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Ball State failed to convert its first golden opportunity to score, but fortunately, it received plenty more.
The Cardinals forced five Indiana State turnovers; the Sycamores botched three more special teams plays, and BSU converted enough of those chances for a 31-7 season-opening victory in Ball State Stadium Thursday night. The first night game in stadium history also set a school attendance record (see related story).
Ball State's offense may have outgained ISU's 295-183, but the Cardinals started just one scoring drive outside of Sycamore territory. In addition to the five turnovers, the Cardinals racked up five sacks.
"Particularly in the first half they played very well," first-year coach Brady Hoke said of his defense. "We did a good job against the run game. We got a little tired in third; we've got to do a better job of substituting guys in and out.
"Overall, they got the ball back, which is one of the things we want to do. Obviously, it's big."
Jesse Avant gave BSU its first crack in Sycamore territory with an interception at the 47, but the offense stalled, and Indiana State took over on downs.
Late in the first quarter, a snap to Sycamore punter Pat Jordan was low, and Talmadge Hill forced him out of bounds at the ISU 33.
Andy Roesch dumped a 14-yard pass to tight end Mark Franklin, then hit Franklin for 18 more to the 1. Scott Blair plowed in on the next play for a 6-0 lead with 20 seconds remaining. Mike Langford's PAT bounced off the right upright.
The Cardinals were unsuccesful with the ensuing onside kick, but on the first play of the second period, Riley Larimore fell on a fumbled exchange at the ISU 47. On the following snap, Roesch hit a streaking Ryan Hahaj in stride for a touchdown and a 12-0 advantage.
"That's Coach Hoke's style," Roesch said of the aggressive play-calling. "I really liked the call; we went for the fade down the field. He said, 'Let's go for it.' as soon as we got the ball, and Hahaj made a great play."
Langford recovered from his mishap to boot three field goals -- two 34-yarders and one from 27 yards out -- as Ball State led 15-0 at halftime and 21-7 after three periods.
With 6:36 remaining, Roesch put the game away by hitting Dante Ridgeway over the middle for a 54-yard touchdown, capping a 98-yard drive. Freshman Brian Jackson added a 31-yard field goal more than three minutes later.
Roesch finished 14-of-28 passing for 204 yards with an interception, while Ridgeway (six catches for 87 yards) was his top target.
"He did a nice job on some of his timing routes," Hoke said of Roesch. "It will be real interesting to evaluate. We've got to get better, obviously, but I think we did some things right."
Indiana State's Jake Shields logged 33 carries for 127 yards, including a 3-yard TD to cap a 17-play, 80-yard drive. But Ball State harassed redshirt freshman Jake Schiff into just 70 yards passing with two picks. Senior outside linebacker led the swarming defense with 11 1/2 tackles. He and middle linebacker Donta Smith combined for five tackles for loss.
"We're going to be aggressive in what we're doing," Hoke said. "We're not going to sit there. I think (defensive coordinator) Mark (Smith) called a good game."
Safety Justin Beriault felt that Hoke showed great trust in the defense.
"You can do aggressive things when you trust your offense, special teams and defense," he said. "I definately trust 'Zo, I mean, good lord. He was everywhere, him and Donta. It was almost pointless for me and Doug (Owusu) to be back there."
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