Of the 238 catches Dante Ridgeway has made in three seasons at Ball State, several have come against the odds.
Whether by making a great adjustment to the ball, fighting off a defender, managing to get open when defenses know he is the quarterback's first (sometimes only) option, or even a combination of all three, the junior has compiled many more receptions than other players in his cleats might.
In fact, any success he's had on the field could be considered against the odds, since Ball State was the only Division I-A school to offer him a scholarship.
Tonight, Ridgeway could receive a most unexpected honor -- top wide receiver in the country. The Fred Biletnikoff Award, sponsored by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club, is among several college football awards to given out tonight in Orlando, Fla., with the ceremony broadcast live on ESPN.
"It's my first time going down to Florida," Ridgeway said. "It's gonna be a memorable one."
Besides Ridgeway, the other Biletnikoff finalists are from the Big Ten -- Michigan senior Braylon Edwards and Purdue senior Taylor Stubblefield.
Since the award's inception in 1994, just Randy Moss from Marshall respresented the MAC as a finalist (Moss won the award in 1997).
"Obviously had outstanding year," head coach Brady Hoke said. "I don't know how much exposure he's gotten being from Ball State, but it's a great honor for Dante, for the program and for Ball State."
After he tallied 89 catches for 1,075 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, Ridgeway was placed on the award's preseason "watch list." The field of 40 was narrowed to 11 semifinalists, and the three finalists were named on Nov. 16.
While Ridgeway's statistics trump the other two, the bigger (6-foot-3, 208 pounds) Edwards has a much stronger reputation and national appeal. As of Wednesday evening, Edwards led in a fan poll on ESPN.com, garnering 75 percent of the vote. Ridgeway had 11 percent.
One of the nearly 50 voters for the award, Al Lesar of the South Bend Tribune, was certainly impressed when he watched Ridgeway play in person.
"I saw the Boston College game," Lesar said, "You could see there was something special that seperated him. The nose for the ball that he has is an impressive thing."
Lesar didn't say whether his vote was for Ridgeway, but he believes the BSU finalist will receive some votes.
"Sure, just because of his numbers. Just to be in that group, that says something. That's an elite group."
Brian Kelly, head coach at Central Michigan, said that Ridgeway has no equal when it comes to tracking the ball in air. This came after the junior burned his secondary for 215 yards on 10 catches.
Ridgeway considers his route-running to his biggest strength.
"I've had a knack for getting open since playing wide receiver," he said. "I've just kept working at it over time, and it's paying off."
Coming out of MacArthur High School in Decatur, Ill. in 2002, Ridgeway decided on Ball State when then-coach Bill Lynch said he would have the chance to play right away.
"We thought he had great feet and great ball skills," said Lynch, now coach at DePauw. "He did everything; he made a lot of plays."
Lynch said it didn't take long to realize Ridgeway could be a big contributer .
"He competed from Day One. "Really early in camp we could tell we were going to play him.
"I got to see him a couple times this year. "The numbers he's put up are unbelievable. It's a tribute to him and hard work he's put in."
Tonight he may catch his biggest tribute yet.
One other MAC player is up for an award tonight. Eastern Michigan's Andrew Wellock is a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation's top kicker.
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