You know that feeling when you go to bed early and get more sleep than you usually do?
For me, one of two things happens. I may be refreshed and ready to go, or as motivational speaker Matt Foley says, "Grab the world by the tail, wrap it up and put it in my pocket."
The more common response, though, is that I am slow-moving and sluggish. It may take me half the day before I am completely ready to face the world.
Let's hope this same thing doesn't happen to the Ball State football team this weekend.
The Cardinals are coming off their first and only bye week of the season to face Central Michigan on Saturday. The term "bye week" has a tendency to strike fear into the hearts of fans everywhere. Will the team show up ready to go, or will it spend the first half stretching and wiping the crust from its eyes?
Ball State's team has done the latter in recent years. The team hasn't won a game after a bye week since 1996, Bill Lynch's second year as head coach.
After a solid win over Western Michigan a week and a half ago, Lynch said the off-week couldn't come at a better time. Some players were banged up and needed a week to rest, he said.
As a result of being idle, the Cardinals also have had two weeks to prepare for this weekend's opponent, the Central Michigan Chippewas. Central had its bye on Oct. 5. The Chips may have played last Saturday, but it appears as though their defense took the week off as the team suffered through a 44-17 drubbing at the hands of Toledo.
Knowing that the Cardinals had an extra week of preparation, though, Chippewa coach Mike DeBord said he didn't even look at game film of the Toledo contest.
"We wanted to put that game behind us," he said.
DeBord also said his staff went straight to film of Ball State because he knew the Cardinals had had plenty of preparation.
Another aspect that may hinder Ball State's chances is the momentum stoppage. The Cardinals are coming off a win -- something that they are not used to doing. Unfortunately, Ball State has to let the win sit for 14 days before hitting the gridiron again. Emotion after a win rarely lasts for two weeks.
So that has set up this situation. Ball State (4-5), on two weeks rest, will travel to Mount Pleasant to face the Chips (4-6) who are coming off an ugly loss. Who has the advantage? Can anyone win this game?
Even though Ball State has to travel to the center of Michigan for the game on artificial turf, I give the nod to the Cardinals.
As long as they get a good night's sleep.
Write to Jay at jdkenworthy@bsu.edu
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