WEST POINT, N.Y. – Ball State didn’t score its average of 33.7 per game Saturday, but it didn’t need to. It didn’t get another 250 passing yard performance from Keith Wenning, but it didn’t need that either.
But when punter Scott Kovanda ran out of the end zone for a safety as the clock expired, Ball State had claimed another season of being bowl eligible by defeating Army 30-22.
“To play here and come here and win in a very well-played game on both sides of the ball – I really liked the way the guys handled the highs and lows of the game,” coach Pete Lembo said.
Ball State did get another 100-yard rushing game from Jahwan Edwards, and Steven Schott converted on all three of his field goal attempts. And the offense did start efficient, scoring two touchdowns on its first two drives of the game, including a six-yard pass from Wenning to Jamill Smith.
But it would be awhile before Ball State found the end zone again as it settled for just two field goals in the second and third quarters.
“[Army] is a team that’s playing a lot of one-on-one on the outside,” Lembo said. “So you’re taking shots on the outside and some of those are not high-percentage throws. It’s sort of hit or miss, but you don’t want to get one dimensional.”
While the offense struggled to find the rhythm it had in the first two series, the defense had to focus on stopping Army’s triple-option offense that leads the country in rushing yards per game. Coming into Saturday’s game, Army was averaging just fewer than 390 rushing yards per game, and with multiple players able to run the ball for the Black Knights, the Cardinals had a major task all afternoon.
Army finished 341 yards on the ground in the game. While some opposing coaches in the country would see that as a staggering number, Lembo was pleased with the number because of how often Army runs the ball.
“We gave up a couple longer runs here and there,” Lembo said. “This was a really solid day by our guys. We got critical stops when we needed to – in both halves.”
In the 68 plays Army ran, 62 of them were for runs. But the most important number could be how many times Army found the end zone Saturday – twice.
“All that work came into the preparation of the scout team,” linebacker Travis Freeman said. “We went live the whole week; we didn’t change anything up. The scout team played a huge role today.”
Ball State’s defense kept the lead throughout the entire game, even when the offense was struggling to score touchdowns. In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Wenning found freshman wide receiver KeVonn Mabon for a 13-yard touchdown pass to put Ball State up 27-13. Though it was only a two-touchdown lead, the flow of the game made the lead feel like a five-touchdown lead.
But everyone at Michie Stadium knew Army wouldn’t quit, because when playing a military academy where the players will go on active duty for five years once they leave the campus, the last thing they will do is quit.
On the next drive, Army scored on a 15-yard run from running back Malcolm Brown to trim the lead to a touchdown. Besides the safety at the end of the game, that was all the closes Army would get for the final 2:38.
For the second time in as many seasons under Lembo, Ball State now has the opportunity to play in a bowl game at the end of the season. But if this team learned anything from last season, it’s that going 6-6 doesn’t guarantee an invite. Along with Western Kentucky, Ball State was one of two bowl eligible teams that didn’t go to a bowl game in 2011.
“It’s what you work for all year,” Freeman said. “It’d mean so much to me to be at that point. At the same time, it’s not enough. We scratched the surface last year, and we can’t do that this year.”
A seventh win will more than likely secure a bowl invite for the Cardinals. The team has three more games – two on the road at Toledo and Miami, one at home against No. 24 Ohio – to get the seventh win. Also, there are six teams in the Mid-American Conference that are bowl eligible, which could potentially mean some teams get left at home.
But all of that is still to be determined, and Ball State really controls its destiny to play in a bowl game. Lembo said it’s only common sense that getting more than six wins is important for his team to increase its chances to go to a bowl game.
And the opportunity for a seventh win comes Nov. 6 at Toledo, which Ball State will have a few extra days to prepare for following a Saturday off.
“We have three games left,” Lembo said. “We finally get a little bit of breather with an extended game week, and we need it. These guys are earning everything they’re getting.”
