Pride and, for the first time in several years, a steak dinner, were on the line when the Ball State University football team took to the field for the annual Spring football game.
The White team beat the Cardinal team, 28-23, earning the dinner. The Cardinal team was stuck with eating hot dogs.
The game brought spring practice to a close. Coach Brady Hoke said he felt this was the most productive spring the team has had since the four years he's been at the helm.
"I think it really happened in the winter, through the winter conditioning," he said. "Our kids really bought in and we were tough and we did a lot of things to continue to develop the toughness it takes to play with."
Behind 17-14, the Cardinal team took their first and only lead of the game with 5:07 left when Joey Lynch completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Dante Love. The White team re-took the lead for good with 3:20 remaining when Tanner Justice completed a 55-yard touchdown strike to Terry Moss, and they added another touchdown after Lynch threw his only interception of the afternoon to linebacker Alex Moore.
"It's a good job defensively but offensively, you don't want to turn the ball over," Hoke said. "Probably the only bad throw he made all day."
Behind 28-17, the Cardinal team put itself in contention for the dinner when Warren Suess threw an 11-yard touchdown strike to Louis Johnson with 40 seconds left. But the two-point conversion attempt failed, and the Cardinal defense couldn't prevent Corey McGee from gaining 13 yards on third-and-10 on the final play of the game.
Johnson led all receivers with 121 yards on nine catches and one touchdown. Cardinal teammate Dante Love finished with six receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-long 33-yard catch.
In the backfield, the White team's McGee led all running backs with 18 carries for 70 yards. While he didn't score any touchdowns, he did break through the line of scrimmage for several first down runs, including the game-clincher.
"It's so much speed and so much versatility from all our guys that if the O-line gets on people, we're going to make something exciting happen," said tailback Larry Bostic of the multiple receiving and rushing threats.
Both he and sophomore B.J. Hill said they felt with the depth Ball State will have, three or four running backs could rush for 1,000 yards in 2006.
"We're not going to stop there," Hill said. "With the type of backs we have, all they have to do is cover up people. We'll do the rest."
The White team led 14-0 in the first half when redshirt freshman Zach Jones completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Terry Moss, then the defense recovered a Warren Suess fumble to regain possession. Brad Salyer ran in a one-yard touchdown five plays later.
The Cardinal team cut the deficit in half with 1:28 remaining in the first half on Lynch's 27-yard touchdown pass to Love.
SURGERY FOR SEISS
Hoke said fifth-year senior Brad Seiss will have surgery sometime in the next three weeks on a torn ACL he suffered in practice last week. Seiss' return for the season is unknown, but Hoke said doctors have reported the middle linebacker could be back 4 to 8 months after the surgery.
"You have to prepare, and I usually prepare for the worst," Hoke said.
Seiss is expected to apply for a medical redshirt if he's unable to play this season. If he's out for the year, Hoke said Martin Dunbar, Mike Dorulla, Alex Moore and Antonio Beasley would compete for his spot in the lineup.
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