For 100 years, players have laced up their cleats, coaches have blown whistles and fans have cheered for the Cardinals.
For 100 years, Ball State football has been a staple in the Muncie community. It has brought people to Muncie, roused celebrations and stirred up emotions.
For 100 years, there have been wins and losses. With wins and losses, fans have been with the Cardinals throughout.
Ball State football is filled with memories and moments spanning a century.
That extensive history is meaningful for current head coach Mike Neu.
“Every day that I've had a chance to be in this building, I take a lot of pride,” Neu said. “[I] try to do things the right way. [I] try to develop young men of high character to be difference makers, to represent Ball State with class.”
Neu said the 2024 Cardinals have embraced the role of “Team 100.”
“You want to make sure that with the rare opportunity that you have, you make it count,” Neu said.
Junior tight end Tanner Koziol said one of the best things about being on Team 100 is the previous teams are all looking to them now.
“There is pride in it,” Koziol said. “There is pride in putting on the jersey and knowing players have played here before you, and they are watching.”
Hoosieroons turned Cardinals
Although modern fans are used to the Cardinal red, the Hoosieroons were the first team fielded by Ball State in 1924. They played in the now-extinct Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (IIC) alongside long-time rival, Indiana State.
A campus-wide competition in 1927 led to the name change. Head coach Paul B. (Billy) Williams nominated the “Cardinals” as mascot after his favorite Major League Baseball team: the St. Louis Cardinals.
Williams and the Cardinals struggled in their first years on the field and in recruiting due to a lack of desire to play at a teacher's college.
One standout player was Gabor Takats, a lineman for Ball State between 1937-40. The all-conference player was referred to by student reporters as a “gladiator who tackled first and asked questions later,” Bruce Geelhoed wrote in his book, “Football at Ball State University: 1924-2001.”
Hubert “Hub” Etchison played for Ball State in the late 1930s. He is more known for being the football coach of the Richmond Red Devils, but he was key in starting the Indiana Football Coaches Association and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
It would be more than 20 years until the small teacher's college got its star coach, John Magnabosco.
Magnabosco, often considered the first head coach at Ball State in the modern era of football, went 68-46-14 during his tenure that lasted from 1936-52.
“Magnabosco’s unique name was a constant target for nicknaming, too,” Geelhoed wrote. “Known on campus as Uncle John, the Big Boss, Mag, the Big Mag, or more commonly, simply as Maggie, the football coach was one of Ball State’s most visible personalities.”
It is said Magnabosco inherited a football program that did not have any interest in the community's mind. While being a personality on campus and winning on the field, crowds grew in attendance to watch the Cardinals.
The impact Magnabosco had at Ball State was so big that in 1959, the John Magnabosco Award was started and given to Ball State’s most valuable player. The award is still honored in his name to this day.
Magnabosco earned the first-ever conference championship in 1942, winning the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title.
Head coach Ray Louthen followed Magnabosco and immediately carried on the momentum that was built by his predecessor. He led the Cardinals to six consecutive winning seasons with multiple conference championships. He also led them to the Grantland Rice Bowl, the first bowl game for the program.
Louthen’s teams were known for their hard-nosed characteristics and consistency to win. He won four straight IIC titles between 1964-67.
Running back Jim Todd led the Cardinals in rushing for two seasons (1964 and 1965) where he averaged almost seven yards per rush. Todd was drafted in 1966 by the Philadelphia Eagles.
With players like Tim Brown, Jim Todd and Chuck Streetman getting drafted in the NFL, the quality of players produced by the college was turning the team into a real threat.
As the Ball State brand was growing, so was its need for a new stadium. The new state-of-the-art Ball State Stadium, built in 1967, was packed regularly.
All of these factors led to a football boom in the 1970s.
The Mid-American Conference
Ball State joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) May 22, 1973, but the school did not enter the conference on the field until the 1975 season.
“Once Ball State reached university status in 1965, its academic and athletic leadership set a goal of joining the MAC and being the first Indiana school to belong to the conference,” Geelhoed wrote.
There was skepticism about whether the new conference members (Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois University and Central Michigan) could compete, but Ball State president John J. Pruis assured the teams on the court and field would be competing for championships within five years.
Now, Ball State is a MAC staple.
As a player and coach, Neu feels the MAC does not get enough recognition.
“I just think that the level of competitiveness week in [and] week out that you see in this conference helps prepare players not only for football but also for life,” Neu said. “… I think it's a hidden gem that shouldn't be a hidden gem.”
Koziol said the down-to-the-wire, high-pressure situations separate the MAC from other conferences. Situations Koziol said he lives for.
“Those are the moments you think of when you are a kid, jumping on the bed, diving with the football and scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter,” Koziol said. “That is the thing about the MAC. The whole MAC, up and down, is competitive.”
Under head coach Dave McClain, Ball State finished third in its first year of MAC play, posting a 9-2 record in 1975. The following season, McClain and the Cardinals won their first MAC Championship with an 8-3 record
In 1978, the Cardinals picked up another MAC title under Dwight Wallace.
“The 1976 team held the opposition to 10 or fewer points in eight of its 11 games,” Geelhoed wrote. “The 1978 team never yielded more than 17 points in any game, recorded four shutouts, and helped the opposition to seven or less in seven of its 11 games.”
The most decorated coach from the 1980s was Paul Schudel, who replaced Dwight Wallace. Schudel graduated from Miami (OH) and was an assistant coach at the University of Michigan under the legendary Bo Schembechler.
Tough. Hard-nosed. Disciplined. Those are the words that first came to Neu's mind when he thought about Schudel, his head coach, at Ball State.
“We were going to be tough,” Neu said. “That was really the attitude he instilled in his teams. The discipline and attention to detail, they were front and center.”
Schudel led the Cardinals from 1985-94 and posted a record of 60-48-4.
Running back Bernie Parmalee led the Cardinals in rushing in 1987, 1989 and 1990. In ‘87 and ‘90, he rushed for more than 1,000 yards. He was awarded the MAC Freshman of the Year distinction in 1987 and was all-conference in ‘88 and ‘90. After his time in Muncie, Parmalee played for the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
Ball State won the MAC Championship in 1989, and with that came a post-season bowl game. The Cardinals took on Fresno State in the 1989 California Raisin Bowl, losing 27-6.
Cardinals dominate the MAC in the 1990s
Ball State won its third MAC Championship in 1993 and played in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Players like Keith McKenzie, Brad Maynard, Cory Gilliard and Blaine Bishop were just a few players who were drafted to play in the NFL.
“One of the greatest players in Ball State’s football history, Maynard punted for the Cardinals between 1993 and 1996,” Geelhoed wrote. “He holds Ball State’s records for the best single-season punting average, 46.5 yards in 1995; best career punting average 44.2 yards; most punts 242; and most punting yards, 10,702.”
Maynard was so good that he was the MAC MVP and the MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 1996.
Neu was the Cardinals’ quarterback from 1990-93.
In the homecoming game of 1993, the Cardinals were losing 30-3 to Toledo with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter. Neu led a comeback that saw him throw a touchdown pass with time running out to even the score 30-30. The extra point put the Cardinals ahead 31-30, ballgame.
Neu remembered being fired up and emotional on the sidelines. He walked back and forth, telling teammates the Cardinals are going to come back and win.
“I believe my job that day was to make sure all those guys on that sideline still believed in that,” Neu said. “That's the one thing that I will always remember, besides what took place on the field. … It was on the verge of the worst homecoming performance in the history of Ball State [and became] one of the better ones when it was all said and done.”
Neu holds Ball State’s record for passing yards in a single game, 469, against Toledo.
The ’90s also brought an impressive running game to Muncie. Corey Croom rushed over 1,000 yards in ’91 and ’92 for Ball State and played for the New England Patriots between 1993-95.
After Paul Schudel left Ball State in 1995, Bill Lynch took over as the 12th Ball State football head coach.
Before Lynch became a coach for Ball State, the university was one of his choices when picking where to go to school for himself.
“Dave McClain was the head football coach at Ball State at the time,” Lynch said. “… But I wanted to play football and basketball. Butler said I could do both. Coach McClain kind of looked down on doing something other than football.”
Lynch ended up going to Butler, where he played two sports, but he eventually found himself back in Muncie to coach.
The Cardinals notched their fourth MAC Championship just a few years after their third in 1996, again playing in the Las Vegas Bowl.
“It was a great place to coach with great guys to coach,” Lynch said. “That really was a great football team.”
Ball State upgraded training facilities during this time, adding a lighted practice field with turf and raising the seated capacity at the stadium to 21,000 in 1996.
“He cared a hell of a lot about his players,” Kevin Lynch said about Bill. “Did it the right way. As a son looking at it, I know how much work he put into it and how much care he had for this place.”
The Lynch family was an “Indianapolis Family.” So when the family moved to Muncie, Bill said the family went through some adjustments.
Kevin, the current assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach at Ball State, remembered making the move with his family.
He recalls running around the field and throwing the football with players when he was a kid — something he sees his kids do today.
Growing up as a coach's child, you move often, Kevin said. Regardless of moving around growing up, Muncie is home to the Lynch family.
“I can’t think of many memories as a kid that didn’t have to do with Ball State football or athletics in general,” Kevin said.
The Lynchs drove back and forth to Muncie after Bill retired to watch ballgames and be with family. Eventually, the couple realized Muncie was their home and bought a house in the area.
“There is a reason why we moved back here after I retired [was] because of the people here,” Bill said. “Obviously, our grandchildren were here, but we just really enjoyed Muncie.”
Turbulent years with magical runs
Since 2000, Ball State football has gone through its ups and downs.
The Cardinals picked up a MAC West Division title in 2001 with its 5-6 record but failed to convert any real momentum until the 2008 football season.
The 2008 Ball State squad finished with a perfect 12-0 in regular season play. The Cardinals won the MAC West Division and faced Buffalo in the MAC Championship.
They were led by head coach Brady Hoke, and he was able to get them as high as No. 12 in the Associated Press top-25 poll.
In the end, Ball State was routed by Buffalo 42-24 in the championship game and went on to lose their GMAC Bowl against Tulsa weeks later 54-13.
After the season, Hoke left for San Diego State for two seasons before being offered the head coaching job at the University of Michigan. Pete Lembo was the next coach to step up for the Cardinals.
Lembo started his coaching time at Ball State with a respectable 6-6 2011 record, but he turned the table in 2012.
Lembo said he was not only grateful to be the Ball State head coach but also touched by being a part of the Muncie community.
“It was a very special part of my career and our lives as a family,” Lembo said.
The 2012 Cardinals were led by 2024 Ball State Hall of Fame inductee Keith Wenning and current NFL wide receiver Willie Snead IV. The pair helped Ball State go 9-4 on the season, earning a spot in the Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl. The Cardinals lost 38-17 to the University of Central Florida.
Lembo said a majority of players for the Cardinals at that time were underrecruited, or it was their only Football Bowl Subdivision offer.
“We had a lot of gritty, overachieving guys,” Lembo said. “Those teams were tight-knit. Guys had great relationships with their coaches.”
Wenning and Snead IV had an impressive season in 2013, and their skills boosted the Cardinals to a 10-3 record. Snead had 1,429 receiving yards, and Wenning threw for 3,993 yards. The season ended in a 23-20 GoDaddy Bowl loss to Arkansas State.
In the years leading up to Lembo’s eventual resignation, the Cardinals fell under .500. In 2015, Lembo departed the program to become an assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at Maryland.
Lembo went 33-29 and 23-17 in the MAC during his five seasons in Muncie.
“To this day, a week does not go by that I am not in touch with some of those players or some of the people I worked with on that campus,” Lembo said. “… Some of our dear friends are people who supported Ball State athletics that we still keep in touch with.”
Currently, Lembo is the head coach of the University of Buffalo, who is also in the MAC. The Cardinals will take on Lembo’s team Nov. 12 at Buffalo.
Once Lembo was out, it was time for a “Neu” era.
In 2019, the Cardinals finished with a 5-7 record but had favorable statistics. Quarterback Drew Plitt threw for 2,918 passing yards, and running back Caleb Huntley rushed for 1,275 yards. The defense also bolstered current NFL cornerback Amechi Uzodinma II.
The following season, the Cardinals got over the hump amid a global pandemic.
Ball State bolstered a 7-1 record in a shortened season due to COVID-19. The Cardinals were MAC West champs and MAC champs. Ball State also notched its first bowl game win in program history when they won the Offerpad Arizona Bowl against No. 19 ranked San Jose State 34-14.
“To be able to win the first championship in 24 years, and to win the first bowl game in school history, was awesome,” Neu said. “There was a lot of hard work by the players that went into that.”
Neu said the 2020 Cardinals had the best accountability he has ever seen out of a football team. Each player had to hold themselves accountable and limit social interactions during the pandemic.
“It was not easy,” Neu said. “... They stayed true to each other, kept believing in the process and just kept working hard.”
Senior linebacker Keionte Newson, who is True Cardinal No. 1 and the leader of the 2024 defense, was a freshman during the 2020 MAC Championship run. His distinction as TC1 means Newson is the leader of Ball State football as a whole alongside other True Cardinals.
“It was just so fun,” Newson said. “We all enjoyed being around each other and winning those games. “Everybody was excited in Muncie. We came back after the MAC Championship during COVID and people were all outside [the facility] waiting for us to get back.”
Newson said it was surreal to be alone for the majority of his time and that it was hard to limit time around teammates. Although the team got it done on the field, Newson said the way of living was weird.
The 2021 and 2022 seasons were dominated by one Cardinal: Carson Steele. The current Kansas City Chief running back rushed for 891 net yards in 2021. He was also aided by Plitt, who compiled 2,541 yards through the air in 2021.
Steele and the Cardinals earned a spot in the 2021 TaxAct Camilla Bowl with its 6-6 record and lost to Georgia State 50-21.
Steele broke out again in 2022 with his 1,556 rushing yards, but the Cardinals failed to make a bowl game with a 5-7 record after losing its final three games.
The Cardinals have not been to a bowl game since 2021. The 2024 Cardinals sit at 2-5 after its first seven games.
Regardless of how the 100th season finishes, Neu and the football program want to do their best to honor those who came before them by acknowledging the history of Ball State football.
Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.
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