Early in the season, the last destination Rutgers University thought it would end up during this bowl season is north of the United States' border.
With a 3-0 record, the Scarlet Knights peaked at No. 10 in the nation in the fourth week of the season and it looked as though the club could have aspirations of winning a Big East championship and playing in a BCS bowl game.
"They thought they would be challenging for a national championship," Ball State University fifth-year senior linebacker Cortlan Booker said. "We're not taking them lightly; that's for sure."
At that point in the season, it looked as though Rutgers might be headed for warm weather this winter, such as Big East counterpart West Virginia University when it plays in the Fiesta Bowl in Flagstaff, Ariz. Instead, the Scarlet Knights lost their next two games after that point and three of their final five games of the season to finish 7-5, good for fourth in the conference.
While Rutgers limped through the second half of the season, Ball State had to claw its way to a bowl game after being 5-5 with two games to play. Booker said he's been able to see the improvement of his club during the past couple weeks as it had to earn its first bowl appearance in 11 years.
"We've gotten to a point this season where a bowl game was not assured to us," Booker said. "We've gotten to the point now where we're 7-5 and in a bowl game, but it's funny because we look up and see that's not all we want. As good as it is right now, there's still something else out there to achieve."
There's 26 days until Ball State's date with the Scarlet Knights in the International Bowl, time for each Cardinals' player and coach to rummage through every play Rutgers ran this season.
However, Booker said it's not hard to figure out the best way to stop the Scarlet Knights' offensive attack.
"Ray Rice, Ray Rice, Ray Rice," Booker said of the Rutgers' junior All-American running back. "Ray Rice, who has 1,700 yards coming into this game. He's the focal point of their offense, and he's a great running back."
To be exact, Rice accumulated 1,732 rushing yards this season and 20 touchdowns, good for third and fourth in the nation, respectively.
The Scarlet Knights also boast a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Kenny Britt (1,107) and Tigu Underwood (1,028).
Perhaps due to the number of weapons and national exposure Rutgers has received through the course of this season, most experts have give the Cardinals a grim chance to winning their first bowl.
"Nobody has expected Ball State to be a part of this bowl," Booker said. "On the Internet, all they talk about is Ray Rice and Rutgers. It's been an interesting year for Ball State because we're fought for every piece of respect we can get. We're not going to Toronto without thinking that we're going to win."
Team comparison
Cardinals2007 Season record:Offense: 7-5 (5-2 MAC West)Points per game: 31.6Rushing yards per game: 147.3Passing yards per game: 284.4Turnovers: 23
Defense: Points per game: 26.3Rushing yards per game: 197Passing yards per game: 221.8Turnovers: 33
Scarlet Knights2007 Season record:Offense: 7-5 (3-4 Big East)Points per game: 31.2Rushing yards per game: 190.2Passing yards per game: 247Turnovers: 24
Defense: Points per game: 21.8Rushing yards per game: 158.9Passing yards per game: 160.6Turnovers: 18
Player rewardsAfter making history with its first bowl appearance and winning record since 1996, Cortlan Booker and his Ball State University football teammates hardly need another reason to remember their achievement.
That's precisely what they'll accept, however, from the International Bowl. Each participating player on both the Cardinals' and Big East opponent Rutgers University's roster will receive an International Bowl watch, two pieces of luggage embroidered with the International Bowl logo and an embossed football from the game, an approximate retail value of $450.
"The best thing for us is that we get to play in a bowl," Booker, the Cardinals' fifth-year-senior linebacker, said. "Everything else just makes it that much better."
The International Bowl is in its second year of existence and last year's inaugural game saw the University of Cincinnati defeat Western Michigan University 24-21. The approximate retail value of last year's gift package to those two teams was $300.
"There's been an increase in recent years in the value we're allowed to spend on gift packages," Don Loding, president of the Toronto Sports Association, said.
The most important thing Loding said he wanted the players to remember is the bowl experience itself. When the International Bowl chooses what gifts it will present the participating players, he said, the primary goal is to give them something that will help to remember that experience.
"That's why we select the things we do," Loding said. "We think it's a collectable sort of thing that will be there many years from now."
It has yet to be determined when the players will receive their gifts, Loding said. The International Bowl will work with both Ball State and Rutgers and will send the players' packages to the two schools.
Despite the value the gifts have, Booker said, the most rewarding thing is that he'll have the memories of playing in this year's International Bowl for years to come.
"It's nice to know you'll have something you can look at and reflect on 40 years from now," Booker said. "That's something you'll be able to show the little ones some day when you're telling them the stories of when you played in a bowl game."
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