On Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010, Ball State fired Stan Parrish as its head football coach after two disappointing seasons. Tonight, 51 weeks later, Ball State visits Northern Illinois, where the Cardinals will put their chances to win the Mid-American Conference on the line.
The transformation within the last year has been striking. Ball State has already won six games, two more than all of last year. And with just two games left in the regular season, it controls its own destiny in the MAC West.
Few people outside of the team thought Ball State (6-4) was capable of such feats this season. But a win tonight against Northern Illinois (7-3) likely would set up a de facto MAC West title game next Friday in Muncie against Toledo.
Even with the quick amount of growth in mind, Pete Lembo, who was hired to replace Parrish less than 11 months ago, said he sees this job as a rebuilding process. He said he has avoided talking about the Cardinals' status as contenders with the team.
"We haven't put too much emphasis or pressure on our guys from that standpoint," Lembo said. "It's that delicate balance of its exciting to be in this position, but we're also trying to be realistic about where we're at. We've got a lot of things to address, fix and improve upon."
One of Ball State's biggest deficiencies this year will again be tested by Northern Illinois. The Cardinals' defense has struggled to stop opponents and has been especially susceptible to big plays.
Led by senior quarterback Chandler Harnish, the Huskies rank ninth in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 41.6 points per game. Lately, it's been even better. In two games in November, Northern Illinois has scored 108 points, fourth most in the country.
Northern Illinois' prolific offense presents Lembo and his assistant coaches with a philosophical question as they prepare their game plan.
"Do you try to run the race with them or do you try to play the tortoise and try to slow it down a little bit?" Lembo said. "My job as the head coach is to make sure what [offensive coordinator Rich Skrosky] is thinking meshes with what [defensive coordinator] Jay Bateman is thinking."
Only Wisconsin had much success defensively against Northern Illinois. The Badgers, then ranked No. 7, beat the Huskies 49-7 at Soldier Field on Sept. 17, and are the only team to hold Northern Illinois to fewer than 30 points.
Harnish, who was first-team All-MAC last year, has been the Huskies' driving force. He has thrown for 2,256 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,022 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games. He is one of two players in the country who have rushed for 1,000 yards and thrown for 1,500 yards this year.
After watching video on Harnish, Lembo said he was glad he only will have to prepare to defend Harnish once in his career.
"[I'm] very happy that Chandler is a redshirt senior," Lembo said. "Whether he gets a chance to play football at another level or goes on to be a very successful contributor to some firm somewhere, I'm very happy that it'll be one and done with Ball State against him."
Harnish has played the Cardinals in each of the last three seasons as well. His best game of the three came last year at Ball State when he threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
"He's a dual threat," senior defensive end Andy Putoff said. "He's a great player and we've got a big challenge on our hands."
With so much riding on Tuesday's game, the same can be said for the Huskies as a whole.
The game will air at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
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