Cardinals fans... step away from the ledge
Playing the Army Black Knights this weekend was a team in desperate need of a win. It would silence the critics, relax the heat on Stan Parrish, and perhaps… just maybe… walk some fans in from the ledge that they’ve found themselves on over the first 2 games of this season. Another Saturday, another loss, and now the number of fans on that ledge increases exponentially, assuming they all haven’t went and jumped off.
In what has become a sort of ready-made refrain for games this fall, despite losing, this is a game Ball State very easily could have won. With minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Cards found themselves tied, with the ball, though pinned deep. After an errant Kelly Page pass was returned for an Army TD, the momentum and the chance at a victory, along with hope, went right out the window.
There were some good things though… the defense played well considering the triple option attack they were defending. It’s a challenging opponent for sure, and after the first drive, it appeared to me that the defense held their own. Offensively, the wide receivers, most notably Torieal Gibson
As for the bad… the offensive line was far from dominating. Again. Which largely was the reason for Kelly Page even needing to scramble in the first place. Penalties were killers. Not so much the amount of them, just simply when they happened. Like on a Kelly Page 46-yard scramble in a tie game. Instead, it became 2nd and long, which led to an INT on 3rd down. Quale was largely ineffective, largely because of the O-line failing to open any holes. He finished with 17 yards on 12 carries.
Perhaps the largest loss was not on the scoreboard, as receiver Seth White broke his collarbone and is out for the remainder of the season. After already losing Madaris Grant, this was a team that could not afford any other injuries. White’s loss will be felt.
In terms of the game itself, this is the sort of game I expected from these Cardinals all year long. In all truthfulness, we weren’t defeated because of out of this world play from the opponents, we weren’t defeated because of a lack of preparation or gameplan, and we weren’t defeated by a coaching mistake. We were simply defeated because freshman, which is what the offense is largely composed of, played like freshman. The freshmen on the offensive line didn’t protect, block, or open holes, and the freshman taking those snaps threw three picks. Hard to defeat anyone when that happens.
Up next for this team is another road contest, this time against the Auburn Tigers. Will it be a curb stomping? Potentially. Could lightning in a bottle strike and Ball State upset the Tigers? Perhaps. For now, though, that ledge gets more and more crowded as the losses pile up.
Stan-O-Meter
(1-5 Stans, 1 being happy as a Matlock marathon
5 being like Marsh ran out of Metamucil)
Despite the improvement, a loss is still a loss, and at 0-3 with a trip to Auburn looming, the Stan-O-Meter shows no signs of dwindling.
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Ball State Report: More coming in a bit, but frankly, this one was both disappointing and encouraging, if that’s even possible. In what’s sort of become a refrain so far this season… as bad as we played all game, we were still in a position to win it. While it sucks we’re 0-3, this isn’t like we’re getting beat by 60 points. Having said that, we play at Auburn this weekend, where the potential for a beating of epic proportions is entirely possible. Could this be the weekend where lightning strikes? Who knows…
Kentucky Report: It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless for the Wildcats. Years ago, that wouldn’t have been the case, as UK tried every way in the world to give that game to the Cardinals. Penalties, turnovers, clock problems, etc. all colored this game, and could have very easily been the reasons why a loss was inevitable. Fortunately for UK, the football Gods and more specifically Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb smiled on them Saturday as they walked out of Commonwealth a winner. Tremendous effort by Louisville, though. Totally unexpected. More a bit later on this one as well.
The Ball State Cardinals head to West Point, NY this weekend to take on the Army Black Knights. The term “must win” gets thrown around pretty frequently in the sports universe, but this time, we actually mean it. Ball State has simply GOT to win this game. In order to turn this season around, avoid an 0-4 start before conference play, and make fans in Muncie reconsider their Regulator-esque angry mobs googling “Stan Parrish Address”, the Cardinals have got to avoid mistakes, problems, and most notably… a loss.
With week one in the books, the football machine is now fully operational. But if you haven’t noticed, this week is a landmark occasion in the music world. The Beatles are set to release all their albums today, finally remastered on CD, as well as The Beatles: Rock Band video game. I have had a chance to hear about half of the remastered albums (we rockers get early access to everything, or we find someone who does), and the results are nothing short of incredible.
In an effort to address all the teams and conferences that make the fall so exciting, OTP’s All-Star Editorial staff is putting on their prognosticatin’ hats and taking a stab at each of the conferences and all of the teams in FBS. Alan and Edge are giving you the conference’s order of finish, the records, the superlatives for offense and defense, and the biggest surprise for each conference. At the conclusion of our series, we’ll have the Bowl Projections for all 34 Bowl Games.
What You Need to Know: When people are asked to evaluate the potential successes of the Fighting Irish, it is nearly impossible to receive an unbiased accurate assessment. The Irish fans, and there are many, will always proclaim ND to be one of the best teams in the country and a contender for a national title. On the flip side of that coin are the anti-ND folks, a crowd just as loud, and just as populated, with opinions just as ingrained. They will tell you that ND is annually overranked, head coach Charlie Weis universally overrated, and Notre Dame is a team that is simply past their prime and unable to compete with the modern day dynasties.
Over The Pylon 