Sophomore tailback Kalvin McRae ran all over the Ball State University defense with 268 rushing yards on 28 attempts, leaving the Ball State University football team wondering what went wrong in a 38-14 loss to Ohio.
"They saw holes in our defense and they took advantage of any weakness that they saw - they played their hearts out," defensive lineman Blair Kramer said.
McRae's performance came as a surprise to coach Brady Hoke, but he said Ohio's blocking and Ball State's inability to fit the run led him to that performance.
"I'm not happy at all," Hoke said. "Our rush defense has been terrible in the last two weeks."
Hoke said he could only list a few Cardinals who had good games, among them freshman receiver Louis Johnson, who finished with 11 receptions for 132 yards, and cornerback Ryan Patrick.
"I can't tell you what anybody else did," Hoke said.
With Ohio leading 10-0 early in the second quarter, the two teams traded touchdowns on kickoff returns. Ball State's Dante Love returned his 94 yards to reduce the deficit to three, but Ohio's Scott Mayle returned the following kickoff 88 yards to again give Ohio the 10-point lead, 17-7.
"Obviously, it killed the momentum that you had as a team for that time being," Hoke said. "We're back on the board after we had played really dismal early in the game."
Ohio's next possession again resulted in a touchdown, this time on an 86-yard touchdown by sophomore Justin Fitzgerald. Freshman quarterback Brandon Jones replaced starter Austen Everson on the play, and the two traded off playing responsibilities throughout the remainder of the game.
The duo combined for only six completions in 23 attempts for 51 yards.
"We've got to compete and fight better when bad things happen," Hoke said.
McRae's lone touchdown came in the middle of the second quarter when he rushed for a 41-yard touchdown, the longest for Ohio since 1989.
"They're obviously a running team first," Kramer said. "They're going to get their yards running, especially today when we couldn't stop them at all."
Ball State's second strike came during the next possession. A seven play drive resulted in Brad Salyer scoring on a five yard pass that left the Cardinals behind, 31-14, heading into halftime.
The Bobcats ate up 7:43 seconds in its first possession of the third quarter. Ohio highlighted a 15-play, 86 yard drive with a four yard touchdown run by Everson to give Ohio a 38-14 lead. It was one of two rushing touchdowns for Everson in the game.
"We're not taking anything away from what they did, but for the most part, all the breakdowns were us," linebacker Brad Seiss said. "It's things that we can control, gaps we need to be in. It's encouraging that it is us because that means we can correct them and play better the next week."
The Cardinals couldn't get much going offensively and anything going on the ground, rushing for 126 yards on 28 total attempts. Charles Wynn led Ball State with 54 yards on 14 carries, and scored the game's final touchdown, making it 38-14.
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