The 14 seniors on this year's football team have had a roller-coaster ride of a career. Their careers began in the midst of a 21-game losing streak. Four years and four goalposts later, they leave Ball State Stadium as winners.
Ball State defeated the University at Buffalo in its final home game of the 2002 season by a score of 41-21. The victory gives the Cardinals six wins on the year, the most since the 1996 season. With one more game left on the schedule, Ball State has a chance to finish the season with a winning record -- a feat no senior has seen during his career.
The Cardinals (6-5; 4-3 Mid-American Conference) wore down the Bulls (1-11; 0-8 MAC) on the ground, rushing for 292 yards.
"From an offensive standpoint," BSU head coach Bill Lynch said, "we felt like we needed to control the ball, control the clock and see if we couldn't run it on them."
And run on them they did. Marcus Merriweather led the rushing attack with 227 yards on the ground and a career-high four touchdowns.
"As the game went on Marcus saw where (the Bulls) were coming from and he made them miss," Lynch said.
The game was scoreless for the first four drives. Merriweather, however, broke the draught with a career-long 67 yard jaunt to the end zone. Merriweather was initially hit at the line of scrimmage, he then showed rare break-away speed by pulling away from the Buffalo secondary.
Merriweather also did something else he rarely does: celebrate. Ten yards away from the end-zone, Merriweather slowed down and high-stepped his way in.
"Coach Lynch said we needed to show a little swagger," Merriweather said, offering an explanation for his display of emotion. "That was my little dance."
On the ensuing possession, Buffalo orchestrated a 16-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard dive by Buffalo running back Aaron Leeper.
Freshman wide receiver Dante Ridgeway and Merriweather added two more scores before the half to bring the score to 21-7. Buffalo never challenged after that.
"The last couple weeks, we've made a real emphasis of that," Lynch said. "Coming out the second half with a lead, we need to take control of games and not let somebody back in it."
Ball State controlled the ball the majority of the game. The Cardinals had the ball nearly 11 and a half minutes longer than the Bulls. Junior cornerback Jesse Avant said that helped the defense.
"The reason we gave up so much in statistical categories early in the season was because we were always on the field," Avant said.
The win gives the Cardinals a chance to win five conference games when they face Marshall on Saturday. The last time this happened was in 1996 when Ball State won seven MAC contests.
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