Ball State Football

As the 2008 college football season starts coming to a close, the top of the BCS standings look somewhat like what you would expect.

You have your football powerhouses in Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and Alabama (just to name a few). But if you continue to travel down the list, you'll run into the infamous Ball State Cardinals at No. 14!

Despite Ball State being undefeated at 10-0, you have to ask yourself if they really deserve the No. 14 ranking in the BCS.

Ball State has not played a single ranked team and their opponents combined record is 32-71. And yet somehow they are ranked above teams such as Michigan State and Oregon State, among obviously many others who are clearly better teams.

The college football ranking system has become completely flawed. I'm all for Cinderella teams crashing the BCS, but only when they actually deserve it. Loading up your schedule with weak opponents to pad your record does not fall into the category of being ranked in the Top 25, much less No. 14.

If Ball State does find a way into a BCS bowl game, they will most likely meet an opponent who will far out-weigh the best team they have played on their schedule, which is Navy at 6-4.

This scenario would be very similar to last year's demolition of Hawaii by Georgia, 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl.

Many may argue that the non-BCS teams should have a chance at a BCS bowl too, and I completely agree. However, these teams have to load their non-conference schedules with at least one or two worthy opponents.

Teams out of the Sun Belt Conference have been doing this consistently for the past two seasons now. The records are not as pretty coming out of the Sun Belt, but there have been many close calls.

If your team does happen to pull off a couple upsets on the non-conference schedule and run the table on your weaker conference opponents, then your argument for a BCS bowl is much more appealing.

Ball State has a big match-up against a solid Central Michigan team that will be their biggest test of the season. If they pull out that win and take care of business against Western Michigan, then a BCS bowl will be very likely.

If Ball State does make a BCS bowl, one thing can be certain. If there are any cupcakes on the field on that given day, it may be Ball State themselves.

Could anyone have drawn up a better scenario when the season started than what we will see next Wednesday Night?

The two-time defending MAC champion Central Michigan Chippewas, 8-2 (5-0), will host No. 14 Ball State, 10-0 (6-0), next Wednesday night on ESPN2. For some of you, this game will be another Wednesday night yawn, but those who love Mid-Major power, this has all the ingredients to be a barnburner.

The game features one of the most versatile quarterbacks...pardon me, two of the most versatile quarterbacks college football has to offer.

Nate Davis is anything but overrated. The 6'2" junior has all the tools to be playing on Sundays and has given the people of Muncie, Indiana something to boast about besides famous alumni Dave Letterman.

He has led the Cardinals to a 10-0 start and a number 14 ranking in the AP polls (subject to change), and he has all the writers in the country thinking of the mighty Cardinals as a BCS sleeper. He has amassed over 2,500 yards in the air and thrown for 20 scores.

Did I mention that, when given the opportunity, Davis can be very effective running as well?

On the other side of the ball, we are looking at the back-to-back defending MAC champs, the Central Michigan Chippewas.

What an odd year this one has turned out to be in Mt. Pleasant. They have had key injuries that would leave any other team in the dumpster. 2006 Freshman of the Year and 2007 Offensive Player of the Year Dan LeFevour has been battling injured ankles for the past three weeks.

They are off to their best start in over 10 years, even if they don’t make it look pretty. Central, who took a 23-3 lead to the locker room at halftime last night, came out and looked like a team of disarray in the second half. The Huskies of NIU compiled three touchdowns in eight minutes in the in the third and fourth quarters and nearly stunned the Chippewas.

Led by great quarterback play via Dan LeFevour, Central showed no signs of collapse in the last minutes of the game. With 30 seconds to go, Coach Jones elected to kneel the ball and gamble with his defense in overtime. There is a reason he has only lost one MAC game in his career, folks—the guy knows how to win.

After an interception by Josh Gordy, Andrew Aguila hit a 44-yard field goal for the win.

Throughout this game, commentator Shaun King kept stressing the importance of next week’s battle in Mt. Pleasant.

For those not familiar with Dan "The Man" LeFevour, here is an interesting stat for you.

LeFevour is the only player besides Vince Young in NCAA I-A History to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards in a season.

He threw for 27 touchdowns in the air and added another 19 on the ground last season. (Can someone say Heisman numbers?)

As we go back to Muncie one last time, when CMU fans hear Ball State, they think Nate Davis. Not so fast my friends—there is another stud on campus that could possibly leave the Chippewa fans in awe come next Wednesday night.

Who is he? MiQuale Lewis.

Standing at a giant five-foot-six and weighing in at a buck eighty-five, Lewis' game is anything but small. In 10 games this year, Lewis has hit the century mark eight times (almost nine, seeing how he ran for 95 yards against Northeastern).

He has seen the end zone 17 times this year, scoring in every game besides one. If you’re looking for an impact player, I would take this guy seriously!

So who has the upper hand in this game come next week? Well, I will leave those predictions to you the sport fan, and those genius beat writers who work for the almighty ESPN Network.

I personally like Central Michigan at home, as close as it can get, 28-27—but time will tell.

This Will Be One Hell Of A Game!

Moving Today's Market

On the college gridiron No. 14 Ball State hopes to keep alive their BCS aspirations and remain undefeated as they travel to play Miami (OH). The Cardinals are averaging over 38 points a game, while allowing just over 15 to opponents. They have the 11th-ranked offense in both total yards and scoring average.

The Redhawks are 2-7 on the season and rank among the bottom teams in the MAC standings. All these facts lead to Ball State opening as 15.5-point favorites at Pinnacle. The public is jumping on the hopeful BCS busters with 79% of spread bets behind the Cardinals.

That backing pushed the line to Ball State -19.5 before dropping back to it's current -18.5 at Pinnacle. During this movement a pair of Smart Money plays were triggered on the Redhawks. It's also looking like a possible Square Play.

In the NBA, there are some interesting games and odds. One such interesting line comes in the Denver-Charlotte matchup. The Nuggets come into the game at 3-3, with a 1-2 road record. The Bobcats come in at 2-4 in Larry Brown's first season with the team, with both wins coming at home.

The Nuggets opened as 2.5-point favorites at Pinnacle, with a -121 behind the spread. The line quickly jumped to Denver -4, but has since returned to -2.5 with even odds. This is despite the Nuggets receiving a whopping 84% of spread bets and 95% of parlay bets. This movement paired with the strong public backing of Denver triggered a pair of Smart Money plays on the Bobcats. 

Key Injury Updates

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Tomorrow's Market Mover

On the hardwood, we get a great match up of guards when Kobe Bryant and the Lakers visit New Orleans to face Chris Paul and the Hornets. In college we have a pair of football games to go along with a single basketball game. On the ice, we get to see an Original Six face-off between Boston and Chicago.

This has been talked about quite a bit on BSUFans, and it's probably worthy of an entire post. On today's main college football page at ESPN.com, the lead read is Mark Schlabach's "On The Mark" column, and he addresses the three non-BCS schools that are undefeated (Utah, Boise State, and Ball State).

(Note 2: "On The Mark" is cheeky and easy to make fun of, but then again, my columns at my newspaper are called "Phil"osophy, so I will be quiet. At ease.)

The thesis of his argument is that the only team worthy of getting a BCS bid is Utah—which is weird because they're the only team that's had the close games. I'm sorry, didn't Toledo beat Michigan at Michigan as well? And didn't Ball State shut out Toledo, 31-0, at their place? I think so. These arguments were left out in his pro-Utah stance.

Let's decipher this doozy.

"The Tar Heels and Panthers have done more to deserve a BCS berth than Ball State, Boise State, or Utah."

Are we talking about the same Pitt team here? The same Pitt team that lost to Bowling Green? Does either Pitt or North Carolina have as impressive a victory as Boise State over Oregon? A quick check shows the answer is no.

This team is three weeks removed from losing to Rutgers by 20. A week ago, it took FOUR OVERTIMES to beat a terrible Notre Dame team. Another note, Schlabach: Pitt beat traditional doormat Buffalo by 11 points.

Woo! You're right, they're way more worthy. And in case you didn't notice, Louisville sucks. So that means nothing.

Pitt's best win, South Florida, isn't that much more impressive than Navy, Mark—not enough to make it the entire thesis of your column. Pick some better teams next time.

However, I do not have as strong an argument for North Carolina. Maybe we'll see them in the Orange Bowl and decide once and for all.

I enjoyed this comment as well.

"No. 14 Ball State, known more for its canning jars and alumnus David Letterman than football, also is a perfect 9-0."

Ooooh. Someone either knows how to use Wikipedia or is in fact a jar connoisseur—which is a possibility, I guess. Maybe he's visited the Ball Jar Museum. Free tours! Learn all about Ball Jars here. This is surprisingly detailed.

One more comment from Schlabach.

"If the Cardinals win their last three games and finish 12-0, they would certainly be deserving of a date in the Motor City Bowl."

Well if, that wasn't the fist-up-the-you-know-what compliment of the night, I don't know what is.

(Cripes...this past week flew right by. I can't believe it's GAMEDAY! already. What we have is another great opportunity to make ourselves famous with what should be a great performance against Miami—and most important, shut up people like Mark Schlabach, who sucks at life. I'll tackle that column in a bit but let's just say TSBB isn't happy. The phrase I use to describe Miami is "sneaky bad." Because when someone says "Miami," most people automatically think, "Ooooh, they're good." In fact, this year, they are atrocious.)

Let's get it on...

No, I'm not kidding!

Nate Davis, QB of the 9-0, No. 17 Ball State Cardinals, could be one of the first QBs taken in the 2009 NFL Draft!

While many college football fans may be unaware of this fact, the MAC (Mid-American Conference) is known for producing some pretty good NFL-caliber quarterbacks in recent years.

If Davis, who is a junior, decides to turn pro after this season, many experts project him to be around the third-best QB prospect in the 2009 NFL Draft, behind only Georgia's senior QB Matthew Stafford and Florida's Tim Tebow, also a junior.

Overall, next year's class isn't very deep or strong at the quarterback position, so it would be a bit surprising if Davis doesn't declare himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft.

The nation as a whole may not have been aware of how good Davis and his Ball State Cardinals are, but their appearance on ESPN2 on Wednesday night in a nationally broadcast game surely changed that for those who watched.

In case you didn't see the game, you can watch the highlights by CLICKING HERE.

The 6'2", 222-pound Davis led the Cardinals to a 45-14 dismantling of Northern Illinois. He threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns, making precision passes all over the field while adding to his personal highlight reel.

For the season, Davis has thrown for 2,358 yards and 19 touchdowns to only five interceptions, along with a QB rating of 167 and a pass completion percentage of 68. He has also rushed for 114 yards and two scores.

If you still doubt Davis' potential to be a high draft pick and NFL star coming from the MAC, allow me to do a little "From MAC QB to NFL QB" name-dropping!

Omar Jacobs, BGSU: NFL 5th Round (164th overall, 2006)

Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo: NFL 6th Round (194th overall, 2006)

Charlie Frye, Akron: NFL 3rd Round (67th overall, 2005)

Josh Harris, BGSU: NFL 6th Round (187 overall, 2004)

Byron Leftwich, Marshall: NFL 1st Round (7th overall, 2003)

Chad Pennington, Marshall: NFL 1st Round (18th overall, 2000)

Lastly, you may have heard of this guy. He's considered one of the best quarterbacks currently in the NFL.

Ben Roethlisberger, Miami-OH: NFL 1st Round (11th overall, 2004)

Granted, not all of these players went on to NFL stardom, but be aware that many of them were projects drafted in the latter rounds with very little investment.

Davis will be coveted should he come out early and will be a first day pick and most likely a first round pick.

Some of the greatest NFL players of all time have come from non-powerhouse and somewhat unknown smaller schools where most of the nation never had heard of them.

Jerry Rice, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, Jack Lambert, and Eric Dickerson are all NFL Hall of Famers from programs similar to Ball State.

Nate Davis may just be the next in line on this path.

Keep watching!

Thanks for reading. Please post a comment!

HD

Here's Davis on a rushing TD vs. Toledo.

In an effort to rally the troops of the blogosphere who share their affinity for the Ball State University Cardinals, OTP is proud to present the next installment of the Cardinal Roundtable. Each week, a different BSU blog will pose questions to the group about the upcoming game and the season in general. We here at OTP are up this week, and the links to our Blog Buddy counterparts can be found at the bottom. Go Cards!

1) So...Western Kentucky. Are you remotely worried about this game?

Alan: On paper, no. Ball State has the advantage at nearly every position and unit, and this has the potential to go ugly early. The only thing that troubles me is that it's a road game, as well as the fact that Western has been accused by more than one opponent of playing dirty.

I want a large, impressive win—but I'll settle for a win of any kind assuming no one gets hurt.

2) The first half against Toledo was simply brutal to watch. Is that slow start cause for concern as we go forth to Bowling Green?

Alan: I think there were a lot of things contributing to the Toledo start, most noticeably the weather, the crowd, and a few things the Toledo defense did with their front seven stunts and their coverage packages that hadn't been seen before. After the half, when the Cardinals had a chance to adjust a bit, things got out of hand. So no, I'm not concerned.

All things considered, that was the worst half of football BSU has played all year, and they still had the lead going into the locker room.

3) This game has the potential to be a stat padder for some of the Cardinals and a chance for some younger guys to showcase what they can do. Who would you like to see get more reps than normal?

Alan: The receiving corps has been strong after Dante Love's injury, but one player who has been in the spotlight more so than before and significantly underperforming is Darius Hill. He does have 19 catches this year for 297 yards, but that's only a little more than three per game.

That's a combination of a lot of things, most notably increased attention from defenses. But Darius has had his share of dropped passes as well. He's averaging a smidgeon under 50 yards per game, and that's not cutting the mustard.

If Hill can pick it up, then that opens up the downfield passing game and gets guys like Orsbon, Trempe, and Ifft increased looks, production, and throws.

4) What's the best thing you took away from the Toledo game? Conversely, what's the one thing of concern you took away from the Toledo game?

Alan: The best thing was just the W. The glass ball hasn't been exceptionally kind to us in the past, as the Rockets held a 10-5-1 record against Ball State before Saturday's game.

A close second "best thing" was the improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Pitching a shutout, even against an overmatched team like Toledo, is a confidence booster and a building block to more impressive outings down the line.

The issue of concern for me, aside from Darius Hill, is the ability of this team to jump on teams early and never let up. The Northeastern game they got a pass because it was the first game of the season. I'll even give them a pass for Toledo because of the crowd, weather, and such.

But at some point, namely this weekend, this Cardinal team needs to put its collective boot on the opponent's throat and never let up.

5) The terms "mid-major" and "BCS buster" get thrown around a lot. Of the non-BCS teams ranked above the Cardinals, are there any you think the Cardinals couldn't beat?

Alan: BYU scares the crap out of me, just because if they and Ball State locked up, you'd be looking at an offensive shootout of the highest order. Ask Texas Tech how those games sometimes end up. Against the other mid-majors (Utah, Boise, etc.), I give the Cardinals the advantage.

6) Is there a player on Western Kentucky you'd like to snap up and switch shades of red and white?

Alan: I hear K.J. Black needs a home now since he got booted off the team/asked for his release. Maybe the Cardinal equipment manager staff could use some more waterboys. With QB experience, he could at least throw the bottle to the guys. Of course, based on his career stats it would end up right in the breadbasket of an opposing defender.

In all seriousness, I wouldn't take anyone from Western. In looking at Western Kentucky's season stats, it looks like a Ball State stat sheet through one game. Leading rusher this season at 183 yards? MiQuale Lewis chuckles in your general direction. And then drops a buck and a half on your defense.

7) There's been quite the chatter this week about rankings and what they mean. Who is your top five so far this season? More importantly, who do you have playing it out in the BCS Championship game?

Alan: The latest top five for us was: 1) Oklahoma 2) Missouri 3) LSU 4) Texas 5) Alabama. I think if the season so far is any indication, it's going to be a wild finish to the season.

I think OU runs the table and ends up with the team that lost the longest ago as their opponent in the BCS Championship. Unfortunately, the SEC and the Big 12 have a title game, and they beat the living hell out of each other each and every week. So I shall say it will come down to Oklahoma and Penn State.

The world will weep the morning after as once again a Big Ten team, the product of a soft schedule and a weak conference, gets embarrassed by a far superior opponent.

Roundtable participants:

• Ball U Nation
• The 6th Ball Brother

(Yes, yes, I know, I haven't posted anything for a week. I have my reasons, but I will try to get back on the horse in an attempt to bring the best possible news. Anyway, I missed last week's version of the Cardinal Roundtable, but here's how I would've answered them if I had done it on Thursday. The other two participants are Over The Pylon and Ball U Nation. Enjoy.)

1. One of the biggest questions going into the Kent State game was how Ball State would be able to replace Dante Love. How well do you think Ball State was able to replace him?

You can't replace your top playmaker on a dime and expect everything to stay the same. Maybe at an Alabama, but not at Ball State. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I was worried about our last three games and how missing Dante could hurt us down the road.

But it almost seems as if Nate could make Myles Trempe and Briggs Orsbon superstars in his own right. Trempe is slowly starting to make a heck of an impression on me.

2. One of the weak spots in this year has been the run defense. How much do you think this will hurt Ball State as the season progresses?

I'll cheat here since we saw what the defense did in the Toledo game, but man this defense's improvement has been freakin' ridiculous. I've never seen a Ball State defense play as well as it did against Toledo. Never in my lifetime. They made the Rockets look ridiculous. But as we keep saying, the truest test will come against Central.

3. Brady Hoke is starting to get mentioned for other jobs. Assuming he leaves, who would you like to see replace him?

Well, obviously Stan Parrish would be the ideal fit. The question is, does he want it? If he were to leave with Brady wherever he goes next (and it's probably a safe bet Brady leaves when Nate does), I really have no idea who'd replace him. Maybe Lee Corso?

4. If you could save one Toledo player and make him a Cardinal, who would it be and why?

When we did this question earlier about which MAC player we'd want, I chose Toledo's ball-hawking safety Barry Church, and I still stand by that one.

5. One of the biggest playmakers for Ball State was supposed to be Darius Hill, but he has been all but invisible in all but the Northeastern game. What do you think is the problem, and is it correctable?

It's kind of weird in that he has ALWAYS had a case of the butterfingers, yet no one ever talked about it until this year. I think it's more noticeable because Ball State is, in fact, 6-0.

For all the hype he gets, he sure drops a lot of footballs and I've got to think that scouts notice it. But I wouldn't trade him for too many tight ends in college football. His size and ability to get open underneath are pretty solid.

Over The Pylon
Ball U Nation

Sometimes the sobering reality of life can make it hard to enjoy diversions—especially when the diversion is the agent for delivering said sober reality.

That was the case not once, but twice on Saturday night.

During the South Florida-Florida International game, South Florida linebacker Brouce Mompremier wound up colliding with safety Carlton Williams during a play in the Bulls' 17-9 win against FIU.

Mompremier hit Williams’ hip and went down. He was then carted off the field and airlifted to a hospital, where he spent the night under observation. Mompremier has tingling in his neck and shoulders, but is otherwise okay and is expected to miss at least two games.

Meanwhile, in Bloomington, Indiana, things appeared to be a lot worse.

Ball State wide receiver/kick returner Dante Love suffered an accidental helmet-to-helmet hit from Indiana cornerback Chris Adkins. Love fumbled the ball and fell to the turf during Ball State’s 42-20 win. Love remained motionless and felt numbness in his extremities.

Love suffered a cervical spine fracture and a spinal cord injury. He has recovered movement in his extremities, but his playing career is over.

I give football players all the credit in the world. I never had a chance to play (my high school didn’t have a football team), but I cringe whenever something like this happens.

It’s human nature.

These are big bodies colliding at impressive rates of speed, and while it’s interesting to hear the collisions and see the impact, it’s also terrifying.

These were routine plays: two defenders trying to make a play on a ball. A receiver trying to gain a couple of yards more by trying to run over a defender.

These weren’t malicious hits. One was teammate-on-teammate. The other was a clean play. Nothing dirty or illegal about it.

Yet lives get changed.

We know Love’s career as a football player is over. We still don’t know about Mompremier.

It just reminds us of how fragile it all can be.

(Welcome to this week's installment of Better Know A College Football Blogger. This week's guest is Mike Rasor, who is all things Akron sports. He blogs about the Zips on "Rasor on the Zips" and the budding lawyer took some time to answer a few questions in our little niche in the blogosphere.)

THE SIXTH BALL BROTHER: The one person who scares me is quarterback Chris Jacquemain. What makes him such a threat, and is there anyone else who should concern Ball State as well?