All the Northeast Ohio connections Stan Parrish has worked so hard to bring to Ball State will be put to work Saturday.
Ball State travels to Kent State (3-4, 2-2), located on the edge of the region, looking to snap its three-game losing streak at 3:30 p.m. against the nation's second best rushing defense. It would be a tough task for any team, but for one that has heavily relied on running the ball this season, it is even more challenging.
So maybe a more supportive visiting crowd, bolstered by the family of Parrish, a Cleveland native, and families of the many Cardinals who are from the area. Parrish is also expecting Ted Ginn Sr., his friend and legendary coach of Glenville High School in Cleveland, to bring his team ranked fifth in the country to the game.
"Between Sean Baker and the Glenville crew and ours, half the crowd will be in red," Parrish said. "We'll have a ton of people there."
Then it will come down to the Cardinals finding a way to get past the Golden Flashes' defense. Even Penn State and Boston College struggled to solve Kent State's defense.
Ball State (2-6, 1-3) may be able to take a lesson from Toledo, however. The Rockets scored the most points and ran for the most yards against the Golden Flashes in their 34-21 victory two weeks ago. Toledo also had plenty of success against Ball State's defense, so Parrish may be able to adapt some of what worked into his own game plan.
More than anything, however, the Cardinals will benefit from a healthier team. Parrish said he expects running back Eric Williams, who leads Ball State in rushing, will be healthy this week after not making the trip to Toledo. Running backs Cory Sykes and David Brown are also both expected to be closer to 100 percent this week and Parrish said center Kreg Hunter and guard Travis Arnold may be able to play Saturday.
Their presence will accentuate a team that has played better on the road this season than at home. Freshman quarterback Keith Wenning said he feels comfortable in road games.
"They're kind of nice," he said. "You don't have to worry about anybody else."
If Ball State's friends and families come to Kent State in as large numbers as expected, the Cardinals may have the best aspects of both home and road games. But Parrish knows even if Dix Stadium is filled to capacity with 20,500 Ball State fans, it won't affect what happens on the field.
"When they kick it off, that's irrelevant," he said.
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