Last week's loss to the University of Illinois was fewer than 30 minutes old, but Ball State University fifth-year senior captain Cortlan Booker said he was already looking ahead to this week's game.
"With the team that we play this week, I don't think we have to worry about this loss lingering," Booker said as he sat in full pads in the Illini visiting locker room. "We have some business that's unfinished with them off a game that happened last year."
The game Booker's made reference to was the second of last season when Indiana University traveled to Scheumann Stadium. The Cardinals jumped out to a 17-0 lead and held a 23-7 halftime advantage, but lost 24-23.
Senior starting safety Eddie Burk said last year's one-point loss left a stinging disappointment among Ball State players that hasn't left the team.
"It was heartbreak city for us last year," Burk said. "You could really feel it in the social environment - a lot of people were disappointed. In my eyes we should've beaten them last year."
Burk said he remembers sitting in the locker room after not winning last year's game and seeing the shock on the faces of his teammates and coaches. The best thing at that moment, Booker said Monday, was that the team knew it would get another chance to avenge the loss.
"There's a lot of games you get when something happens and you lose the game and you know there will never be a chance to get that back," Booker said. "Everything that happened last year is gone and can't be changed, but everything else we have a chance to settle on Saturday."
As disappointing as the loss was, perhaps the reaction from the students on Ball State's campus was more discouraging to the players.
Cardinals' players said they notice the students that prefer to wear Indiana apparel. Though Ball State linebacker Mike Dorulla doesn't take it personal when he sees a Ball State student wearing Hoosiers sporting gear, he said he doesn't understand how a person can root for a school they don't attend.
"If they're a true fan of Indiana let them wear it, but it's too bad they don't go there I guess," Dorulla said. "I think it would be better for them if they went there and they were fans and if you go to Ball State be a fan of Ball State.
But if you're truly a Ball State fan and you have an Indiana sweat shirt, this is a week where you throw it in your closet and don't wear it."
Growing up in West Lafayette, where Indiana's rival Purdue is located, Booker said he was raised to have negative feelings toward the Hoosiers even before last year's one-point loss. Booker said his childhood gave him a strong dislike for the Hoosiers.
"I have never been a particular Indiana sports fan growing up particularly because in the West Lafayette area you don't hear very much positive things about IU," Booker said. "The perspective I grew up with was slanted in a way that I didn't really become a fan of IU. I understand it's not as big of a deal to some people as it is to me, but you'll never see me wearing IU or any college apparel other than Ball State."
Though the closeness of the two schools creates natural tension, Dorulla said he doesn't see his team's match up with Indiana as a rivalry.
"I think in order for something to become a rivalry the other side has to win one," Dorulla said. "So hopefully this will become a rivalry this year."
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