On an average day, the team's total would have led to a win, but not against Northern Illinois.
“Scoring 41 points would’ve been a dream,” head coach Pete Lembo said. “We’re a little bit all over the place as a team, and we’ve played a tough schedule, but there’s no excuses about that.”
Heading into Saturday’s game in DeKalb, Illinois, Lembo was very high on running an up-tempo style of offense with Neal under center. This helped Neal settle in during the second half of a 24-10 loss against No. 24 Toledo, and even resulted in an even better performance against the Northern Illinois Huskies.
“Riley’s progressing... I loved his demeanor during the week; I think he’s getting more and more comfortable with the package,” Lembo said. “He’s got a bright future ahead of him, and we need to keep bringing him along."
There were moments where Neal looked as a future professional quarterback, such as Neal’s 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver KeVonn Mabon, where he evaded two NIU edge-rushers by stepping up in the pocket and throwing the ball into his receivers' hands.
Neal showed his brilliance on an incomplete pass as well.
Three Huskies were closing in on him when he out ran one, and then stayed on his feet by planting his hand in the ground. Moments later, he got hit on the sidelines as he threw a dart to Mabon, which would have been a first down, but he dropped it.
There were positives to take away from Neal’s day, but it's clear that he is still learning.
During the game, he missed two opportunities to score touchdowns instead of field goals, as he overthrew tight end Sam Brunner and Mabon during the first half. The two drives left points on the field, something the Cardinals have been doing often this season.
In total, Neal completed just under 59 percent of his passes, just under his season average.
Neal is impressive to see because of the future potential. Lembo has said throughout the season how much he believes Neal will be a special player for the Cardinals.
Despite Neal's best efforts, the defense still gave up 59 points. This is the second time the Cardinals have given up more than 50 points this season.
The ineffectiveness of the defense in the last three quarters negated Neal's efforts. After Ball State shutout the Huskies in the first 15 minutes, they went on to score on their last nine drives, eight of which were touchdowns.
That is something that the Cardinals will look to improve as the conference season progresses.
“They were mashing us up front,” Lembo said. “They were getting five, six, seven yards on first down, putting them into second and medium, second and short type situations.”
Northern Illinois’ run game put up 273 yards on the ground and complemented that with their passing game, allowing quarterback Drew Hare to shred Ball State’s secondary as he went 29-32 for 363 yards with two touchdowns.
“We didn’t make plays on the perimeter either, missing tackles out there,” Lembo said. “One third and long we gave up a bender for a big first down, that was an opportunity to get off the field.”
NIU converted 11-14 third downs today, a 78.5 percent conversion rate. On the season, Ball State is allowing 50-percent on third downs, which ranks near the bottom in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Huskies put up 59 points, raising the Cardinals' average per game to 36 points.
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