The Cardinals have been battling the injury bug since the beginning of the season. Through the midway point, it remains a constant issue.
Although head coach Pete Lembo has been dealing with injuries all year, he keeps a game mentality when someone goes down in practice.
"If a guy goes down in practice, we don't stop the drill," Lembo said. "We turn around and keep moving. There's no insensitivity about it whatsoever."
The 'next man up' mentality will allow whoever comes in to compete at a starter level. The Cardinals are currently 2-4 and have to win at least four more games to become bowl eligible.
Ball State's roster consists of over 100 players, which includes plenty of backups waiting for their turn.
"Next man up and you keep going," Lembo said. "That doesn't matter if it's the quarterback, or the tight end, or the defensive tackle or whoever. The other thing that goes hand-in-hand with that: every guy wants to play."
Freshman safety Lamont McPhatter, who dealt with a hamstring injury during training camp, was able to get his first career start due to Ball State's secondary injuries.
McPhatter played all 91 defensive snaps during his team-leading 12-tackle performance against the Huskies. Lembo wants all of his players to have the same mindset when someone goes down.
"Every guy wants their opportunity. Every guy, in some cases somewhere along the way, thinks, 'Hey I should be playing.' You hope they do," Lembo said. "You hope they have that mindset. Well, when an injury occurs, here's your chance to step up."
Some of the defense remains injured. During the last two weeks, the Cardinals' defense has given up 83 points and 1,080 yards combined.
The defensive line has been the biggest problem. Keenan Noel, Julian Jackson, Carlutorbantu Zaramo and Darnell Smith have all been out at one point. Opponents have taken advantage of these injuries, rushing for back-to-back 200-yard-plus games against the Cardinals' defense.
While there have been a high number of injuries this year, Lembo is no stranger to big injuries.
During the 2012-13 season, he went through a stretch where he used three different quarterbacks in a two-week period.
Keith Wenning, one of Ball State's most prolific quarterbacks in team history, went down with an ankle injury. This led to backup senior Kelly Page leading a victory over Ohio on senior night.
During the following week, in the season finale at Miami (Ohio), Page got hurt, forcing red-shirt Kyle Kamman into action.
The Cardinals were bowl eligible during that time, so with the amount of names on the injury report, it's something to consistently keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
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