No theatrics were necessary for the Ball State University football team in this year's game against Eastern Michigan University.
The Cardinals' offensive weapons proved to be too much for the Eagles' young defense, giving Ball State a 38-20 win in the season opener.
The brightest weapon proved to be freshman quarterback Nate Davis, who in his first collegiate game helped kick start the Cardinal's offense at the close of the second quarter. The momentum continued for Ball State into the third quarter.
Ball State had 435 total offensive yards, giving its defense that allowed 389 total yards room to breath.
"I like the calls [offensive coordinator Stan Parrish] made," coach Brady Hoke said. "We've got some guys who can make some plays. I think that was evident tonight."
Not only were Joey Lynch and Davis good, so too were their receivers. Eight Cardinals had a reception, headed by wide receiver Dante Love and tight end Darius Hill who each had two touchdowns to give the quarterbacks solid throwing targets.
The Cardinals offense scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter with a touchdown pass coming from Davis to Love for 9 yards making the score 24-13.
After Eastern Michigan cut Ball State's lead to 31-20, Love took a reverse, shook a couple Eagle defenders with a cutback and scampered 31 yards for a touchdown for the final tally of 38 to 20.
Larry Bostic led Ball State with 72 yards rushing, while Love added 57 and MiQuale Lewis had 33 yards on the ground. Louis Johnson topped Cardinal receivers with 78 yards and a score. Hill had 78 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
Eastern Michigan quarterback Tyler Jones gave the Ball State defense all sorts of problems. In the first quarter alone, he ran for 133 yards. He finished with 191 yards on 22 carries, forced to leave the game after injuring his shoulder early in the third quarter.
"It was part of our game plan to ensure that Tyler got as much touches as possible," Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Genyk said. "The defensive scheme that Ball State was employing allowed him to really exploit that defense and be able to run the ball tonight."
In order to slow down Jones, the Cardinals employed a 3-3-5 defense, which brought mixed results. Hoke said his team had trouble bringing down Jones.
"I think it was a good game plan," Hoke said. "We just didn't execute it as well as we'd like to. They gave us a couple different runs, but we thought they'd do a couple more different things with the quarterback. We didn't tackle very well."
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