In both 2001 and 2002, Missouri was upset by a Mid-American Conference team -- Bowling Green. The Tigers weren't about to let Ball State make it three straight years.
The Cardinals took an early 7-0 lead on their guests, but Missouri scored 35 unanswered points behind a powerful running attack, moving to 2-0 with a 35-0 win over BSU.
Missouri's sophomore quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Brad Smith only played in the first half, but still did plenty of damage. He was 11-of-17 passing for 112 yards and ran for 117 yards on 13 carries, including a 35-yard touchdown in the second quarter to put the Tigers up for good. All told, Missouri piled up 290 yards rushing and 461 total.
"It always (frustrates you), when you play a quarterback of that style," Ball State head coach Brady Hoke said of trying to stop Smith. "He can do a lot of different things. You have to be perfect, and we were far from perfect."
Things started well enough for the Cardinals (1-1), who had a fourth-down stop on Missouri's first possession and forced punts on the next two. David Gater blocked the second punt and recovered it at the Missouri 4.
"Everyone takes a gap and we just try to get to the punt," Gater said of the block. "It was nothing special at all. I was just trying to find the ball. And when I did I picked it up and kept stumbling."
Two plays later Andy Roesch found tight end Mark Franklin for a 5-yard touchdown. Mike Langford booted the extra point with 4:51 left in the first.
But Missouri responded on its next series of downs. Smith directed a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by Damien Nash's 4-yard touchdown run with 1:22 left.
"That's the way he is; he can take charge of a game pretty fast," Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel said of his quarterback. "He was struggling throwing a little bit. We had guys open, and he missed some throws.
"The punt block is something that hasn't happened too many times in my career. Actually, it's an indictment against me. That changes the momentum of the game fast. It was nice that we answered well. That certainly got momentum back on our side."
Smith's biggest play came in second period. Having driven 45 yards to the Ball State 35, Missouri was faced with a fourth-and-one. Smith bootlegged to his right, escaped one tackle, then broke three more on his way to the end zone. With 4:16 left, Mike Matheny added the extra point for a 14-7 lead.
"For a quarter and a half, we played pretty solid football," Hoke said. "We had some momentum on our side, and let the quarterback get out on a drive. (Defensive coordinator) Mark (Smith) makes a great a call and we don't execute it. It should've been a 3-yard loss, but we didn't execute."
After forcing a three-and-out by Ball State, the Tigers marched 57 yards for another score, this one a 1-yard jaunt by Zach Abron with 54 seconds remaining.-รก
Santino Ricco took over at quarterback in the second half -- Smith had suffered a mild concussion late in the second quarter -- and Missouri drove 80 and 79 yards for its final two touchdowns.
BSU linebacker Lorenzo Scott said his team's defensive troubles could be traced chiefly to personal responsibility.
"We had the right game plan," Scott said. "As a defense we didn't execute. They have great athletes, but it's 11 on 11. The first couple series we did our job. After that we didn't. If you don't have 11 people on the same page something's going to go wrong."
After its lone score, the Ball State offense moved no farther than the Missouri 41 until its final drive. Talmadge Hill, subbing for an injured Roesch, moved the Cardinals 75 yards to the Tiger 15 before they relinquished the ball on downs.
For the second straight game, the Cardinals failed to generate an effective rushing attack. Scott Blair had 41 yards, but that was also his team's total. Roesch passed for 114 yards and Hill 89. Dante Ridgeway (nine catches, 96 yards) was the top receiver.
In Hoke's mind, his team has to get back to basics if the offense is going to get untracked.
"We've got to go back to the drawing board," he said. "They were a little better, at the tackle positions, than I thought initially. There were a couple times where I thought we were one block away from springing someone loose.
"We had some opportunities defensively to make plays and we didn't, and same thing offensively.
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