For the first time in 87 years of football at Ball State, the Cardinals will get their chance to play a team ranked No. 1 in the country. On Saturday, Ball State travels to Oklahoma, which is ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the AP Poll.
Oklahoma (3-0) was ranked No. 1 in both preseason polls and were only passed in the AP this week after an impressive month of September by LSU, which saw LSU easily beat three ranked opponents.
But Oklahoma remains the national title contender it was in the summer. It beat then-No. 5 Florida State 23-13 in Tallahassee, Fla., on Sept. 17 and remains loaded on offense. The Sooners are led by quarterback Landry Jones, a Heisman Trophy candidate who averages 340.7 passing yards per game. All-American wide receiver Ryan Broyles, Jones' favorite target, ranks second in the country with 11.33 receptions per game.
Ball State (3-1) will have to quickly adjust from facing Army's triple-option attack to facing one of the best quarterback-wide receiver combinations in college football.
"The magnitude of their personnel is a great challenge," coach Pete Lembo said.
But it is one the Cardinals are ready to take on. Quarterback Keith Wenning said he was looking forward to the experience of playing such a highly touted team.
"They'll have a heck of a crowd, and a whole different kind of team," he said. "We have to go into the game with the mindset that you give your best shot and whatever happens, happens."
Ball State last beat a ranked team in 2001, when it upset No. 25 Toledo. Since then, there have been some near misses. Ball State lost 41-40 to No. 24 Nebraska in 2007 when Jake Hogue missed a 55-yard field goal with 12 seconds to play. Ball State also lost 34-26 to No. 2 Michigan in 2006, one of Michigan's closest victories in starting the season 11-0.
The Cardinals more recent experience against ranked opponents hasn't been quite as good. Ball State lost 37-7 to then-No. 22 South Florida on Sept. 10 this year and got shutout 45-0 at No. 18 Iowa last fall.
Still, Lembo believes his team can apply some of the lessons they learned at South Florida a few weeks ago to Saturday's game at Oklahoma.
"I believe our guys just have to go out and play," Lembo said. "I think some of our guys at South Florida were too focused on the opponent rather than just going out and playing and enjoying that one of 12 opportunities that we get."
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