Ball State gets no O in loss to CMU

Ball State Cardinals 2009 Season ... Head Coach: Stan Parrish

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6
2009 Record: 1-10

9/3 No Texas L 20-10
9/12 New Hamp. L 23-16
9/19 at Army L 24-17
9/26 at Auburn L 54-30
10/3 Toledo L 37-30
10/10 at Temple L 24-19
10/17 B Green L 31-17
10/24 at EMU W 29-27
10/31 Ohio L 20-17
11/7 OPEN DATE
11/12 at NIU L 26-20
11/18 CMU L 35-3
11/24 at WMU

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6
2008 Record: 12-2

8/28 Northeastern W 48-14
9/5 Navy W 35-23
9/13 at Akron W 41-24
9/20 at Indiana W 42-20
9/27 Kent State W 41-20
10/4 at Toledo W 31-0
10/11 at W. Kent. W 24-7
10/18 OPEN DATE
10/25 East. Mich W 38-16
11/1 OPEN DATE
11/5 N Illinois W 45-14
11/11 at Miami Un. W 31-16
11/19 at C. Mich W 31-24
11/25 W. Mich W 45-22
MAC CHAMPIONSHIP
12/5 Buffalo L 42-24
GMAC Bowl
1/6 Tulsa L 45-13

Ball State Cardinals

Nov. 18
Central Michigan 35 … at Ball State 3
Dan LeFevour ran for a one-yard score and he connected on touchdown passes from ten yards to Bryan Anderson and 82 yards to Antonio Brown on the way to a 21-3 CMU halftime lead. LeFevour and David Blackburn hooked up on scores from three and 11 yards away in the third quarter. CMU cranked out 512 yards of total offense to Ball State’s 231, while the Chippewa D gave up just a 20-yard Ian McGarvey field goal in the second.
Player of the Game: Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour completed 25-of-28 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns, and he ran 14 times for 59 yards and a score.
Central Michigan: Passing: Dan LeFevour, 25-28, 344 yds, 4 TD
Rushing: Dan LeFevour, 14-59, 1 TD, Receiving: Antonio Brown, 11-170, 1 TD
Ball State: Passing: Tanner Justice, 10-17, 105 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Cory Sykes, 10-85, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 4-28
What It All Means: The defense had been struggling all season long, and Dan LeFevour and Central Michigan are on fire, but in the home finale, the team should’ve come up with a better performance. There was no downfield passing game and the ground game never opened up a hole for MiQuale Lewis. Cory Sykes got to tear off one big run, but that was it. There’s still one more chance to do something positive in this disaster of a year, but with no pass rush to get to Tim Hiller, Western Michigan should be able to put up big numbers. Ball State will have to find a way to keep up.

Nov. 12
at Northern Illinois 26 … Ball State 20
Chandler Harnish and DeMarcus Grady combine to complete 13-of-14 passes with two touchdowns, and Chad Spann ran for a six-yard score as NIU got past Ball State. The Cardinals started off the scoring with a five-yard Eric Williams run and scored late on a 29-yard Daniel Ifft grab to pull within six, but NIU was able to hold on. Huskie WR Priest Williams caught a nine yard touchdown pass in the first half; it was the senior’s first catch of his career.
Player of the Game: Northern Illinois LB Pat Schiller made 12 tackles with a half a sack and a tackle for loss.
Ball State: Passing: Tanner Justice, 11-19, 134 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Cory Sykes, 11-75, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 3-41
Northern Illinois: Passing: Chandler Harnish, 9-9, 60 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Nathan Palmer, 3-69, Receiving: Landon Cox, 6-41
What It All Means: Ball State continues to have problems in close games. The Cardinal are 1-9 this season with six of the losses coming by a touchdown or less, and while the offense isn’t coming up with the timely scores to turn thing around, and the passing game continues to be a disaster, the team isn’t all that far away from being a lot better in the record book. But that’s for next year. As bad as things have been, if BSU can beat Central Michigan next week, it would be a huge momentum boot for the Stan Parrish era this offseason. It would show that the team really can play a little bit. 

Oct. 31
Ohio 20 … at Ball State 17
Matt Weller hit four field goals and Terrence McCray caught a seven yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion to give Ohio the win over the Cardinals. The McCray score came with 3:11 to play, and the defense held. Ball State got a one-yard Eric Williams touchdown run and a 35-yard Jeremy Hill touchdown catch, but the defense couldn’t hang on late.
Player of the Game: Ohio S Gerald Moore made ten tackles and picked off a pass
Ball State: Passing: Tanner Justice, 6-9, 78 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Eric Williams, 5-59, 1 TD, Receiving: MiQuale Lewis, 2-22
Ohio: Passing: Theo Scott, 17-27, 161 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Chris Garrett, 18-48, Receiving: LaVon Brazill, 6-82 
What It All Means: Basically, if the running game is roaring, the Cardinals have no chance. Tanner Justice and the passing game are miserable, with 35 of the 78 yards coming on one play, and with NIU and its decent run defense up next, something has to start clicking better through the air. Ball State, as bad as it has been, has been alive in games, five of the losses have come by a touchdown or less, but there are too many holes to reasonably hope for a big improvement over the final three games.

Oct. 24
Ball State 29 … at Eastern Michigan 27
Ball State netted 463 rushing yards with MiQuale Lewis running for 301 yards and Cory Sykes running for 203, with three touchdowns, but it took a comeback to win. Eastern Michigan, helped by three Cardinal turnovers, got up 27-13 on a ten-yard DeAnthony White touchdown run early in the third, but that would be the team’s final score as Ball State scored 16 unanswered points helped by Sykes runs from six and 37 yards. Sykes scored on a 51-yard run in the first quarter and Lewis tore off a 48-yard scoring dash in the third.
Player of the Game: Ball State RB MiQuale Lewis ran 26 times for 301 yards and a score and Cory Sykes ran 23 times for 203 yards and three scores.
Eastern Michigan: Passing: Alex Gillett, 3-7, 52 yds
Rushing: Dwayne Priest, 18-84, Receiving: Nick Olds, 2-20
Ball State: Passing: Tanner Justice, 2-10, 1 yd, 1 INT
Rushing: MiQuale Lewis, 26-301, 1 TD, Receiving: Toriel Gibson, 1-8
What It All Means: You don’t get to play Eastern Michigan every week, but the running game was finally able to blow up and be special. However, even with 463 rushing yards, there were too many turnovers and the passing game was too much of a nightmare to make it easy. The passing game was beyond embarrassing with Tanner Justice completing just 2-of-10 passes for one yard with a pick, and that’s not going to fly over the last four games of the season. The ground game won’t carry the team against teams like Central Michigan and Western Michigan. 

Oct. 17
Bowling Green 31 …. At Ball State 17
Bowling Green got up to a 24-0 lead and coasted from there as Freddie Barnes caught touchdown passes from 21, 33, and six yards out. Ball State got on the board with a 30-yard Eric Williams touchdown run in the third quarter, but the Falcons responded with a 26-yard Chris Bullock run. Williams added a late two-yard score for the Cardinals.
Player of the Game: Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes caught ten passes for 160 yards and three scores
Ball State: Passing: Tanner Justice, 6-21, 92 yds
Rushing: MiQuale Lewis, 18-115, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 5-76
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 28-41, 376 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Willie Geter, 17-52, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 10-160, 3 TD
What It All Means: The passing game has gone bye-bye. It’s a far cry from the Nate Davis days as Tanner Justice only completed 6-of-21 passes in comeback mode, and he combined with Kelly Page to complete just 10-of-30 passes. The offense continues to struggle and the pass defense continues to be non-existent, but the break is up next with a trip to Eastern Michigan. However, that might be the last chance this year for a win.

Oct. 10
at Temple 24 … Ball State 19
Bernard Pierce ran for 125 yards, setting a Temple record as the first freshman with three straight 100-yard games, and he ran for scores from two and three yards out to pull Temple away in the second half. The Owls held an early 10-0 lead on a 28-yard James Nixon catch, but Ball State came back in the third with a 50-yard Torieal Gibson touchdown grab and a Eric Williams fumble recovery in the end zone And then Pierce took over with his two scoring runs. Temple’s Jaiquawn Jarrett picked off two passes and recovered a fumble in the end zone.
Player of the Game: Temple RB Bernard Pierce ran 26 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
Ball State: Passing: Kelly Page, 22-37, 237 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: MiQuale Lewis, 9-54, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 10-82
Temple: Passing: Vaughn Charlton, 17-30, 186 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Bernard Pierce, 26-125, 2 TD, Receiving: Michael Campbell, 4-35
What It All Means: Ball State had its chances against Temple. The defense played well and did a nice job of getting into the backfield, but five turnovers killed drives and kept the Cardinals from finally getting a win. Kelly Page wasn’t bad, outside of the two picks he threw, but the running game only came up with 53 yards and wasn’t able to control the game. 0-6, next up is Bowling Green followed by a trip to Eastern Michigan. The Cardinals should at least split those two games if the offense can stop giving the ball away.

Oct. 3
Toledo 37 …. at Ball State 30
In one of the wildest finishes in the young college football season, Ball State took the lead with 42 seconds to play with MiQuale Lewis scoring on a two point conversion on a Statue of Liberty play after a ten-yard touchdown catch from Torieal Gibson. And then came the breakdown as Aaron Opelt connected with Stephen Williams for a 51-yard touchdown with 27 seconds to play. Opelt had thrown for five scores on the day with Williams scoring on a 51-yard touchdown earlier in the fourth. Kelly Page threw two touchdown passes for Ball State.
Player of the Game: Toledo QB Aaron Opelt completed 30-of-38 passes for 422 yards and five touchdowns with an interception, and WR Stephen Williams caught ten passes for 231 yards and two scores.
Ball State: Passing: Kelly Page, 25-41, 234 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Eric Williams, 9-43, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 10-88, 1 TD
Toledo: Passing: Aaron Opelt, 30-38, 422 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Morgan Williams, 10-41, Receiving: Eric Page, 11-152, 1 TD 
What It All Means: Ball State can’t catch a break at the moment, but it’s also not making its own good fortune. How did the secondary let Stephen Williams get deep on the final play without any safety help? The lack of a pass rush proved costly late against the Rockets, and the woes continue. MiQuale Lewis still isn’t finding the room to move that he got last year, and if the running game isn’t going to produce against the Toledo run defense, it’s not going to do much throughout the rest of the year.

Sept. 26
at Auburn 54 … Ball State 30
Ball State recovered a fumbled punt and turned it into a two-yard MiQuale Lewis touchdown run for a 7-0 lead, and then it was all Auburn as Chris Todd threw five touchdown passes including two to Terrell Zachery from 46 and 65 yards out in the second quarter. The Tigers finished with 560 yards of total offense and got up 40-10 early in the third quarter before letting up. The Cardinals scored 13 points in the fourth quarter helped by two of Ian McGarvey’s three field goals and a Kelly Page one-yard touchdown pass to Zane Fakes.
Player of the Game: Auburn QB Chris Todd completed 19-of-26 passes for 287 yards and five touchdowns.
Ball State: Passing: Kelly Page, 16-28, 101 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Eric Williams, 11-59, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 7-35
Auburn: Passing: Chris Todd, 19-26, 287 yds, 5 TD
Rushing: Onterio McCalebb, 8-83, 1 TD, Receiving: Terrell Zachery, 5-122, 2 TD 
What It All Means: At least the team didn’t quit. In this miserable start to the season, Ball State needed something positive it could build on, and after getting blown out early by Auburn, the offense fought for points late and showed a little bit of heart even when things were ugly. Even after everything has gone wrong to start the Stan Parrish era, the Cardinals are still 0-0 in MAC play. However, Kelly Page and the passing game had better gear it up with Toledo to start the season. Being next-to-last in America in passing efficiency is a problem considering the Cardinals lost to North Texas, New Hampshire, and Army, along with Auburn.

Sept. 19
at Army 24 … Ball State 17
Army’s offense struggled, gaining just 265 yards, but the defense forced four turnovers with Donovan Travis picking off two passes taking one 18 yards for the game-winning score with 6:41 to play. Jameson Carter ran for a one-yard score and Ali Villanueva caught a 24-yard touchdown pass for the Knights, but Ball State was able to stay in the game with Kelly Page running for a 15-yard touchdown and throwing a 34-yard scoring pass to Torieal Gibson. But Ball State threw four picks, with Page pitching three of them, making the difference.
Player of the Game: Army LB Stephen Anderson made 15 tackles, with a tackle for loss and half a sack
Ball State: Passing: Kelly Page, 12-24, 154 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Kelly Page, 4-58, 1 TD, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 7-50
Army: Passing: Trent Steelman, 3-7, 58 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Kingsley Ehie, 15-67, Receiving: Ali Villanueva, 2-46, 1 TD
What It All Means: Ball State can’t make mistakes. The Cardinals outplayed Army in several ways, but they couldn’t handle the aggressiveness of the Army defense and there were too many key mistakes. The biggest problem is the inability to get MiQuale Lewis going. The star back ran just 12 times for 17 yards and was never able to get free. Now comes the big problem: Auburn. To have any prayer against the red-hot Tiger ground game, the Cardinals are going to have to get into the backfield far more and will have to be far more physical up front than they were against Army.

Sept. 12
New Hampshire 23 ... at Ball State 16
Sean Jellison scored from five and eight yards out to give New Hampshire a 23-9 lead, and then the defense held on late. Ball State got three Ian McGarvey field goals before finally getting into the end zone in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard Seth White grab, but the last drive fizzled early.
Player of the Game: New Hampshire RB Sean Jellison ran 22 times for 55 yards and two score, and he caught four passes for 43 yards.
Ball State: Passing: Kelly Page, 15-34, 114 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: MiQuale Lewis, 14-21, Receiving: MiQuale Lewis, 8-22
New Hampshire: Passing: R.J. Toman, 21-35, 212 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Sean Jellison, 21-55, 2 TD, Receiving: Joey Orlando, 4-70, 1 TD
What It All Means: What a colossal collapse. It's not just that Ball State went from being a fringe BCS-at large possibility with a 12-0 start from last year to being among the worst teams in America; it's that the offense has gone completely in the tank. New Hampshire is a good FCS team, but that's no excuse for only gaining 127 yards and 13 rushing yards. The offensive line has been a disaster, while Kelly Page isn't producing for the passing game completing just 15-of-34 passes and averaging 3.4 yards per throw.

Sept. 3
North Texas 20 … at Ball State 10
North Texas started out strong with a 10-0 first half lead helped by a three-yard Lance Dunbar touchdown run, but Ball State answered with ten straight points highlighted by a 27-yard MiQuale Lewis touchdown run. And then the Mean Green dominated the final 11 minutes with a four-yard touchdown catch from Michael Outlaw and a 19-yard Jeremy Knott field goal to put the game away.
Player of the Game: North Texas QB Riley Dodge completed 23-of-33 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown with an interception, and he ran 12 times for 73 yards.
North Texas: Passing: Riley Dodge, 23-33, 216 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Cam Montgomery, 17-149, Receiving: Michael Outlaw, 7-43
Ball State: Passing: Kelly Page, 15-34, 140 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: MiQuale Lewis, 15-103, 1 TD, Receiving: Seth White, 4-47
What It All Means: Uh oh. Anyone thinking Ball State would be able to overcome all the personnel losses and the coaching change without a problem has to be very, very worried. North Texas might actually have turned a corner and might turn out to be far better than expected, but Ball State can’t lose at home to a mid-level Sun Belt team and hope to come up with a good year. Kelly Page struggled mightily with the passing game, and now everyone will load up to stop RB MiQuale Lewis until the air attack can produce.