The offense that had roared to life late in the first quarter and powered Ball State to a 14-point halftime lead Saturday night against Buffalo was sagging. Midway through the fourth quarter, Ball State had put together just one sustained drive in the second half and was now trailing, its chance to win the home opener and first Mid-American Conference game of the season seemingly slipping away.
Ball State (2-1, 1-0) was able to rally for one final drive. Quarterback Keith Wenning pushed the Cardinals 75 yards down the field and into the end zone on a four-yard pass to wide receiver Willie Snead with 29 seconds left to pull out a 28-25 victory. At halftime, the necessity of such a drive would have been unthinkable. Ball State had already gained 250 total yards in the first half and had two scoring drives of more than 70 yards.
But the second half, which began with Ball State receiving the kickoff, had a decidedly different feel. The Cardinals drove into field goal range to start the third quarter, only to see Steven Schott miss his second attempt of the game, this time from 39 yards. From there, Ball State's offense was nonexistent. It had four consecutive three-and-outs, gaining just 22 yards as nearly 20 minutes ticked off the game clock.
"[Offensive coordinator Rich] Skrosky always talks about getting to ‘third-and-manageable' and we weren't doing that," wide receiver Briggs Orsbon said. "We had a lot of third-and-10s in that second half and we only have so many plays where we can get 10 yards in one play."
Ball State failed to convert twice on third-and-10s before its final drive of the game. But the Cardinals also had problems converting when they did get third-and-short. Running back Barrington Scott was stuffed for no gain on a third-and-one midway through the third quarter and Wenning twice threw incomplete passes on third downs of five yards or shorter.
The Bulls, meanwhile, were finding their stride offensively. Buffalo took advantage of a short field following a blocked punt and struck for a 45-yard touchdown on their first play of the fourth quarter.
"Even though we didn't score until the very end, I felt like we were making every effort to try to answer the momentum that Buffalo generated in the second half," coach Pete Lembo said.
The biggest difference for Ball State's offense might have been in the running game. At halftime, the Cardinals had 119 rushing yards on 20 attempts. In the third quarter, 10 rushes netted the Cardinals just 33 yards, nine of which came on the first play of the half.
As the old football adage says, "If you can't run the ball, you can't throw it either." Wenning threw for 40 yards in the quarter, all on the first drive.
"The offense just didn't have anything going," Orsbon said. "Buffalo made some pretty good adjustments. They stuck to blitzing us there in the second half and our run game wasn't really working."
Still, Lembo said there was no panic on the sideline as the Cardinals watched the Bulls take the lead with little more than six minutes to play. There was even less panic on the field as Ball State needed to convert twice on fourth down to extend the thrilling, game-winning drive.
"I think everyone in attendance got their money's worth tonight," Lembo said. "Some guys stepped up and made plays. That's what it's all about. That's how you win close games like this."
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