vs. Northeastern en route to a 48-14 win.

This marks the second time in Hill’s career he has received the weekly honor from the conference office. He was also named MAC Special Teams Player of the Week one time as a freshman in 2005.

I won't mention that he was tackled by the punter on the 72-yard run, ooops. But congratulations, B.J.!
Sorry for all the dumb fonts with my copy and paste job.

TSBB Morning Quarterback: Ball State vs. Northeastern

2008-08-29T12:15:00.004-04:00

I'm doing my best to remember the fact we were, after all, playing Northeastern. But boy, did Ball State's offense look really, really good in crushing the Huskies, 48-14. Thanks to the Daily News, they actually have video of the game up on YouTube, so it was nice to see some of the highlights. Nate Davis' TD pass to Danny Ifft was an absolute laser. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Dante Love's touchdown reception, but you see everything else here.

THE GOOD:

1. All things offense

Nate played awesome, just another day at the office for the junior, completing 21-of-24 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns passes. If he can keep up that percentage throughout the course of the season, the Cardinals will go 12-0. Davis is slowly starting to remind me of Marshall's Byron Leftwich. Remember the Marshall-BSU game in his senior year when Leftwich, with a broken leg, completed like 27-ofof-29 passes against us or something ridiculous like that? The Cards also tallied 487 yards of total offense. Be afraid, opponents, be very afraid.

2. Dante Love

The Love Boat, as offensive coordiantor Stan Parrish called him, may have shown everyone he's ready to be one of the top playmakers in the nation last night. Nine receptions, 171 yards and a TD along with 22 yards rushing and a touchdown.

3. The running back

Welcome back, MiQuale Lewis. Would last season have been different had Lewis not torn his ACL? Absolutely. The junior busted off a 48-yard run on his second carry of the game and finished with 95 on 11 carries. Good things.

4. Ian McGarvey

He hit both of his field goal attempts, including a 47-yarder. Hallelujah!

THE BAD

1. Defensive yardage

I don't think the defense played bad, I just needed something to put down here. The Cardinals did allow 323 yards, which is a little worrisome. Granted, a lot of it came in garbage time against the second string, but I would have like to have seen it kept under 250. Fourteen points in a blowout is not a concern.

The Ugly

1. Timeouts

Hello, class. Welcome to today's seminar - "How to use your timeouts at the end of the first half," led by me, The Sixth Ball Brother.

Situation No. 1: You have two timeouts left. Nate Davis has just completed a 20-yard pass to Briggs Orsbon to put the Cardinals at the Northeastern 45 yard line with 35 seconds. If you're Ball State coach Brady Hoke, you..

A) Call timeout.
B) Have the Cardinals race up to the line of scrimmage, waste some time and throw a 20-yard pass in which your wide receiver steps out of bounds with 11 seconds, and then proceeds to call timeout when the clock is stopped.

The correct answer is A. Which one did Ball State do? B. Of course. Mismanaging timeouts has become a tradition here at Ball State. Look, we only had two timeout left, I know. But take a freaking timeout at 35 seconds, get a first down on the next play and then spike the ball or something. Instead, we waste 24 seconds to get a 20-yard pass in which we ran out of bounds to stop the clock. I just felt like that could've been handled a little bit better. But...the end result (a field goal) probably would've been the same anyway.

2. Jake Hogue

I don't think he's getting his job back. That was also nice of him to kick the opening kickoff out of bounds.

3. WCRD's pre-game hosts

Man, were they terrible. I shouldn't harp too much, I guess, I've been in their shoes as have a couple readers here. But they had nothing interesting to say, though, and they both picked Central Michigan to beat us! Bush league!

That being said, WCRD's game team of play-by-play man Cameron Andry and Nick Yeoman were absolutely great. Especially Cameron. Great job, all the way around. They kept me in the game and I was entertained the entire time while I was at work.

Here are your post-Northeastern fallout stories:

The Star Press:
Ball State rolls to victory
Lewis returns in grand fashion
Four key plays
Community crowd needs to step it up (good column here by Greg Fallon, the dislike between Muncie residents and Ball State in general could be a five-part series in itself)

Ball State Daily News:
Cards run away with first win
Passing game clicking already
Numbers and notes from Thursday

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Ball State begins season with big win

Fort Wayne News Sentinel
Ball State's MiQuale Lewis helped put the hurt on Northeastern

LIVE BLOG! Ball State vs. Northeastern

2008-08-28T17:57:00.018-04:00

Welcome to tonight's LIVE BLOG! of the Ball State's game against Northeastern. I've tried to do these before with mixed success, but since it's the season opener, you know that's a good reason. And plus, Matt Sussman of Deadspin — and Bowling Green alumni — needs some competition (although I, in no way, can hold a candle to him).

6:45 — (To steal Bill Simmons' intro) We're LOOKING LIVE from the newsroom of The Frankfort Times (known as The Times officially, get it right). I'm joined by an Arby's roast beef sandwich, a large Pepsi, government reporter Brian Byrne, paginator Ken Hartman and education/police reporter Evan Israel. Unfortunately, none of those people listed will be offering any comments, they don't even know I'm listening to the game.

Either the game doesn't start at 7 p.m. or WCRD-FM has changed its pregame format. I got to say that I'm really not learning a lot nor is it remotely interesting. Senior center Dan Gerberry's name was pronounced Jer-berry. I would never make a mistake like that, haha.

6:49 — Both of the WCRD guys just picked CMU to beat us in the second-to-last game of the regular season. COME ON!

6:51 — I just got a call from Daily News football writer Ryan Wood and he said they're only expecting 8,500 tonight. He also added there was a decent-sized crowd for BSU students, although his expectations are way low. I was kind of hoping for a higher number than 8,500, we'll probably have to wait post-game to get an idea of the crowd.

6:56 — Ahh, a familiar voice. Cameron Andry did the play-by-play last year and generally does a really good job. So far, I give the approval to the color guy as well, although I didn't catch his name..Nick something. Youngman? Yeoman? Something like that.

7:01 — Hey, we had a comment! At least one person is reading, awesome! They are reading the starting lineups and it still blows my mind that Myles Trempe is being mentioned int he starting lineup.

7:04 — Yup, I'm a little nervous. I can't lie. I'm very excited for this.

7:05 — Andry just said that the student section is about 2/3 full. I think I can handle that. Hopefully it's full by the end of the first quarter.

7:07 — Hey, Jake Hogue kicked the opening kick-off out of bounds....that's the least surprising thing I will type all night. Hope he's not too comfortable.

7:13 — This is much tougher to do this and work at the same time. But after Northeastern marched all the way to our 31-yard line, they punted. That shows a lot of confidence in their offense.

False.

Time for the offense.

7:15 — On two runs, MiQuale Lewis has already compiled 58 yards. Wowza. We're already at the 11....and Madaris Grant goes down at the 2.

7:16 — And Lewis finishes it off with a 2-yard run. TOUCHDOWNNNNN CARDINALS! What a perfect start. I'd like to see Lewis finish with 200 yards since he's already got 60 on three carries.And as a bonus, Ian McGarvey made the extra point!

7:24 — I did not realize that Anthony Orio is 6-4, 240 pounds. That's a BIG quarterback, almost in the Jared Lorenzen range. Andry questions whether or not he can throw the deep ball.

7:27 — I regret even mentioning Sussman's name because nothing I have said or will say is probably remotely funny. Derrick Henry just committed pass interference and since this is first game, I can't make fun of him because I know nothing about him.

7:31 — I was ready to accept Anthony Orio for his cuddly nature, but he's 7-of-10 thus far and has run for a great number of yards too. He just ran for his second straight first down on 3rd down. Really? Come on. Let's wait to give up all of our QB rushing yards until we play Indiana.

7:35 — Oh no. We stopped a team on 3rd down four yards short of the first down. And we just accepted the penalty to give them another play. Remember in 2006 when we allowed NIU another play and they threw a touchdown pass?? I fear bad things.

7:36 — OK, I was wrong. Our 32-year old Marine defensive end Brandon Crawford just sacked Orio and chased him back to the 39-yard line. What's the over-under on how many plays until we score? We're starting at the four. I'm willing to put it at 10 plays.

7:40 — 7-0 Cards at the end of 1 and Lewis is on pace for a crisp 300 yards.

7:45 — I don't know how many plays we're at, but we are closing in on 10 and we're at the 8-yard line. If it's 10, I excepts all of your finest meats and cheeses.

7:46 — TOUCHDOWN CARDINALS!!!! The Nate Show featuring Darius and Dante just connected as Davis hit Hill in the back of the end zone. This isn't your Brian Conn-led Cardinals.
Side note: For those listening on WCRD, doesn't Nick Camden remind you of someone who sounds like he's spoofing the sideline reporter, except that he's not spoofing. I expect him to say, "I sure do like blumpkins, Cotton!"

7:51 — I'm almost distraught I can't make fun of the defense as the Huskies just went 3-and-out. B.J. Hill just returned the punt to midfield. I'm going four plays here.

7:52 — Welp, I was three plays off. It only took one play, Davis find Dante Love wide open across the middle. God, I love this team. Nate Davis already has two touchdown passes. I'm upset that Lewis probably isn't going to reach 300 yards rushing. 21-0 Mighty Cards. 10:33 left.

7:57 — Evidently Northeastern just made a huge run while I was fielding a phone call. They are in Ball State territory at the 46. I'd like to see a Pick Six.

8:01 — Oh, happy time. Hill just fielded a punt, went right up the gut and took it all the way to Northeastern's 18-yard line. However, Hill got caught by the punter. Really? The punter? Either way, 18 yards to go for another score.

8:07 — I think my co-workers are wondering what the heck I'm doing. I keep getting weird looks. You know who got a weird look? The Northeastern defense after Dante Love just scored a rushing touchdown on an end-around. Easy does it. 28-0 Cards. We may be ending this live blog early.

8:14 — Note from earlier...it ended up being a nine-play scoring drive when I set the over-under at 10. Good times.

8:20 — Northeastern just ran a sneaky trick play, akin to Boise State. They didn't quite have the success that the Broncos did, but they did get a first down. However, I do not like the fact that Northeastern is driving with 59 seconds left to go. At least the entire student section is ridiculously packed. That's awesome. I guarantee it's going to be ridiculous for next Friday's game against Navy. I cannot wait.

8:22 — Two things: Northeastern ran two trick plays. Not only did they run two trick plays...they called timeout before EACH ONE just to set it up. And it worked both times, with the second one resulting in a touchdown. Oy. Come on guys, really? 28-7. 50 Seconds for Nate and company.

8:26 — Hey hey, Briggs Orsbon just made his first career collegiate catch. And we're working the two-minute drill. We're already down to Northeastern's 25-yard line with 11 seconds left. Would've like to have seen us use one of our two timeouts before this play. So if we're gonna nitpick, we once again mismanaged the use of timeouts, which has been an Achilles' heel during the entire Hoke era.

8:29 — Dante Love down to the 8-yard line. Ian McGarvey is going to come on for a 25 yard field goal on a hash mark. Please do not miss this, Ian.

8:30 — Hey hey! McGarvey hit it...31-7 Cards at the half. Dante Love has seven receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown and three runs for 22 yards and a score. Yahtzee!

8:31 — Well, kids...this has been much harder than I thought trying to work and do this at the same time, so I have to bid adieu. I might be back here and there in the second half. Till later tonight...

Thanks, Jason!

2008-08-28T12:58:00.004-04:00

It's no secret that Jason Whitlock does his best to slide in Ball State comments into his columns, but today, the alum went above and beyond the call of duty when he devoted an entire column to the expectations of this year's team.

For those of us who know this team inside and out, Whitlock doesn't necessarily reveal anything new here, but he brings a national audience to our football team, something we can always use. Most fans should know us after our near misses with Michigan and Nebraska, but Whitlock says the Cardinals can do something that is almost unthinkable: go 12-0. Yup, 12-0. It was mentioned on College Football Live yesterday as well. It's been a pipe dream for most of us, and if it happens, well, by golly, it'll be the greatest day ever.

He referred to our offense as "The Nate Show with Dante and Darius." Works for me.

Let's hope Whitlock is right!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

2008-08-28T11:02:00.006-04:00

You can feel the excitement in the air, can't you? I know I can. It just feeeeels like football season and kickoff is less than eight hours for Ball State's season opener against Northeastern.

Let's recap the past two years:

2006 - It was a rainy night and the Ball State students were kind of there, but not really. Regardless, it was a pretty fun game. Nate Davis made his debut in that game, completing 7-of-8 passes for three touchdowns. Yowza, what an introduction.

2007 - An opener I attended, and it was very, very depressing. Ball State played like absolute crap. You might remember Ball State not electing to kick a field goal at the end of the second half. You also might remember Miami getting a long punt return late in the game which set up their game-winning touchdown. 2007 ended up being a great year, sure, but I think that game set the tone in that it was clear last year wasn't going to be as great.

Here are your Gameday stories:

Daily News - MiQuale Lewis is back and ready for a big year
Daily News - Season ticket sales increase
Daily News - Northeastern receives $175,00 for game
Daily News - Davyd Jones steps into starting linebacker spot

There's no link for it, but the Daily News also has a supplement in today's paper, called "Chirp." I love the name. I am also mentioning it because I make an appearance in it, as I made predictions for all MAC games this week with Vinnie Lopes and Kyle Shaner. Be sure to pick one up Ball State students!

Muncie Star Press - How Nate Davis got to Ball State
Muncie Star Press - DC Mark Smith is a father figure
Muncie Star Press - Will our defense rise to the occasion?
Muncie Star Press - Five storylines to watch
Indy Star (wow, coverage!) - Great Expectations
Boston Herald - Northeastern ready to play hard Ball

Don't forget we'll be LIVE-BLOGGING THE GAME HERE TONIGHT!

Northeastern less than 24 hours away

2008-08-27T23:48:00.003-04:00

I just finished watching College Football Live on the ol' Comcast DVR and Ball State fan Mark J. (anyone know him?) was on the Sound-Off portion. He positioned us as the BCS busters and let the nation know about Nate "The Great" Davis.

And then Trevor Matich shattered our dreams by saying BYU, Fresno State and some other team that I can't remember were in better position. He's probably right, but whatever.

Another note: Davis was also mentioned by Lou Holtz on College Gameday's preview last week as one of his Top 5 players to watch.

A great night Thursday will get it started to live up to the hype. EIGHT HOURS AWAY!

A note here: I will be doing a LIVE BLOG tomorrow night since I won't be in Muncie tonight (work holds me there). Of course, like I said, I'll be mixing work in along with listening to the legendary Morry Mannies.

For some reading, here's a great story by Doug Zaleski about how Ball State landed the stud quarterback.

I'll ahve a few posts up tomorrow before the live blog. Let's get excited!

Let's look at the Ball State depth chart

2008-08-27T03:01:00.003-04:00

Scary, scary things when you take a look at the depth chart. Let's start with the receivers.

Here are your three starters:
Dante Love
Daniel Ifft
Myles Trempe

Um, wait. Which one doesn't fit? Is it Love, who only caught 100 receptions for 1,398 yards and 10 touchdowns? It it Ifft, who caught nine passes for 83 yards? (Sidebar: Um, wow, that's it? Really?) It is Trempe, who caught four passes for 41 yards! Amazing! What happened to Louis Johnson? What about Joe Everett, who's supposed to be good? And no Briggs Orsbon? Really? Interesting. Maybe Coach Hoke is just trying to throw us off. I certainly believe that's a possibility. I expect Orsbon and Everett to do some great things.

Running backs, we already went over. Lewis at No. 1 and Sykes No. 2.

At tight end, there's Madaris Grant over Darius Hill...just kidding!!

There is a pretty big change on the offensive line as Kyle Cromwell steps aside at guard for redshirt Kreg Hunter. I've talked with Kreg on a couple occasions and I will say I don't know if I've ever met a Division I offensive lineman who has his head on straight quite like he does. I have absolutely zero worries about his ability on the foootball field. By the way, I mentioned in my spring game roundup that Hunter would take his spot. Call me Nostradamus.

I think we're all pretty surprised at the linebacker situation. Neither Spain Cosby or Wendell Brown are listed on the first team. Our four linebackers are: Robert Eddins, Kenny Meeks, Davyd Jones and Bryant Haines. I wonder when we're ever going to see Justin Woodard on the field. He was highly regarded coming out of high school and haven't heard too much from him.

The last surprise is Trey Lewis getting replaced by Trey Buice and B.J. Hill. All three should be really good. Let's hope we all get along. Discuss.

(Edit: Evidently Joe Everett is no longer with the team. Whoops. My mistake.)

Ball State position breakdown: Running backs

2008-08-27T02:41:00.003-04:00

For the love of God, stay healthy MiQuale Lewis.

That's all that really needs to be said. Lewis has shown glimpses of the special things he can do, like this touchdown run against Nebraska. Let's not forget that this kid averaged 10 yards a carry his senior year of high school. Of course, his freshman year ended with a separated shoulder against Buffalo and sophomore year he tore his ACL against the Huskers. If he can last the whole season, Nate Davis's stats will be through the roof.

Because the backups aren't pretty. Let's not forget that RAY WINKLER was the running back at the end of the Northern Illinois game. Apparently Frank Edmonds is now No. 3 on the depth chart (we'll cover the depth chart massacre tomorrow) and Cory Sykes slides into the No. 2 spot. The thing Sykes does bring is that he's ridiculously fast. As for reading holes, that's still up in the air. And it appears that Edmonds hasn't quite lived up to the billing he had coming out of high school. Considering we had four running back in this year's recruiting class, the writing might be on the wall.

So to sum this up: Lewis = awesome, Sykes = maybe, Edmonds = bad.

Ball State position breakdown: Quarterbacks

2008-08-22T15:50:00.003-04:00

We might as well start with the easiest one first, and let's be clear on one thing:

If Nate Davis gets hurt, the Ball State football team is in a world of trouble. (Note. You can take the phrase "in a world of trouble" and replace it with an expletive of your choice.)

Neither of the two backups that have been on campus for more than two days, Tanner Justice and Perci Garner, have shown much of an ability to handle the offense. Both Garner and Justice struggled during the spring game, and sure, the spring game sometimes can be misleading, but it's all we have on them. Garner, it should be noted, was wide receiver Dan Ifft's quarterback at Dover High in Ohio.

I'd be surprised if Kelly Page wasn't the backup. Page was pretty dang good as a junior before banging up his knee his senior year of high school (which is how we got him in the first palce after de-commiting from Oregon).

Davis was nothing short of phenomenal last year (except for maybe the CMU game). He set BSU's single-season pass record with 3,667 passing yards, 478 attempts, 270 completions, 30 touchdowns (smashing Joey Lynch's record of 18) and threw for a career-high 422 yards against Nebraska. So um, yeah he's kind of good. He was also 15th in the nation in total offense and 27th in passing efficiency.

If Davis comes anywhere near Ben Roethlisberger's final year at Miami, Ball State could go 11-1, or, dare I say, 12-0.

Jason Whitlock does his best to pimp BSU football

2008-08-19T18:07:00.006-04:00

Someday, I pray that I will be in a position like this.

I heart Playboy bunnies.

Anyway, Jason Whitlock is doing his damned best to let everyone know that this is the year Ball State football finds itself back on the college football map.

Last week, in his first NFL Truths column, the former BSU football player wrote the following:

2. The Ball State Cardinals are going to run the table and make a bid to crash the BCS bowl party. I (spit) you not.
The Cardinals are loaded. In Nate Davis, they have quite possibly the quarterback with the most pro potential in the college game. Davis' favorite target is Wes Welker clone, Dante Love. The Cards have a 6-foot-6 tight end, Darius Hill, who can't be stopped in the red zone. Their right tackle, Robert Brewster, is one of the nation's best run blockers. Ball State punter, Chris Miller, is a two-time Playboy All-American.
Ball State is this year's Boise State.

Wow. Granted, most of what Whitlock said should be taken with a touch of salt since he is alumni. But I think he speaks for a lot of people in that the expectations have never been higher. A surprising amount of people are considering us BCS sleepers at 12-0 (I won't mention who because I'm too lazy to go back and find links). Both those of us who have been here for awhile know that the defense is really going to be the key in how far we go.

In a Star Press article today, defensive coordinator Mark Smith said the goal is to hold teams to 20 points a game. High goals, indeed.

Opponents averaged 28.3 points a game against the Cardinals in 2007. Smith said the goal this season is for his defense to cut that average down by eight points.
"Used to be with your defense you wanted to give up an average of 14 points," Smith said. "But the rules now make it an offensive game. You can't sneeze on a wide receiver or they call pass interference and they don't call holding unless it's an assault. The magic number now is 20 points or less a game. That's a little over (eight) points less than we gave up last year."

Oy. I will now throw myself into a window. Great optimism.

Back to Whitlock, our fearless leader Brady Hoke was on the Jim Rome show yesterday as Whitlock guest-hosted. If anyone has any audio of it or anything, I'd love to hear it. Getting Brady on a national radio show is just one small piece of what BSU football should accomplish this season.

Are two breat writers covering BSU football for the Star Press?

2008-08-19T17:49:00.002-04:00

For those who follow the Ball State football team via the Muncie Star-Press, you may have noticed that Thomas St. Myer is writing a fair share of stories. I don't know if this is due to Doug being back on vacation, St. Myer is being transitioned to take it over, or they're just simply using two people for Ball State sports now. Who knows, just thought that was interesting.

Starting tomorrow, we'll kick off our season preview with my "in-depth" position breakdowns as we build for the awesomeness known as the Northeastern game. Should be a fun one. I'll also start a running feature where I'll write updates about my awesome BSU season in my MAC Online Dynasty on Xbox 360. Yes, that's a niche crowd, but no one writes about me better than I do, haha.

We're also have a few interviews lined up as the fall sports season comes to a head here, including a couple pretty good ones that will actually generate some hits, woohoo!

That's all I have. See ya tomorrow.

Nate Davis is awesome

2008-08-19T17:23:00.004-04:00

That's the only thing that really needs to be said. The Ball State junior quarterback, who by the way has an unbelievable cannon arm on NCAA Football 2009, was named to the Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List.

I don't think too many of us Cardinal faithful are surprised by this, but to paraphrase a Fatboy Slim album title, we've come a long way, baby. (This was also the slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes in the 1980s, but I digress). When I was a freshman at Ball State in 1998, Brian Conn was our quarterback, Brian freakin Conn. Theres a chance he might have been the worst Division I starting quarterback in the history of the NCAA. He shared the spot with someone for awhile, and sadly enough I can't remember.

He joins three other teammates on Watch lists:
Walter Camp Player of the Year Award: Nate Davis, QB
Butkus Award: Bryant Haines, LB
Mackey Award: Darius Hill, TE
Rotary Lombardi Award: Robert Brewster, OT, and Darius Hill, TE
Maxwell Award: Nate Davis, QB
Outland Trophy: Robert Brewster, OT
Ray Guy Award: Chris Miller, P

The most likely person to win is Miller, but we'll see.

BSU picked to finish second at MAC Media Day

2008-07-30T18:04:00.003-04:00

Before we get into any intimiate discussions, let me post the preseason rankings:

WEST DIVISION (6-5-4-3-2-1 point system)

1. Central Michigan 207
2. Ball State 168
3. Western Michigan 143
4. Toledo 98
5. Eastern Michigan 80
6. Northern Illinois 60

EAST DIVISION (7-6-5-4-3-2-1)

1. Bowling Green 206
2. Miami 202
3. Buffalo 145
4. Kent State 137
5. Temple 120
6. Ohio 119
7. Akron 78

As I've said before, I really can't complain about Central Michigan being selected first. They are the two-time defending champions and return Player of the Year Dan Lefevour. Of course, preseason rankings don't mean crap — unless of course, we were ranked No. 1. Traditionally, the preseason rankings are based on how you finished last season. So CMU could lose all 22 starters from last year's team and still be selected No. 1.

Central had way more first-place votes than Ball State (29 to 5 out of 36, with Western Michigan getting the other two), but all that matters is the showdown at the end of the season.

My predictions: In the West, flip-flop BSU and CMU (duh!) and EMU and NIU, while in the West...it'll be Miami over Bowling Green. Book it, and bet on it.

By the way, I'm starting to enjoy the new MAC logo each and every day.

Let's hope this game ends better than the other two

2008-07-21T15:44:00.002-04:00

It has been announced today that the football team has added Auburn to its 2009 non-conference schedule.

Although it was formally announced today, this has been in the works since at least Nov. 2006, when I wrote a story in the DN on Nov. 3, 2006, about all of our paydays. It's buried in one of the last graphs of the story, but I mentioned it and we'll receive $800,000 for that game. Holy mackeral. The athletic department received $725,000 for Nebraska and $495,000 for Michigan in 2006.

I am a mixed bag of emotion on this. If Nate Davis comes back for his senior year, this will be an unbelievably great game. If he doesn't, we'll be going into this with a brand new quarterback (either Kelly Page or Aaron Mershman) which could spell disaster.

Here's hoping we do a little better in 2009 than the previous two games, in which Auburn won 38-0 in 2001 and 63-3 in 2005. We're averaging 1.5 ppg against the Tigers...awesome....if we're playing soccer.

Other non-conference games scheduled for 2009 are North Texas and Army, I believe. The Auburn game will be on Sept. 26.

The Links: Leap into late July

2008-07-17T15:36:00.003-04:00

Not much here to offer today. I sent an e-mail (read: Facebook wall message) to Briggs Orsbon to ask him what his thoughts were about making an appearance on the NCAA Football video game as a true freshman, so we'll have that posted later.

Speaking of Orsbon, a columnist from his hometown paper played a game on NCAA Football 09 where he piloted Orsbon and Ball State while an intern took the reigns of another area player. Hilarity ensues. (Times Bulletin)

Carter Shaw (pretty cool name) is one of the new assistant's on the women's basketball team. (The Star Press)

Here's a story about Pike's Cameron Lowry and Robert Martin, who will be playing in Friday's North/South All-Star Game. Both were supposed to come to Ball State, but Martin will be playing elsewhere. (The Indianapolis Star)

Tennis player Bret Berryman is transferring to Missouri-Kansas City. (Independence Examiner)

Former women's basketball player (and one of our favorite BSU athletes ever) Lisa Rusche joins Ball State's athletic communications department. (Ball State Daily News)

NCAA Football 09 already brings heartbreak

2008-07-17T15:17:00.002-04:00

If you read this blog, you are probably a fan of college football. And if you like video games, you know that NCAA Football 09 came out on Tuesday, which should be a national holiday as far as I'm concerned.

The biggest addition to this year's game is the online dynasty, and thank the Lord for whoever put this on here. I haven't even played a game yet and I'm all excited about it. I'm in two online dynasties and spent the better portion of the night getting them set up. I'm in a 11-team ACC Dynasty with 10 complete strangers, so that should be interesting. I'm piloting Virginia in that one.

I'm also in a three-team dynasty with my buddies James and Brady. James is USF, Brady's Purdue and I am Oregon. Brady and I square off in an early-season matchup at Ross-Ade, so that will be exhillarating!

Of course, I'm doing an offline Ball State dynasty, and I did not get off to a good start. I re-did the non-confernce schedule to play the best teams I possibly could and started the season with No. 1 Georgia. Well, Nate Davis threw five interceptions (three in the red zone) and I lost, 31-21. Pretty depressing, I thought about resetting the game, but I think I'm over that stage because all five interceptions, I threw terrible passes into traffic so I can't really blame the Xbox like I would like.

As I stated in an earlier post, I would still like to do a MAC Online Dynasty, if there were enough people interested in it, but I don't think that's going to happen.

If you'd like to re-read my stunning story on my Ball State national championship in year three of last year's game, please go here. Good day.

Aaron Mershman commits to BSU, causes rift

2008-07-17T14:58:00.003-04:00

The No. 2 quarterback in the state of Ohio, Aaron Mershman from Bowling Green, committed to Ball State yesterday. This is a huge pick-up, as the 6-2, 190-pounder was being courted by Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Akron and hometown Bowling Green. So why'd he choose Muncie?

According to an article in his hometown paper, it was because of the intensity of the practices.

“What set Ball State apart is there was a sense of urgency and a sense of intensity in their day-to-day activities,” Mershman said. “Their activities are intense. The lifting is intense, the 7-on-7s are intense and the practices are intense. Everything is 100 percent every single day.”

Good times right there. I also enjoyed this quote.

He didn’t choose BGSU because he “needed to get out of town. I have a lot of respect for Bowling Green. If I lived in Muncie, Ind., I’d be coming to Bowling Green.”

Take that, Bowling Green. Because the living conditions in Muncie are unbelievably awesome! Wait..

So where does the rift come from? The Western Michigan boards are not happy with Mershman's decision and wonder what Muncie has to offer these recruits. I forgot that Kalamazoo was such a sexy destination for recruits. They do have a strip club, but we have Joker's Wild, the classiest gentleman's club of all-time.

I was hoping Murshman (sic) would commit to CMU. I guess you win some and you lose some. There are other QB's out there. BSU has yet to win a dang thing and they are pulling in some solid talent. I dont know how they do it but as long as they keep pulling in the tallent and leave the game day coaching the same it wont matter much.

Thank you for taking a shot at our coaching staff. Hopefully that opinion changes this year. Another poster claims BSU can't win the MAC with Nate Davis at QB, which might be the dumbest thing I've ever read on a message board.

NC State was going after Mershman hard after his impressive performance at the Nike camp. Last year, Mershman threw for 1,461 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Watching his highlight reel, nothing too much stood out. There were no deep balls on it, so I have no idea if he can wing the ball. He looked OK on the short passes, they definitely had some zip on them and he's not very mobile. So basically he's similar to Nate except we don't know about his deep ball. Time will tell.

Welcome to Muncie, Aaron!

The Links: The two-week disappearance

2008-07-14T15:25:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the nearly two-week disappearance. As I've said before, this is partially why I was reluctant to start this in the first place, because I tend to be lazy. So I will continue to make excuses for why I haven't posted anything. But today's a new day, and I really want to try to make daily posts. Hopefully, I actually do this. Alright, onto the links!

The dude over at VanDelaySports.com, who is supposed to the MAC authority, predicts Ball State to be the MAC champion, a 10-game winner and peaking at the Top 25 by season's end. (Fantasy College Blitz)

Congratulations to Nate Davis, who is on the Maxwell Award Watch List. (Ball State Daily News)

Here's a story about the three athletes Ball State has already got verbals from for next year's recruiting class. (The Star Press)

As I mentioned before, Ball State is No. 41 on Sporting News' top 50, and here's the brief writeup. (Sporting News)

Here's ESPN's Ball State team preview for this fall. (ESPN.com)

The New York Times does a pretty thorough breakdown of the Mighty Card. (New York Times)

The Ball State women's basketball team will play Indiana in the Preseason NIT on Nov. 14 at Assembly Hall.

Pretty interesting story on Ian Nielsen, who will be a member of the baseball team next year. (South Bend Tribune)

Former men's basketball player Skip Mills will be playing in Poland's top division next year. (Indy Star)

Former men's volleyball player Robert Pulliza is now the head coach of Arkansas' women's volleyball team. (Baxter Bulletin)

Mitch Rodrigue, who was supposed to be on Ball State's staff this year, has now landed at the University of South Alabama. (Al.com)

Good story here about women's basketball coach Kelly Packard. (The Star Press)

If you were looking for a breakdown of responsibilities in the athletic communications department, here you go. (Ball State Daily News)

Breaking down Papa Lou BSU's EDSBS analysis

2008-07-14T15:00:00.003-04:00

For those who frequent BSUFans.com, you are well-versed to the comments (and there are many) placed on the message board by commenter Papa Lou BSU. He's one of my favorite son there because he usually tells it like it is, whether it is good or bad for the University. Friday was no exception when Papa Lou wrote a detailed season preview for the best college football Web site anyway, Every Day Should Be Saturday.

For the most part, I agreed with what Papa Lou had to say. In the beginning, he kind of mocked the fact us fans have this unbridled optimism about a team that went 7-5 last year. He's right, and I'm just as guilty as anyone else is. Since we've sucked for so long, the first glimmer of hope and we're jumping all over it like a tiger on a wildebeest. My brother tells me every chance he gets we're going to go 6-6. I wish he was kidding, and he's even a BSU football supporter.

I also love the comparison to Luxemborg, with us being surrounded by IU, PU and Notre Dame. And of course the drinking references, which is what we're known far, even if it's untrue or not. The house party scene is much more calm now though than it was when I matriculated there in the late 90s. As long as you paid your $3 for a cup of beer, you could go to any house that was hosting a party and stay and drink as much as you wanted, no questions asked. And then after the shootings on back-to-back weekends, it really died down for a long time. (Note: the trigger-pullers were not BSU students). And I still don't think it's picked up at all. But it's been awhile since I've been to a house party.

Papa Lou predicts a 9-3 or 8-4 season because of our ability to lose two or three games a year that we shouldn't. Last year, it was Miami and Nebraska (?). We'll always hope for the 11-1 or 12-0 season.

Sporting News primes BSU for big year

2008-07-02T15:40:00.005-04:00

Hey thanks Sporting News! I guess it's no longer called The Sporting News, but the Web site has put Ball State in some elite company. The Mighty Bird are ranked No. 41 in SN's preseason college football poll, five spots ahead of...duh duh duh...Purdue! I'm sure Boiler Up Country is thrilled with this.

For the next 50 days, SN will breakdown each team. And since we're at 41, that means we have to wait nine days, or...five days longer than Purdue. Hahaha.

Sorry for rubbing it it, but this might be the only time us Cardinal fans get to do that. When you go and think about, we're getting an awful lot of preseason hype when we have done, well, so little in previous years. Ball State still hasn't beaten a BCS team ever and only has one crack at it this year with Indiana. We've had an awful lot of near misses (IU, Michigan, Nebraska) and got blown-the-beep-out by Rutgers. And wee should've won the Nebraska game. Never thought I'd type those words. But just to be realistic, let's hope this year is the year we finally bust through instead of being a Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Let's not get too cocky about things until BSU can start winning some important games.

Welcome to Muncie, Jacob Green

2008-07-01T16:14:00.004-04:00

Good news for the Ball State football team. We have received what I believe to be is our first commitment for the Class of 2009 recruiting class. That man is Jacob Green (no relation to the former Seattle Seahawk), a 6-foot-3, 235-pound linebacker/defensive end from Wyoming, Ohio. He chose us over four MAC schools. Welcome to Muncie!

That beard looks like it has a lot of gray hairs. Is this man a high schooler?

Mid-American Conference gets new logo

2008-07-01T16:03:00.004-04:00

My thoughts on the MAC's new logo are mixed. Gone are the letters MAC with the racing stripes off the M and now we have...this. It looks like the logo for a soccer club, or for our foreign readers, futbol club. Is this a sign that the MAC will push soccer more? Maybe this way Ball State women's soccer team will finally win.

According to the press release, the conference wanted to highlight the fact that the MAC has been around for 60+ plus years. And this was the best they could do.

At least they didn't just go ahead and write the letters "O-H-I-O" across it. But they might as well have.

That link will also give you a look at the seal mark, athletic mark and the type-only mark. I do not know what means what. But here's the athletic logo.

Thoughts?

The Links: Definitely, Maybe this is our year

2008-06-30T14:33:00.006-04:00

It is official: I want my future girlfriend to be exactly like Isla Fisher's character in "Definitely, Maybe." Because I am comfortable enough to admit this, I watched this movie by myself Saturday night. Let that sink in for a moment. This is a movie that a male should not be watching by himself, but I'll be honest: I really liked the movie. I've always been a huge fan of Ryan Reynolds (check out "Buying The Cow", a little-known movie that's absolutely hilarious) and now my search for the Isla Fisher of Indiana continues. But why use this movie as an opening for the links? Only because this is definitely, maybe the year we finally win a MAC title in football.

Just ask...ESPN's Mark Schlereth, who has pinpointed us for the Motor City Bowl (which means MAC TITLE!) against Iowa. And let me tell you something, the Iowans are THRILLED! Wait..no, they are not. The Sporting News has also jumped in on the fun, picking the Mighty Bird to win the MAC. Northern Illinois fans are unhappy, Buffalo fans are unhappy and I'm sure Central Michigan fans are as well. THIS IS THE YEAR!

I'm not sure I'd put this year's Ball State-Indiana game in the Top 10 Underrated Non-Conference games, but it's a definite win for BSU. I find the Central-Georgia game much, much more intriguing. But the owner of this particular blog thinks BSU has a shot for a BCS game. (In the Bleachers)

Andrew DeYoung has dreamed of playing baseball at BSU since he was a freshman, and now he's going to get a chance to play. (The Times of Northwest Indiana)

Future Ball State baseball player Justin Warrington is featured in an article about how throwing breaking pitches at ayoung age ruins arms. (Newark Advocate)

Keeping on baseball, Tim Issler is expected to fill the shoes of Dean Anna, who was drafted by San Diego. (Ball State Daily News)

Let's talk recruiting! We'll start with basketball, where the men's basketball team has offered Muncie Central's Jeremiah Davis, who already has offers from Kentucky and Indiana. Gee, which school is he going to choose? (The Star Press)...looks we're after this big man, 6-7 Kevin Janowski. (America Least)

Football...this stuff isn't good news...Columbus' Bradley McDougald is going to Ohio State, Reggie Taylor is going to Auburn, and we're in trouble with a few others. I've seen the Shenard Holton highlight tapes and he won't end up in Muncie, a lot of schools are after Marquise Stephens, and hopefully we'll end up with Zach Anderson at DT.

Who plays who in the Ronny Thompson movie?

2008-06-30T14:20:00.003-04:00

I cannot take any credit for this idea of what actors should play who in the Ronny Thompson saga, as this was submitted to me by last year's managing editor of the Daily News, Vinne Lopes, in the form of a Facebook wall message. But I've decided to take this a step further and put it out there for you, the reader, and see if you can come up with better actors to fill these roles. The name of the movie (courtesy of Jason Whitlock): Muncissippi Burning. Here's what we have so far.

Tom Collins - Eugene Levy
Ronny Thompson - Eddie Murphy
Jo Ann Gora - Meryl Strep
Pat Quinn - Ron Paul
Tony Proudfoot - Jason Alexander
Ken Brown - Paul Reiser
Peyton Stovall - Will Smith
Micah Rollin -
Billy Taylor - Terrance Howard
Jason Whitlock - Reginald VelJohnson (Carl Winslow from Family Matters
Michael Wilbon - James Avery (Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
Doug Zaleski - Rob Reiner
Kyle Shaner - Jonah Hill
Will O'Hargan - Christopher Lloyd (Note: Figures, these DN'ers would throw themselves into this movie).
Brady Hoke - Mike Golic (he really has no role in the movie, but the two do look similar)

If you have your own submissions and people that we left out, feel free to add them

You have not been missed, Ronny Thompson

2008-06-30T14:07:00.002-04:00

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the day Ronny Thompson received the racially charged notes in his office. The culprit of these notes has yet to be found, and they are what eventually made Thompson resign from his position as men's basketball coach, even though he was supported by both Tom Collins and President Jo Ann Gora (how sincere those were is up for debate).

The DN's Ryan Wood tackles a rather lengthy story about the present state of the athletic department. Is it better now than it was a year ago? The main accused of making the racial slur, Ken Brown, is now the athletic director at a very tiny school. Kyle Brennan is long gone, as is Thompson's staff.

For those of us who worked at the DN and spent a multitude of time at the athletic offices waiting on SIDs, players and coaches, I don't think any of us got the impression that it was a racially insensitive environment. But with all things, I guess, there are a lot of hidden things. The thing that Thompson largely avoided though, was that the race card provided him an opportunity to hide the main reason he wasn't liked: because he was a terrible coach. He was ill-prepared and in way over his head and didn't feel it was necessary to do anything about it.

In what might be a shocking turn of events, the Daily News' Thursday editorial came out in support of Collins, which I think is a first. You could probably make the argument that Collins had nowhere to go but up at this point. But, as a Collins supporter, I'm very surprised he still has this job.

Why did Joe Luce turn down Ball State?

2008-06-30T13:39:00.004-04:00

Marion coach Joe Luce's decision to turn down Billy Taylor's offer to be an assistant coach at Ball State appears to be a 180-degree turn from where we were a week or so ago, when some BSUFANS.com posters said this was a done deal. But as reported by the Associated Press, Luce has decided to stay at Marion.

Luce is actually from the Muncie area and graduated from Wapahani High School, Indiana high school basketball's version of the "Cradle of Coaches".

According to the Star Press, Luce said he was interested in coaching in college, but felt more comfortable with high school kids. Luce's record is solid, as he is 71-26 in four seasons at Marion, including a trip to the state finals last year where they lost to Brownsburg on a buzzer-beater. (Sidebar: Is the 2008 Brownsburg squad the worst 4A title team of all-time? Wouldn't 3A champ Washington have beaten them by 20? Just a thought.)

So now the question is, why did Luce change his mind? My guess would be even with Wood going to N.C. State, he thinks this team has one more run to win a state championship and that Luce would like to be a part of it.

The Links: Does anyone else hate Comcast DVR problems?

2008-06-24T21:50:00.004-04:00

I know I was pretty harsh the last time I discussed Comcast, but I should've considered the possibility it was a rogue DVR box. However, my second DVR box has decided to play tricks on me less than two weeks after I got it. I went to watch PTI after I got off work tonight, and all I got is pitch black on the screen. So, I think, maybe something happened with a few recordings. So I went back to ones I had DVR'd two weeks ago....yup, they're all pitch black. All you have to do is unplug the box, and plug it back in and the recorded shows play. BUT....all of my guide information is gone. And because the box sucks, it takes about two or three days to get the guide caught up. Which means my plans to record shows tonight will not record in a timely manner. I know what you're thinking, Phil, quit whining. But When you pay $13.99 a month to have the DVR box, is it really too much to ask to have one that works at full capacity? Whatever. Ok here we go.

My old colleague at WCRD, "Sugar" Shane Wilkinson, recently became the director of volleyball operations at Ohio State University. And his hometown paper was kind enough to do a story on him. (Princeton Daily Clarion)

Another Ball State grad, Kyle Stark, magically found his way into the Pirates personnel department. Keep Bryan Bullington in the big leagues! (The Star Press)

New Era Scouting ranks the Ball State football team second in the MAC. (New Era Scouting)

There are some new hires in the Ball State athletic department. (Ball State Daily News)

Dean Anna hit a home run in his first professional at-bat. (Register Guard)

A story on Ball State swimmer Eric Hercamp. (Seymour Tribune)

A brief scouting report on former BSU pitcher Ben Snyder (The Baseball Analysts)

Women's golf recruit K.C. Cain is currently leading the Girls State Junior Meet. (Ball State Sports)

The Links: The World is coming to an end

2008-06-20T22:23:00.003-04:00

But Phil, why would you make such a proclamation? You see, this man on the right is University AT Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy. And the senior signal caller was named to the Unitas Award watch list. Yes, you read that correctly. The Unitas Award watch list. Drew Willy. Before I rant, please note that the Unitas Award only goes to seniors, so Nate Davis and Dan Lefevour could not be selected for this. But seriously, Drew Willy? Is he even in the top half of MAC quarterbacks? There's Davis, Lefevour, Tyler Sheehan (Bowling Green), Julian Edelman (Kent State), Andy Schmitt (Eastern Michigan) and Tim Hiller (Western Michigan) are all better. I will tell you who isn't better, and that's Dan Nicholson at Northern Illinois. Worst QB in the MAC? Discuss.

Ball State sophomore Christina Adrian represented the United States at the world triathlon championships. (The Star Press)

Volleyball player Hannah Sullivan, who is from New Albany, is transferring to Ball State from the University of Houston. (The Star Press)

Ball State golfer Kirsty O'Connor will be representing Wales in the European Team Championships next month. (Ball State Sports)

Justin Lattimore discusses his Ball State offer. (Tampa Bay.com)

This oddsmaker puts Ball State a 20-point favorite against Northeastern. (Pregame.com)

Mid-American Conference Online Dynasty for NCAA Football 09 (Xbox 360)

2008-06-20T22:20:00.000-04:00

For those who are into the whole video game and online gaming stuff, NCAA Football comes out on July 15, which is one of the greatest days of the year next to National Signing Day.

One of the New Features is the Online Dynasty. Yes, this year, you can play an online dynasty with complete strangers across the nation (up to 60 seasons of course). And what I would like to do is organize a Mid-American Conference Online Dynasty. I know that we'd A) have to leave a team out and B) probably adjust schedules in order to compete for a national title, but I think more than anything else, it'd just about be the ability to win the conference for bragging rights.

Since I own a Xbox 360, players would have to be Xbox Live members, obviously. And realistically, I don't think everybody playing one game a day is too much to ask, but we should be pretty flexible with that. That's all I got so far, but I will set up a dummy sheet here. If you're interested, please leave a note here with your email address and gamertag or e-mail me at phillip.friend@gmail.com. I'd also prefer that players be fans of the actual school, especially since it's going to be hard for anyone actually playing an online dynasty with a MAC school to win a championship. So here's the dummy sheet. We'll take it as a first-come, first serve basis.

MAC West
1. Ball State - Phil Friend - phillip.friend@gmail.com, Sportswriter61
2. Eastern Michigan
3. Central Michigan
4. Toledo
5. Northern Illlinos
6. Western Michigan

MAC East
1. Miami
2. Kent State
3. Akron
4. Bowling Green
5. Buffao
6. Ohio
7. Temple

Who is the face of the Ball State football program?

2008-06-20T22:01:00.005-04:00

Either this week or last week, ESPN.com started a running feature called "Face of the Program" which included every single Division I-A team. Each school has X number of people to choose from and in Ball State's case, we had four: Brad Maynard, Bernie Parmalee, coach Dave McClain and Blaine Bishop. When I think of Ball State football, oddly enough I think of Paul Schudel. But that's because he was the coach there when I was younger.

But tWWL's pick, and for the 1,727 people that voted was Brad Maynard. Can't blame them. He's one of a few Ball Staters who has shone in the NFL, not to mention that in 1996 he was the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Here's what the dot.com

A specialist rarely warrants face-of-the-program distinction, but Maynard's accomplishments at Ball State are too impressive to ignore. He finished his career ranked third in NCAA history in punting average (44.2 ypp) and set school records for punts (242) and punt yards (10,702). Maynard earned consensus All-American honors as a senior in 1996 and became the only punter in MAC history to be named league MVP. He led the nation in punting as a junior, posting the sixth-highest single-season average in NCAA history (46.5). In all but one of his 33 career games, he averaged at least 40 yards per punt. A three-time all-MAC selection, Maynard led the league in punting in each of his final three seasons. -- Adam Rittenberg

Pretty amazing. Blaine Bishop has 22 percent of the vote, Parmalee 19 and coach McClain 4. But uou can't mess with those stats. You could argue that Bishop had the more distinguished NFL career, and that Parmalee had a couple great years, but hey, there's a reason we're called Punter U. Never forget that.

The Links: Another supersize edition

2008-06-17T12:20:00.004-04:00

Today's sign of the apocalypse: I LOVE the new Coldplay CD. There, I said it. I really hate Coldplay, but I don't know what it is about "Viva la Vida" that really makes me like the CD. Someone care to answer that for me? Am I mellowing? Am I becoming a pussy? It could be all of the above.

Some Ball State football players are getting some love. Offensive tackle Robert Brewster was named to the watch list for the Outland Trophy while Chris Miller is on the Ray Guy Award watch list. Solid. (Ball State Sports)

Pretty thorough story detailing the rise and fall of Deontay Twyman. Definitely a pro-Twyman angle, but what else would you expect? (Gaithersburg Gazette)

Marion High School head coach Joe Luce, who led the Giants to the Class 4A championship game, is considering becoming an assistant coach for the Ball State basketball team. (Marion Chronicle-Tribune)

An unknown blogger says Ball State is the 68th-best team in the nation this year, one spot behind Central Michigan. Boooo. (The Grand National Championships)

Congrats to men's tennis coach Bill Richards, certainly one of the most quotable coaches in Muncie. He was elected to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association board of directors. (Ball State Sports)

Baseball player Tyler Pritchard was named to the Academic All-MAC squad. (Ball State Sports)

Northridge senior Zac Henderson, who will be playing for the men's golf team this fall, tied for 10th at the IHSAA golf state finals this past week. (Ball State Sports)

Men's volleyball player Justin Orr was named to the ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-America. Smarty pants. (Ball State Sports)

One of my colleagues over at the Bleacher Report says that Ball State has the 13th best fight song in the nation. Can you believe that one? Me either. I may be all things Ball State, but I don't think I could you any of the words in our fight song. I'm a failure, I know. (The Bleacher Report)

Future Ball State baseball player Justin Warrington was named the Newark Advocate's 2008 Baseball Pitcher of the Year. Last year, he was 6-3 with a 0.83 ERA and a school-record 121 strikeouts. (Newark Advocate)

You need to be part of BallStateInsider.com, but Andy Thorpe does a pretty good job with breaking down some potential recruits from the BSU camp. (Scout.com)

Pretty solid writeup of Saturday's Women's Football Academy at Scheumann Stadium. (BSU Daily News)

The football program has offered Detroit Crockett lineman Aaron McCord. He's 6-4, 270. (Scout.com)

Three lady tracksters have made the Academic All-MAC squad. (Ball State Sports)

The MAC Report Online's Preseason All-MAC team is littered with Cardinals. First teamers are Dante Love, Darius Hill, Robert Brewster, BJ Hill and Chris Miller. Second teamers include Nate Davis and Bryant Haines. (Buffalo News)

2008 Football game times announced!

2008-06-17T12:05:00.003-04:00

Game times have been announced for this upcoming season's football games. Let's look at the tale of the tape.

There are four games this season that will definitely be on TV: Navy (ESPN), Northern Illinois (ESPN2 or ESPNU), Miami (ESPN2) and Central Michigan (ESPN2), with the potential for the Indiana and Western Michigan ones to possibly be on TV as well. The WMU game is slated to be on ESPN 360, but could get moved. But start times..there are A LOT of night games. In fact, all but one are night games. How ridiculous is that? The only day game is Sept. 27 against Kent State, which is Homecoming. The season starts with a 7 p.m. game against Northeastern on Aug. 28.

Aug. 28 Thurs. NORTHEASTERN 7:00 -- Presented by ProLiance Energy
Sept. 5 Fri. NAVY 7:00 ESPN
Sept. 13 Sat. at Akron * 6:00
Sept. 20 Sat. at Indiana 7:00
Sept. 27 Sat. KENT STATE * Noon -- Homecoming Presented by Ball State Federal Credit Union
Oct. 4 Sat. at Toledo * 7:00
Oct. 11 Sat. at Western Kentucky TBA
Oct. 25 Sat. EASTERN MICHIGAN * Noon -- Family Weekend Presented by Marsh
Nov. 5 Wed. NORTHERN ILLINOIS * 8:00 ESPN2 or ESPNU -- Cardinal Varsity Club Day and Bronze Stalk Game Presented by Mutual Bank
Nov. 11 Tues. at Miami University * 7:00 ESPN2
Nov. 19 Wed. at Central Michigan * 7:00 ESPN2
Nov. 25 Tues. WESTERN MICHIGAN * 6:00 -- Presented by Central Indiana Orthopedics

Those times are just random, that's for sure. My thoughts: I think a lot of people are going ot be upset about the number of night and midweek games. It sucks for me because I won't be able to make any of those unless I take the day off work. But for the students, it should be an awesome opportunity. Now it's just a matter of getting them out there, which, as we've seen in previous Ball State history, that's awfully hard to do sometimes.

The Links: Humpday

2008-06-11T00:43:00.002-04:00

Not too much going on here, kiddies. If you want to know what's going on in my world, here it is. I hate Comcast. I didn't even want to get it in the first place, but I couldn't get DirecTV because I wasn't allowed to get it at my apartment complex. So I'm stuck with Comcast and their "awesome" DVR player. The guide is impossible to navigate and the worst part is..oh, my DVR doesn't record the audio on half the things I record. Sweet. So my frustration with that is at an all-time high. Hopefully, this situation will be resolved in a timely manner. Not that any of you care.

Today's video...Vince McMahan gets RickRolled on Raw last night...awesome!

From the paper that employs one of this site's loyal readers and commenters is a story on former Ball State coach Tim Buckley, who, in case you didn't know, is now an assistant coach at IU. (Aurora Beacon-News)

I have absolutely no clue who runs this Web site or what credence there is to it, but the Ball State football team is ranked No. 41 preseason. (MBCC)

The Star Press' Doug Zaleski blogs about some MAC love from a Rivals national football writer. (The Star Press)

Here's a story on Kyle Heyne and Dean Anna getting drafted by the Padres with a little bit more information. (Ball State Daily News)

Justin Cabbagestalk, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound offensive lineman from Florida, committed to Vanderbilt instead of Ball State. Boo. (St. Petersburg Times)

Not a surprise here, but the Ball State men's and women's teams finished pretty low in the Reese and Jacobs Trophy races for athletic excellence. (The Star Press)

Eddie Griffin at the Red Zone Report ranks Nate Davis and Darius Hill No. 2 and No. 5 in the "best 2009 draft prospects outside the BCS." That's a lot of love for these two kids. Let's hope he's right! (The Red Zone Report)

Where are you going to be on Sept. 5?

2008-06-11T00:15:00.005-04:00

Me, I'll be stuck at a to-be-determined high school football game, unable to attend the biggest home football game in the history of Ball State football (bigger than IU, certainly). I am not alone in that aspect, though. Friday night is reserved for high school football and the debate for Ball State is, "How are we going to fill our stadium when consumers might go to the Delta, Central or South football game?"

We'll get back to that in a second, but the item from Doug Zaleski's two articles on Sunday that has the blog world abuzz is this little nugget, buried pretty far down in his article.

MAC commissioner Rick Chryst said teams used to be paid $20-25,000 for regular-season games played on ESPN because their schedules were disrupted by moving to a mid-week game. MAC presidents voted to end that practice after the 2006 season because all schools now have mid-week games.
Ball State will not be paid a fee for its appearance on ESPN against Navy.
But there are other advantages for Ball State to play the game. The No. 1 benefit is the exposure that comes with showcasing its team, expected to be a MAC title challenger, and its stadium that underwent a $14 million-renovation a year ago.

Zaleski is wrong on this. He needed to clarify this quite a bit. He made it sound like there will be no money received from ESPN. That is false. The Mid-American Conference still receives that $20-25,000 to play the midweek game. However, instead of it going directly to the school, it's split among all conference schools. So, say there are 5 MAC games midweek with five different teams. Instead of each individual school getting $20-25,000 individually, that money is pooled into the regular MAC TV fund and divvied up among all 12 schools. And since all 12 schools have at least one midweek game, that's why they voted to switch. So in a technical sense, Ball State will still be "getting paid" for the game. So let's worry not, Cardinal folk!

So back to the BSU-Navy start time. In Zaleski's sidebar for the story, he talks about the similar position Toledo and Minnesota were in for their 2001 gams. Toledo's decision: Move the game. They moved it to Thursday and ESPN decided to drop them. Interesting. If I'm Ball State, I think you leave the game as is. Personally, I'd like it to be on Thursday so I could go to the game, but from a BSU standpoint, the fact that we're playing Navy should be able to draw a full house. Couple that and the fact that the expectations for this year's game are undeniably huge...it better be full.

I recommend taking a look at the stories if you haven't done so already. Pretty interesting stuff.

The Links: It's Saturday morning

2008-06-07T10:19:00.004-04:00

Happy Saturday, everybody. It's about 10:30 in the a.m. and I'm supposed to be heading to Centennial Park in Mulberry for this "vintage" baseball game in which the game will be played by 1858. Problem is, it's raining...a lot. So, I'm pretty sure that the game is not taking place. I'm currently watching a mockumentary called "LolliLove." The only reason I got it was because Jenna Fischer from "The Office" is in it, along with directing it. Unfortunately, it is not very funny and I'm pretty sure I'm the first person to ever rent the movie from the Indianapolis Netflix office, as the sleeve for it was bright, shiny white.

Anyway, I think it's time to get caught up on all things Ball State athletics.

Former Ball State basketball player Skip Mills worked out with the Pacers yesterday. I'm not sure what the chances are that he'd make the team, but D-League perhaps? (Indy Star)

Rivals recently rated the Top-10 non-BCS quarterbacks and the man Nate Davis is rated No. 3 behind Central Michigan's Dan Lefevour and BYU's Max Hall. I can't complain about the ratings too much until Davis beats Lefevour. But the second it happens, Davis shoots to No. 1. (Rivals)

Looks like Athlon picked Ball State to finish second behind Central Michigan in the MAC West. First place this year though, baby! (Buffalo News)

Here's another rundown of the Notre Dame athletic director candidates and Bubba Cunningham is still on the list. (Rakes of Mallow)

Congratulations are in order for Kolbrin Vitek, who was named to the Freshman All-American team by Collegiate Baseball. (Ball State Sports)

Molly Myers and Adam Tschuor are the two newest employees of Ball State's athletic department. Congratulations. Although, man, Tschuor graduated from college in 2005 and he looks like he's 35. (Ball State Sports)

What a way for Amanda Barnhart to end her collegiate career as she qualified for the NCAA Championships in the long jump. (Ball State Sports)

It appears the University of South Florida and its beat writers officially feel like they are the big-time as Brett McMurphy openly questions whether or not they should be playing Ball State. It's probably going to more upsetting when you lose to us. (TBO.com)

Dean Anna and Kyle Heyne going big

2008-06-07T09:49:00.005-04:00

Huge congratulations are in order to Dean Anna and Kyle Heyne as both were drafted in this week's MLB Draft....both by the San Diego Padres, no less. Pretty amazing. Anna was drafted in the 26th round ad Heyne in the 32nd. Padres assistant GM Paul DePondesta (who you might remember from the phenomenal book, "Moneyball") had this to say about Anna on his blog:

26. Dean Anna, SS, Ball St - Known as a hard-nosed and disciplined player, Dean put up a terrific junior season at Ball St. A tough out, Dean's strike zone discipline is outstanding, as he walked 46 times compared to just 17 strikeouts. Dean also banged 30 extra base hits, so he's also a threat with the bat.

Heyne was drafted last year as well, although a bit higher as he was selected in the 27th round by the Twins. DePondesta said this about Heyne:

32. Kyle Heyne, RHP, Ball St - A sidearming bullpen arm, Kyle has great sinking life on his fastball which he commands well. He also throws a slider and changeup, but his bread and butter is the sinker. He was drafted last year by the Twins but elected to return to school.

Obviously, Heyne will be gone as this was his senior year, but Anna has a decision to make, whether or not to come back to Ball State for his senior year or head to the majors. Stay tuned.

Big scoop: women's basketball assistant coaches!

2008-06-03T18:59:00.003-04:00

I wonder how it is with other women's college basketball teams, but The Star Press treated the retaining of Lisa McDonald like the hugest scoop in the world. The story even had the "citing of anonymous sources." Seriously, can't we save that stuff for huge stories. This is not as huge of a story as it is being made out to be. Look, I understand Lisa has been here for seven years, but people treat her like the Second Coming who was screwed over for the job. I don't see it that way one bit. She wasn't "screwed over"...Kelly Packard has a pretty solid reputation and I don't see why Packard would "fall flat on her face if she did not keep McDonald," as lovely Star Press commenter suebabe likes to tell everyone. I guess the jury will remain out. Let's just save the anonymous sources for bigger stories, as opposed to a women's basketball team that has made the NCAA Tournament, um, never.

(Photo from The Star Press Web site)

Bullington gets called up to the Big Show again

2008-06-03T18:40:00.004-04:00

For the third time in his career, 2002 No. 1 overall pick Bryan Bullington was called up to the Big Show last week. As of today, he has yet to pitch this season, but it can't go worse than his previous two call-ups. In 2005, he made one appearance, giving up two runs on one hit in 1.1 innings of work, bringing his ERA to 13.50. In 2007, Bullington made five appearances, three of them starts. He went 0-3 with a 5.29 ERA, giving up 11 runs on 24 hits in 17 innings. Also, he only has eight career strikeouts, pretty low for someone who was known in college as a strikeout pitcher.

Bullington was the International League Pitcher of the Week for May 19-25 after after going 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts that week.

The Links: A supersize addition

2008-06-03T17:53:00.003-04:00

Hey, it's been a week, no big deal! Sorry kiddies. It's been tough. I just recently moved from Indianapolis to Frankfort and I've been without the Internet for an entire week. So that's my excuse this time. Next time, I don't know.

Let me just say that Moving Day (which was Saturday) was the day from hell. I'll try to summarize. First off, I had to go pick up my U-Haul in Noblesville instead of somewhere in Indy, so that turned into an hour round-trip. Then my trailer I chose was way to small to hold all of my items, which really started the day of disaster. I had to make two trips to Frankfort from Indy. I had three car loads the first time and two the second, and it STILL wasn't enough for everything. So the money I tried to save by using the small trailer was basically negated. Lose-lose. I also lost my keys for a half-hour stretch, right after we had loaded everything for the second trip. And because i'm an idiot and didn't put the bed frames in the U-Haul, i had them in my car, which ended up scratching the tint on my back window. And while I was adjusting the bed frames while driving, I blasted an orange barrel which scratched up my car. Terrible, just terrible. Annnnnnd here we go!

Congratulations to tracksters Katie Johnson and Amanda Barnhart, who competed at NCAA Mideast Regionals. (Ball State Sports)

The family of BSU golfer Travis Smith, who died in a car accident last year, held a block party in honor of Smith. Proceeds went to the Boys and Girls Club of Terre Haute (Ball State Daily News)

Congrats to men's volleyball middle attacker Justin Orr. The senior was named to the 2007-08 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 5 University Division Men's At-Large First Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (aka CoSIDA).

Supposedly the Cardinal football program is interested in this Ezra Thompson fellow. (Recruiting Planet)

Will former Ball State athletic director Bubba Cunningham take over the position at Notre Dame? It's possible, with Kevin White leaving. He's on the short list, and Zaleski gives the impression that the job should be Cunningham's. (Chicago Tribune and The Star Press)

Former DN sports editor Mike Genet wrote a feature story about Brad Snyder's plight in the major leagues. There's also a sidebar about little brother Ben, who's in the Giants' minor league organization. It's a pretty good read, as it details Brad's strikeout problems. (Advertiser-Tribune)

Not much here in the way of background info, but it looks like we're in the mix for Georgia schoolboy Latoris Ayers. He is a zero-star defensive tackle. (Rivals.com)

Congrats to BSU golfer Brian Maurer. He won the Indiana PGA Northern Open in Plymouth this weekend. (Ball State Sports)

6-foot-4, 310-pound offensive lineman...yes, please. Looks like we're one of a million schools that are interested in DT/OL Travis Frederick. (Buckeye Planet)

Someone decided to go analyze all the kick and punt returners returning for this year's college football season (for fantasy reasons, of course) and there's a brief mention of B.J. Hill. (Pro Fantasy Sports)

Congrats are in order to Elizabeth Milian, who was Academic All-MAC this year. (Ball State Sports)

Analyzing this year's men's basketball recruiting class

2008-05-28T01:39:00.005-04:00

With the addition of four more recruits signed in the spring, Randy Davis, Jarrod Jones, Brawley Chisholm and Zach Fields, this year's men's basketball recruiting class for Ball State is now complete. They join the three that signed in the fall, Maurice Hubbard, Pierre Sneed and Eric Wormely. Yup, that's seven new players for this year. I know personally I'm not a fan of so much turnover, as this is the third straight year we've gone through this, but this class has some potential.

The player that revs my engine the most (get your mind out of the gutter) is Davis. In case you forgot, he was the runner-up for Mr. Basketball and averaged 23 points per game. The winner, Tyler Zeller of Washington, is going to North Carolina. No big deal. For a team that has been TERRIBLE shooting the basketball, let's hope Davis provides much-needed marksmanship.

Let me tell you who doesn't rev me engine and that's Pierre Sneed. He averaged somewhere around the 3-4 points per game neighborhood. He was lucky enough to parlay his height into a Division I scholarship. Reminds me a little bit of a kid I graduated with at DeKalb, Jan Thompson. He was 6-11 but only averaged four points a game as a senior. He was able to get a D-I scholarship at Eastern Illinois...and he actually ended up starting a fair amount, including scoring the game-winning basket that sent them to the tournament in 2002 or 2003. So it was on a goaltending call, but don't hold it against him!

I also like Jones to contribute immediately as well. Not that it won't be hard with a completely new roster.

There was some interesting controversy surrounding Zach Fields. The 6-10 product originally committed to IUPUI but they took away the scholarship offer from what I understand, saying he didn't make the grade. The kid at least got a 25 on his ACT. That's better than what I did, sadly.

Doug Zaleski at The Star Press said the best bets are Hubbard and Davis. I'll take Jones and Davis, just for argument's sake. He also said that coach Billy Taylor was persuing a pair of JUCO's, Marcus Thomas and Anthony Simpson, but they went elsewhere, leading Fields and Chisholm to Muncie. Interestingly enough, Chisholm, a JUCO, was a backup last season. Sounds promising. Hopefully he doesn't have the Micah Rollin "get ball, turn around, throw toward rim" mentality and might develop some actual post moves. We'll see.