Ball State University has waited for this - a real football team that can put up a fight against ranked teams.
Before Saturday's game, bets were against Ball State beating University of Nebraska. Nebraska even paid Ball State $725,000 in hopes it would have been an easy, cupcake game. But less than 10 minutes until the end of the game, the Cardinal's nine-point lead made the possibility real. One point - just one point - was all Nebraska won by. And Miami University won by only one point as well.
The team doesn't have a perfect score four games into the season, but perfection was only two points away. This isn't the team fans are used to. Offensively, Ball State has been strong for the past two years. Defense has stepped up this season from one of the worst teams in the MAC to one of the best.
Ball State still has a bit to go before it is an elite, mid-major program like Boise State University and University of Hawaii. However, it's not the doormat program David Letterman mocked during the 1999 season.
The players have matured, and Ball State fans need to appreciate everything happening on the field. It's not a whole new team, but it's a team that has learned to work together to give a few hard blows to opponents. And this team needs a crowd of fans backing it up during every game. Get out there Cardinal fans and show your team some support. With the fans supporting the players and the players creating a solid team, this could be the first winning season since 1996 and possibly a bowl game at the season's end.
Nebraska was a hard loss, but Ball State put up a good fight. If we see that same amount of effort in future games, the team has a solid chance of winning at least the next three games, all of which are at home, and avoiding blowouts the rest of the season. Football players, keep your heads in the game and continue playing like a winning team, regardless of those one-point losses.
Let's see the same performance throughout the remaining season.
All we can say is -¡- GO CARDS!
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