Playing in a prime-time ESPN game at the University of Toledo last year, Ball State's football team won a 20-17 thriller in front of a national audience.
In this year's rematch, the Cardinals will have a similar opportunity. The only difference is the worldwide leader in sports will be visiting Muncie.
"I think it's going to be a great opportunity to show everybody how beautiful this campus is," Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. "We've done a lot of work on the stadium renovations and it's going to be great to have the chance to show that off a little bit."
Many players regularly shy away from admitting the exhilarating feeling they have when they play on ESPN. However, senior defensive end Cortlan Booker said the opportunity to play on his home field in a game televised by ESPN was a dream come true.
"As a player growing up, that's always what you daydream about, getting to play on ESPN," Booker said with a big grin as he visualized the game. "I can't wait until that game comes and I can play on ESPN on my home field. As a player, you try to look at every game the same. But I think the juices will be flowing a little more on that night."
Hoke said he knows his players will be excited to put forth a good face for both their team and the university as a whole. However, he added that he will do everything he can to keep his players looking at their second-to-last game of the season as important as any other.
"That's what we preach to our guys," Hoke said. "I know it's going to be an important game to our players, and it's going to be a big night for the program, athletics department and university. But it's also a game that we need to win, and to do that we need to put all of our focus into winning."
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