Come Saturday evening, Lucas Oil Stadium will have its seats filled with red instead of the usual Indianapolis Colts blue. The question is which red will be more dominant: Ball State's cardinal or Indiana's crimson?
Ball State's season opener against Indiana will be the first time the two teams play each other since the 2008 game in Bloomington. The Cardinals won the game 42-20 and went on to a 12-0 regular season record. This is the first time the two teams have met at a neutral field, though this game will count as a Ball State home game.
As of Wednesday evening the ticket office at Ball State has sold 25,000 tickets which includes 4,000 free student tickets. Lucas Oil Stadium has a football capacity of 63,000 fans. So the stadium will just be over one-third pro Ball State by those numbers.
According to Indiana football sports information director Jeff Keag, Ball State allocated 6,500 tickets to Indiana to sell to its fans. That leaves 31,500 remaining seats that Hoosier fans can grab for Saturday's season opener. While there is the possibility more Indiana fans than Ball State fans will attend, Ball State coach Pete Lembo isn't concerned.
"What exact percentage of Ball State versus IU fans doesn't really factor into my thinking, whatsoever," Lembo said. "The bigger the crowd, the better: the more intense the crowd, the better."
Lembo mentioned the upcoming game against No. 1 Oklahoma on Oct. 1, where Ball State will be faced with 80,000 opposing fans. He said he isn't worried about things he can't control while he has been preparing for this game, but does think the atmosphere on Saturday will be great.
"I think we're going to have a great turn out of Ball State fans," he said. "I think the fact it's in Indianapolis will draw a lot of Ball State almuni that might not otherwise ... drive up to Muncie. It's a chance to see a game at Lucas Oil."
The fact the game is in Indianapolis also leaves the possibility for Indiana alumni in the city to make the trip to the game, as well as the fans in Bloomington.
According to Google Maps, the drive from Indiana's Memorial Stadium to Lucas Oil Stadium is roughly 50 miles. The drive from Ball State's Scheumann Stadium, where the game was originally supposed to be played, to Lucas Oil Stadium is 66 miles.
Even if Indiana fans outnumber Ball State's, the Cardinals playing in hostile environments and NFL stadiums is not foreign to them. In 2008, Ball State played in the Mid-American Conference Championship game at Ford Field in Detroit. In 2009, the team played at Jordan Hare Stadium against Auburn and at Lincoln Financial Field against Temple. Last season, Ball State played in Iowa's Kinnick Stadium. The Cardinals went 0-4 in those four games.
Senior wide receiver Briggs Orsbon played in all four of those games, but this will be the first time playing in a NFL stadium as the home team.
"It's a great atmosphere, no matter what NFL stadium you're at," Orsbon said. "We expect the same thing at Lucas Oil. We practiced down there in 2008 to get ready for the bowl game, but I think it's gonna be a lot different with the fans and the crowd."
Unlike his coach, Orsbon said he is concerned the crowd could have more Indiana fans, but he expects Ball State fans to have a good turnout.
"Everyone's going to be really excited to see what coach Lembo has to offer," he said. "So I think it's gonna be a pretty even crowd."
Both teams will go into Saturday's game with several unknowns. Indiana coach Kevin Wilson and Lembo are making their head coaching debuts, Indiana has question marks at quarterback while Ball State is struggling with depth at the running back position. But there is one thing that won't be an unknown during the game.
There's going to be a lot of red.
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