Over The Pylon

I think the Toledo win was exactly what Ball State fans needed. It was that reassurance for those who were doubtful of our team’s ability. That being said, sometimes I think I analyze the student population the wrong way, and this time I thought I’d take a sample of students and get their reaction to the Toledo win. This is what they had to say.

“The game gave me another reason to love the school I call home. Seeing my fellow Cardinals rally together for the last quarter was a rush.”

“I wasn’t able to attend the game. I however followed it on my phone and was having a heart attack most of the game because of how back and forth it was!”

“It was one of the more exciting games I have watched here at Ball State. The crowd was great too, it was really cool to see a packed Scheumann stadium and the amount of people who stuck around for the whole game was really neat.”

And then there was this reaction:

“I did not go to the game hahaha.”

Well, I guess we can’t win them all. I asked my former roommate what she thought of the game, and I guess our minds are a lot more alike than I realized.

“It’s awesome that Ball State won again, our team is really good this year. And we should always have a good crowd turnout like this game. But, it was definitely the most boring home game so far.”

YES. It was SO boring. It was Family Weekend, and families please stop raining on our parade. I’ve never understood why parents would sit at the 50-yard line of the student section right behind 6 rows of students standing, and then continually complain about students blocking their view. C’mon parents! We love you, but you’re a real buzz kill to the fun environment that normally surrounds the student section at a football game. Yes, Athletics, you got your attendance numbers. But once you remove the Family Weekend crowd from that picture, it’s going to be difficult to retain students. Games are going to get a lot colder, and even a little liquid happiness from the tailgate isn’t going to keep a student at the game if they’re not having fun watching the game.

I’d like to take the chance to let another student’s voice be heard. My friend Aaron is very knowledgeable on college sports and he’s a great Ball State fan. I think he provides some great student insight, so the rest of this post is from the wise words of AarBear himself!

Overall, it was a solid win for the Cardinals. Toledo came into the game seeking some revenge after we beat them at home last year when they were ranked. I knew they were going to give us their best, and for our team to weather the storm and outplay the Rockets was HUGE.

The keys to the game were minimizing turnovers, and limiting the yardage of Fluellen. Last year at Toledo Fluellen was a BEAST. He ran all over our defense. This year, however, they played much better against him. While he got 129 yard on the ground, it was over the course of 27 rushes, and he never ran for longer than 13 yards. I honestly believe that was a major part of the win. Other than that, the team just played a complete game, and Wenning had yetanother solid, 300 + yard performance. If they can keep playing at this level, they have a solid chance of finishing with 9+ wins again. The major challenges are going to come with AQ school Virginia this week, and when Jordan Lynch and NIU come to town later this year. Hopefully we can weather the storm and take the MAC!

Happy October and we’ll see you at the Scheu for Homecoming! Chirp Chirp!

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