Walking off the field 20 days ago after defeating Eastern Michigan 33-31, Ball State had secured bowl eligibility and kept itself very much in the race for the Mid-American Conference championship. There was plenty to celebrate but work still to be done.
Despite playing just once in the interim, the Cardinals' dream of playing for a MAC championship is gone and their bowl hopes are uncertain. Ball State lost the ability to determine the season's conclusion itself when it lost to Northern Illinois on a field goal in the final seconds of last Tuesday's game. Now, Ball State is ready to focus on Friday's game against Toledo and hope that a victory is enough to prove its case to the bowl executives that now control its fate.
"We take nothing for granted," coach Pete Lembo said. "We realize where we are on the food chain."
But it might not matter if Ball State beats Toledo or not. The MAC is guaranteed to send three teams to bowl games this year and has secondary contracts with four other bowls to send teams if another conference doesn't have enough eligible teams. One of those secondary agreements is very likely to come into play and two other bowls might need MAC teams as well.
If three of the secondary bowls need MAC teams, Ball State could find itself playing in a bowl game even at 6-6. But Ken Mather, the MAC's assistant commissioner for media and public relations, noted that Temple was passed over for a bowl last year at least partially because it lost its last two games, despite having an 8-4 record overall.
"End result, despite getting bowl eligible, teams from our conference have to continue to play well at the end of the year because the bowl selection process becomes a beauty pageant," Mather wrote in an email.
For Ball State to beat Toledo and win on Senior Day for the first time since 2008, it will once again need to contain one of the nation's best offenses. The Rockets have the eighth-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 42 points per games. Toledo has scored 462 points this year, just five more than Northern Illinois, Ball State's last opponent and the ninth-best scoring offense in the nation.
Lembo said the two offenses are very similar and clearly the two best in the MAC.
"It's Northern [Illinois] and Toledo, 1A and 1B," he said. "It probably depends on matchup, it depends on how things fall into place on that given night, but they're very comparable to each other."
The Rockets have scored at least 40 points in each of their last four games and have scored more than 50 points four times this season. Wide receiver Eric Page is one of the MAC's best players and ranks sixth in the nation with 96 receptions.
The Cardinals may have to contain Page without the benefit of All-MAC cornerback Jason Pinkston who is questionable with a shoulder injury. Pinkston did not travel to Northern Illinois last week, but has participated in practice this week.
No matter who Ball State has on the field Friday afternoon, they will be playing to win one more game for the senior class and hopefully better position themselves for a bowl game.
"It would be a great reward for the seniors, who have been through so much," Lembo said. "And it would be a great reward for a team that I think has probably overachieved, despite a tough schedule."
Ball State vs. Toledo
Scheumann Stadium
2 p.m.
TV/Radio: ESPN3/WCRD/WLBC
Read More
Ball State football pushes through outside noise ahead of Black Friday game against Ohio
By Kyle Smedley / YesterdayThe Cardinals are setback by injuries and early transfer portal entries heading into the final game of the season against the Bobcats.
Ball State falls to Richmond, finishes 2-1 in Gulf Coast Showcase
By Zach Carter / YesterdayBall State fell to Richmond as the Cardinals finished the Gulf Coast Showcase 2-1 and now have an overall record of 3-5.
Wapahani defeats Muncie Central in season opener
By Zach Carter / 2 days agoWapahani junior Camden Bell led the Raiders with 18 pointers as the red and white defeated Muncie Central 51-27.
