Finally, the September curse, which has haunted Ball State football since 1997, has come to an end. The team had not won a September game in five years coming into Saturday's home-opener. However, the Cardinals finally got out of the slump with its 23-21 defeat of in-state rival Indiana State.
During the team's 20-game winless Septembers, it lost to prestigious programs such as Auburn, Kansas State, Florida, and Wisconsin. They also have come out on the short end against Division I-AA teams Western Illinois and Northern Iowa at home.
"It's been a long time, that's why it is such a big win for us," head coach Bill Lynch said. "It was really important for us to get a win. It will get everyone feeling good in that locker room."
"We got to win in September," junior linebacker Lorenzo Scott said. "We maybe looked down on our I-AA opponents the last couple of years, with those teams coming in and beating us at home. (But) we came together as a team and decided we have to start winning."
Lynch believed that that decision was a good one.
"It was a really good win for us," head coach Bill Lynch said. "It was really very much the type of game we expected as a staff. When you play a rivalry kind of game, in terms of the kids out there playing, it's usually a close football game."
On the opening kickoff, Sycamore returner Soso Dede bobbled the ball initially and was hit back to the 16 yard line. The Sycamore offense then, on the first play of the game, scored on an 84-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Julian Reese to backup tailback Jake Shields; a play Indiana State head coach Tim McGuire said the offense had been working on all week.
"I was real disappointed with myself," Scott said. "My teammates had my back, they were just telling me forget about it. It happened the first play, so therefore we had a whole other three quarters, almost four quarters to get the job done."
Midway through the first quarter, tailback Marcus Merriweather scored on a one-yard touchdown run to even up the score. That would be the first of three touchdown runs for the senior.
Merriweather rushed for 146 yards, on 27 carries averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Back up tailback Scott Blair added 26 yards on the ground. Overall the Cardinals out-rushed the Sycamores 221-153.
Unlike last week's contest against Missouri, the Cardinals did not turn the ball over on Saturday, while the Sycamores turned the ball over twice through an interception and a fumble.
"I think the best was that we didn't turn it over and we got a couple of turnovers," Lynch said. "One of the challenges we took on as a team is after last week we were minus five on turnover, and the challenge was we were going to be even by the time we get to the conference schedule."
Another key area the Cardinals improved on was the kicking game. Junior punter Reggie Hodges stepped the kicking game up a notch averaging 46.2 yards per punt, pinning the Sycamores inside the 20 yardline twice. As well as the punting, the special teams prevented any big plays from the Sycamore return team. The team only returned five punts for eight yards total.
"(There were) three areas that really felt like was important to make improvement: one was turnovers, and we did a great job there. Two was field position with the kicking game, thought we did a great job there. Reggie really punted the ball well. The third one we still have to work on, we can't give up the big play on defense. Our defense played really well a whole lot of snaps, there were a couple we didn't and we'll continue to work on those."
The Cardinals will face Clemson in the third non-conference game of the season on Saturday. The team then goes to Connecticut the following week before starting the conference schedule.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
