For the second time in the last three weeks, the game fell in the hands of a desperation pass from redshirt junior quarterback Riley Neal as time expired.
Ball State Football (2-4, 1-1 MAC) battled hard but it wasn’t enough as Northern Illinois (3-3, 2-0 MAC) comes out on top, 24-16.
The Delta Eagles (6-2) score 31 points in the second half to defeat the Greenfield-Central Cougars (0-8).
The Bronze Stalk Trophy hasn’t resided in Muncie since 2008. When Northern Illinois (2-3, 2-0 MAC) visits Scheumann Stadium Saturday to play Ball State (2-3, 1-0 MAC), the Cardinals will be looking to bring it home.
Markice Hurt Jr. knows you’ve probably never heard of him. He knows his No. 24 probably isn’t the jersey you went to the game to see. He knows in the slight chance he gets on the field, you’ll probably say, “Who’s that guy?” Ask his teammates and coaches, though, and odds are you’ll be chanting his name before his time is up as a Cardinal.
The week has come to an end, and the Cardinals are 1-0 in Mid-American Conference play. Ball State took down Kent State 52-24 Saturday. There were plenty of takeaways from the game. Here’s a few that stood out.
Junior redshirt receiver Riley Miller and junior redshirt quarterback Riley Neal have been sharing the field since high school. That long time familiarity was on full display as Riley would connect to Riley 11 times on the day in a 52-24 win over Kent State.
Mid-American Conference play is underway. Ball State (2-3, 1-0 MAC) took down Kent State (1-4, 0-1 MAC) 52-24 behind the Cardinals’ hot start on offense.
Ball State Football came out of its first non-conference game with confidence through the roof. The Cardinals had floored Central Connecticut State, set a handful of school records and were ready to face a highly ranked Notre Dame squad in South Bend.
The record may say 1-3, but Ball State Football is approaching the first week of Mid-American Conference play like it’s a new season.
The temperature may have cooled down Saturday, but redshirt junior Riley Neal did not as he was the offensive driving force for Ball State against Western Kentucky.
After leading for the majority of the first half and late in the fourth quarter, Ball State (1-3, 0-0 MAC) fell to visiting Western Kentucky (1-3, 0-0 Conference USA), 28-20.
Full coverage of Da sCoop's Game of the Week.
After dropping two straight road games, the Ball State Cardinals look to right the ship against Western Kentucky.
The Cardinals (1-2, 0-0 MAC) have come out on every side of the spectrum already in the first three weeks of the season. They blew out Central Connecticut State in their home opener, went toe-to-toe with No. 8 Notre Dame and took a lopsided loss at Indiana.
It wasn’t until the 2:08 mark in the third quarter that Ball State (1-2, 0-0 MAC) was able to find the end zone Saturday.
From North to South, Ball State Football (1-2, 0-0 MAC) has been all over the state in this early season. This weekend, the Cardinals were in Bloomington to take on Indiana (3-0, 0-0 Big 10) in their ninth all time matchup. After a stalemate first quarter, the Hoosiers would come out running to take the game 38-10.
Having proved it has what it takes to play with the big boys after a 24-16 loss to No. 8 Notre Dame, Ball State Football (1-1, 0-0 MAC) will head to Bloomington with all the confidence in the world.
Ball State Football faced a heavy task today in taking on No. 8 Notre Dame. Not only was this the first time both teams have met, but this is the first time in three season that the Cardinals have faced a ranked opponent. While the score may have not favored the Cardinals, the team was able to limit one of the top offenses in college football for the majority of the game.
Ball State Football (1-1, 0-0 MAC) fell to Notre Dame (2-0) 24-16 in its first meeting with the Irish in school history.
