Fourth Quarter
Neal was stripped inside the UMass red zone. This was the freshman quarterback’s second turnover of the game.
UMass, led by Frohnapfel, lead the Minutemen's offense inside the red zone, but it was called back on an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Frohnapfel led the offense back into the red zone, but linebacker Ben Ingle stepped up and made an interception in the end zone. This was Ingle’s first interception of the season, and it came at a huge time.
It was James Gilbert's time for the Cardinal offense. The bruising freshman running back got the bulk of the carries on the drive.
On third down, the offense decided to pass, and it was incomplete. Ball State was forced to punt with 7:03 left. The Minutmen returned the punt to the Cardinals’ 42-yard line.
UMass drove down inside the Cardinals’ 30-yard line, but they turned it over on downs.
Neal completed another huge pass to Mabon for 53 yards to ice the game out.
Ball State won 20-10 to improve its record to 3-6 on the season.
Third Quarter
Green returned the opening second-half kick for 85 yards down to the UMass 15-yard line to start the second half.
Two plays later, Neal threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Williams, who was held on the play as well. The Cardinals extended their lead to 17-3, with 14:07 left in the third.
Blake Frohnapfel threw a pass down inside the Cardinals' 10-yard line, and on the next play they scored. Elgin Long found the end zone on the touchdown pass from Frohnapfel.
UMass closed the gap to 17-10, with 11:21 left in the quarter.
The Cardinals were forced into their first three-and-out on the day and forced to punt. Kyle Schmidt's punt only went 29 yards.
UMass was forced to punt after a quick three-and-out, giving the Cardinals the ball back.
Neal found his groove on the next drive with completed passes to Williams and Corey Lacanaria that put them into field goal range. Hagee connected on a 36-yard field goal to make it 20-10, with 5:52 in the third.
The Ball State defense held once again, forcing UMass to punt.
Ball State, led by Neal's accurate arm, put them deep into UMass territory. They have the ball at the Minutemen 30-yard line at the end of the third.
The Cardinals lead 20-10.
Second Quarter
Inside the 1-yard line, Ball State was stuffed, and UMass forced a turnover on downs. This was the first time the Minutemen held an opposing team to no points inside the red zone all season.
The Minutemen did no damage, though. Ball State forced them to punt after they gained 44 yards on the ensuing drive.
Neal underthrew Williams on a deep pass, and it was intercepted. UMass got the ball at its own 27-yard line.
UMass turned it over on downs at Ball State's 45-yard line. A Minuteman receiver dropped a wide-open pass, which would have picked up the first down.
Something to keep an eye on the rest of this game: UMass' Sharpe hurt his leg in the first quarter and has not caught a pass since.
Back-to-back short passes from Neal to Gilbert and Williams put the Cardinals into Minutemen territory.
On the next play, Neal threw another deep pass to Mabon all the way down to the 2-yard line.
Gilbert ran it in for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 10-0 Ball State, with 1:15 left before halftime.
UMass drove deep down the field and managed to get points on the board before halftime. Laurent made a 30-yard field goal to cut the Cardinals' lead down to one possession to end the half.
Ball State leads UMass 10-3 at halftime and will receive to start the third quarter.
First Quarter
The Minutemen started off their drive with a 20-yard pass to Tajae Sharp. After that, though, they stalled with great defense led by Darius Conaway. UMass was forced to punt.
Riley Neal completed a first down for 14 yards to KeVonn Mabon on third down to move the chains.
The ground game started to get going with carries by Darian Green, and James Gilbert put them near midfield.
Neal completed another big pass to Mabon for a 27-yard gain, putting them deep into Minutemen territory.
Neal overthrew Mabon in the end zone, which led to a Cardinals field goal. Morgan Hagee's 34-yard kick made it 3-0, Ball State.
On UMass' next drive, it was all Sharpe. Four catches from the Minutemen's top receiver put them deep into Cardinal territory.
Logan Laurent missed a 35-yard field goal, which kept them scoreless. The Cardinals still had the lead 3-0, with 4:05 left in the first quarter.
Again, Green and Gilbert put the Cardinals across midfield. Green's 17-yard run in particular, where he juked out multiple Minutemen defenders, stood out.
A defensive holding penalty committed on Williams put Ball State inside the red zone at UMass' 15-yard line.
The Cardinals tried trickery inside the Minutemen's red zone. Neal handed it off to halfback Dylan Curry, who then threw it back to Neal in the end zone. Neal did not come away with the catch, but there was a pass interference penalty committed.
At the end of the first quarter, Ball State leads UMass 3-0.
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