Over The Pylon

Good morning, Cards fans! It’s a busy day around the Pylon so keep popping by for some goodies in advance of Homecoming against the Western Michigan Broncos and PJ Fleck’s oars. There’s reason for optimism around the Scheu. There’s a new QB1 in Jack Milas, the weather for Homecoming is looking picture perfect, and last I checked, Muncie Liquors still has plenty of beer and liquor for your various Homecoming-type activities. But today isn’t about standing in a parking lot and drinking your face off. Today it’s time to Better Know Western Michigan…

Team: Western Michigan Broncos
Record: 2-3 (0-1 MAC)
Ranking: Unranked
Head Coach: PJ Fleck
Series: WMU leads 21-19
Last Meeting: 2013, Ball State W, 38-17 @ WMU

Western Michigan Head Coach PJ Fleck…
… is the youngest head coach in FBS. At just 33 years of age, Fleck was a child of the 80s, probably tight-rolled his pants, and DEFINITELY had some badass Trapper Keepers.
… is an NIU alum and spent two seasons in the San Francisco 49ers organization.
… has compiled a 3-14 record at WMU as he continues through his second year. Though normally that would be cause for concern, to his credit he did inherit a steaming pile of hot garbage.
… is a beast on the recruiting trail, signing a class last offseason that was ranked 58th by Rivals, the highest non-AQ conference school rank and the highest MAC class ranking ever.

When it comes to WMU versus Ball State…
… the series wasn’t always so close. BSU has won seven of the last ten to make it 21-19 WMU.
… the Cardinals are 11-9 against the Broncos in games played in Muncie.
… this year won’t be the first time they have played on Homecoming. Most recent? A 2012 win for the Cardinals.
… the fact that it’s Homecoming is good news for BSU. The Cardinals are 53-32-2 all-time in Homecoming games.

The Western Michigan Broncos…
… opened MAC play last week with a 20-19 overtime home loss to Toledo.
… had that oddity of a score against the Rockets thanks to a missed extra point in overtime.
… scored wins this season over Idaho and Murray State, scoring both 45 points in the wins.
… had losses this season to Virginia Tech (away), Toledo (home), and Purdue (away)
… have five student athletes named to their respective positional award watch lists.

Really though, the story of Western Michigan begins and ends with this fan video:

The amount of things that causes me to vomit in my mouth in this fan video are so numerous I can’t even hit them all in this space. The 7 Nation Army? Awful. The boat oar schedule? Quaint. The boat oars in general? Still puzzling. But I have a new question… can someone explain why the Broncos get hype with a big foam steak?

This damn program, man.

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The adage of “Put up or shut up” certainly seems applicable to the Fighting Football Cardinals this weekend, as they go on the road to the Glass Bowl to face the Toledo Rockets with a pretty high likelihood that the rest of the season hangs in the balance. With a demoralizing loss to Indiana State following a heartbreaker at Iowa, this team is on the precipice of one of two roads. Either the losses are fuel for the team going forward in a band-them-together-to-come-out-stronger kind of deal or they become an excuse to let the season unravel and with it, the program building of the last three seasons is swiftly detonated. So yes, this game, and more importantly than the outcome, the performance within it, is kind of large.

Before we get into the whys and the hows of the game itself, it’s important to know the whos, namely the Toledo Rockets and their season to date, their young up and coming coach, and their replacement skill players that seem to be just as talented if not more so than the player they are replacing. If you thought when starting QB Phillip Ely went down with an injury against Missouri that Toledo became irrelevant, then you have another think coming. Replacement Logan Woodside torched Cincinnati and I am sure is licking his chops looking at the completions to the seam in the middle of the field that Indiana State found so successful over and over and over. Kickoff on Saturday is 7:00PM and it’s nut cutting time in the Glass Bowl for the Cardinals. The coaches are working on gameplanning, the players focused on practicing, but it’s time for you to better know Toledo!

Team: Toledo
Record: 1-2 (0-0 MAC)
Ranking: Unranked
Head Coach: Matt Campbell
Series: Tied! 19-19-1
Last Meeting: BSU won 31-24 in 2013 in Muncie

Toledo Head Coach Matt Campbell…
… is in his 3rd full season as the head coach at Toledo
… owns a career head coaching record of 18-11 (11-5 MAC)
… has spent all but two years in his 12-year coaching career in the MAC (4 of them at BG, 6 of them at Toledo)
… describes himself as “relentless”. That’s cute.
… is the second-youngest head coach in the FBS at age 34.

When it comes to Toledo versus Ball State…
… the Cardinals are riding a two-game winning streak, each coming by exactly 7 points.
… in games played in Toledo, the Rockets have an 11-7-1 all-time series lead.
… Toledo head coach Matt Campbell is yet to notch a W against the Cardinals as a head coach.
… this year’s game will be streamed on ESPN3.com or the WatchESPN app.

The Toledo Rockets…
… were picked in the preseason poll at media day to win the MAC West.
… lost starting junior QB Phillip Ely against Missouri on Sept. 6.
… replaced Ely with sophomore Logan Woodside who went 27-40 for 322 yards, 3TDs, and 0 INTs against Cincinnati.
… trailed at one point to Cincy 34-0, and mounted a furious comeback to make it 41-34. The final was 58-34.
… have a stout running game as well, as sophomore Kareem Hunt gained 101 yards on 12 carries against Cincy. He’s rushed for 100 yards or more every game this season and eight different times over his young career.
… also lost to SEC foe Missouri at home 49-24 in a game much closer than the score would indicate.
… defeated New Hampshire 54-20 to open their 2014 campaign.

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Fight team fight for the Bronze Stalk…

Oh, baby. That nervous energy you feel around Muncie right now is the pending drama and national attention being given to this Saturday’s game. Sure, there may be the Land Grant Trophy for Penn State versus  Michigan State. There’s the Egg Bowl between Mississippi State and Ole Miss. There’s the Bedlam Bell for the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State victor. But all those trophies are bush league. Nothing, and I mean nothing, compares with the awesomeness of trophy goodness that is at stake with Saturday’s game… THE BRONZE STALK. I’ve had the privilege of seeing this baby up close the last time BSU defeated NIU. Of course, that was 2008, but the important thing to remember is that no trophy case is complete without this work of modern art. Bronze Stalk, I know you’ve gotten comfortable in Dekalb, but I hope you’re packing your bronze bags. Because your bronze ass is about to be relocated to Muncie for the foreseeable future. Plan accordingly. For those of you who aren’t bronzed trophies and who have quite the affinity for the Cardinal and White, time to better know NIU!

Team: Northern Illinois Huskies
Record: 4-1 (1-0 MAC)
Ranking: Unranked
Head Coach: Dave Doeren
Series: 20-17-2 in favor of BSU
Last Meeting: 2011, 41-38 NIU win in Dekalb, IL

Northern Illinois Coach Dave Doeren…
… enters his second season at the NIU helm after posting an 11-3 record and MAC Championship victory along with a GoDaddy.com Bowl win.
… was the former defensive coordinator at Wisconsin as well as an assistant coach at Kansas, Montana, USC and Drake.

Northern Illinois-BSU Randomness…
… BSU enjoys a 9-7 series lead in Muncie
… BSU trails the series in recent memory, with a 2-3 record in their last five meetings and three straight losses to the Huskies.
… BSU-NIU has instituted a traveling trophy for this contest, known as the Bronze Stalk.

Northern Illinois News & Trends…
… NIU’s only loss was their season-opener against Iowa at Soldier Field in Chicago. Since then, they’ve defeated UT-Martin, Army, Kansas, and Central Michigan.
… NIU is projected this week by Phil Steele to be the MAC representative in the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl.

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Thursday night the 2012 Ball State Cardinal football season kicks off at 7pm with a white out in Scheumann Stadium. In many cases, hype and build up are just that. The importance of a game is often times magnified and boosted in an effort to build momentum and attention for a game or opponent that wouldn’t naturally cause the hearts and minds of fans to be set afire. I cannot stress enough that when we talk about the importance of this Thursday’s game that the amount of hyperbole and overselling is exactly zero. Thursday night is more than a simple home opener versus a nameless tomato can of an opponent to boost the ledger to 1-0. Thursday night’s game at its most basic principle is the first tangible evidence of how Pete Lembo and the coaching staff have been able to drill the intricacies of their system into these players. It’s also the MAC opener, and in a conference where the defining characteristic is parity, and your opponent is one that many preseason publications have you tied with for conference standings, a victory is of the utmost importance.

Unless you’re in the hunt for the national championship, it’s rare that the season opener becomes a trajectory setter for your season. Usually, it’s either a payday game to make your athletic budget or one of those aforementioned gimme games. This is different. A win means BSU is in a great spot in the MAC to surprise some people and prove the so-called “experts” calling for a cellar finish in the MAC West wrong. A loss, followed by a trip to Clemson, could set a relatively negative tone right off the bat. It could squelch fan optimism and buy in and make further progress against student apathy or poor attendance an uphill climb. Speaking of fans, it’s put up time for them as well. Home opener, predicted good weather, a white out, and a ton of marketing should result in a big crowd. A boisterous crowd. A crowd that hopefully sees a conference win and is in for the long haul. It’s time. It’s not the usual hype machine. It’s big. It’s here. It’s time. Time to better know Eastern Michigan…

Team: Eastern Michigan
Record: 0-0
Ranking: Unranked
Head Coach: Ron English
Series: 30-21-2, Ball State leads
Last Meeting: Ball State won 33-31 in Ypsilanti

Eastern Michigan Coach Ron English…
… enters his 4th season as the head coach at EMU, with a 8-28 overall record and a 6-18 MAC record.
… has improved every year at EMU. After posting an 0-12 premier season in 2009, he followed that with 2 wins in 2010 and 6 wins in 2011.
… is no stranger to close games. A total of 13 of EMU’s 36 games under English have been decided by seven points-or-less. The Eagles are 5-8 in those contests.

Eastern Michigan-BSU Randomness…
… the EMU-BSU contest will be one of just four games around the nation to feature  conference foes squaring off during the season’s opening week. Other league pairings include South Carolina/Vanderbilt, Miami (Fla.)/Boston College and Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech
… EMU is an experienced team. Three current EMU players have started 25 or more games during their careers. The players, with total number of games started in parenthesis, are: Andrew Sorgatz (35), Marcell Rose (27) and Alex Gillett (27).
… Eastern Michigan is one of just 26 Football Bowl Subdivision schools to feature a player from Canada on its roster. Seniors Kalonji Kashama, Andy Mulumba, Corey Watman should be heavy contributors, while Oliver Kathalay will seek more playing time. The other FBS schools to have multiple Canadians on its roster include: Virginia (4), Buffalo (3), UConn (3), Iowa (3), Rice (3), Boston College (2), Boise State (2), Northern Illinois (2), UNLV (2) and Wyoming (2).

Rules Changes for 2012…
… The Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP) approved moving the kickoff and touchback lines beginning with the 2012 season. This fall, teams will kick off at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. Also, players on the kicking team cannot line up for the play behind the 30-yard line, which is intended to limit the running start kicking teams used to have during the play.
… Also, touchbacks on free kicks will be moved to the 25-yard line instead of the 20 to encourage more touchbacks. Touchbacks on other plays (for example, punts that go into the end zone, or fumbles that go out of the end zone) will remain at the 20-yard line.
… Another new rule that goes into effect this season is if a player loses his helmet (other than as the result of a foul by the opponent, such as a facemask), it will be treated like an injury. The player must leave the game and is not allowed to participate for the next play.

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As this season progresses, every game embodies all the hyperbole that us pesky bloggers like to throw around about the magnitude of football contests. So to say the Cards’ contest at Western Michigan is big is not only to be expected, it’s also surprisingly true. At the dawn of the season, WMU was thought to be a contender for the MAC West and a darkhorse pick to win the league, especially after rattling off a 4-2 record and beating the Big East’s Connecticut.

That luster has since worn off a bit, as the Broncos have two consecutive weeks in MAC play to Northern Illinois and against Eastern Michigan. It’s easy to point to those losses as a sign of a downward trend in Kalamazoo, but that would be overlooking a couple of key factors. This team’s early season losses were against Michigan and Illinois, certainly no slouches, and before both those teams began their trend of disappointing results. Additionally, WMU has yet to lose at home in 2011, but the Cardinals are hoping that streaks are  made to be broken.

The long and the short of it is with five games remaining for the Cardinals and with a hope of being a contender for the MAC West, a loss on Saturday would mean the Cardinals would no longer be in control of their own destiny. For the Cardinals to stake a claim to Detroit and the MAC Championship, simply winning out after a loss may not be enough, and that isn’t the best position to be in. With a win on Saturday, the Cardinals would still be in control of their own destiny with contests against Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Toledo still to come. We’re staring straight at Toledo’s ass  in the standings and close the season with the Rockets. For that game to matter (assuming the Rockets beat NIU next Tuesday), the others have to be Ws, and that starts on Saturday at 2pm. Time to better know the Broncos…

Team: Western Michigan Broncos
Record: 4-4 (2-2 MAC)
Ranking: Unranked
Head Coach: Bill Cubit
Series: WMU leads 20-17
Last Meeting: Western Michigan defeated the Cards 45-16 in 2010

Western Michigan Coach Bill Cubit…
… is in his seventh season as the head coach at Western Michigan
… He owns a 44-37 career coaching mark, including a 31-20 record in MAC play.

WMU Stats & Randomness…
… Western Michigan is averaging 126.9 rushing yards and 270.9 passing yards per game, while allowing 215.8 rushing yards and 181.2 passing yards a contest
… Alex Carder has completed 196-of-288 passes with 2,053 yards and 16 touchdowns and six interceptions
… Jordan White has 86 catches for 992 yards with seven TDs

WMU News & Trends…
… Western Michigan fell to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in Mid-American Conference games after suffering a 14-10 loss at Eastern Michigan
… The Broncos are 3-0 in home games, including a 2-0 mark in MAC home games — Central Michigan (44-14) and Bowling Green (45-21).

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