Nate Davis and Trey Buice didn't try to hide the reality that teammate Dante Love weighed on their thoughts during Saturday's game against Kent State University.
The two Ball State University football players walked into the Cardinals' football complex after their 41-20 win wearing red T-shirts reading "Ball State's Dante Love No. 86." Davis said Love, who was lost for the season with a spine injury last week, was on his mind every time he took a snap.
"Every play he's on my mind," Davis said. "I keep thinking, 'What would I do if Dante was here?' But I had to get that out of my head because I had to play the game. The biggest thing is, he was on my mind the whole time."
The Cardinals' football team wasn't far from Love's mind, either.
The senior called coach Brady Hoke three times during halftime. He was concerned running back MiQuale Lewis wasn't focused because he was playing with his shirt tail untucked.
Hoke was too busy preparing his team for the second half to speak with Love at intermission. He said he talked to Love - who remains at a rehabilitation center in Indianapolis - afterwards and the senior was gushing about the Cardinals' fifth victory of the season.
"He's just terribly happy and pleased with the win," Hoke said. "He is definitely into what's going on. He's got a really good spirit about what is going on, and he loves this team."
Kent State coach Doug Martin was impressed with the way Ball State handled its emotions and maintained its focus Saturday.
When he was the offensive coordinator at East Carolina University, one of Martin's players suffered a career-ending spine injury and was briefly paralyzed before he regained movement in his limbs. He said he understands how difficult an injury like Love's can be on a football team.
"Give Ball State credit, that's difficult for your team to overcome," Martin said. "Their coaches, administration and players all did a great job of handling themselves emotionally. They didn't get too sky high. They didn't come in flat and worried about it. They handled it, and that's the mark of a mature football team."
Hoke said he wasn't concerned whether his team would have its focus because it had a quality week of practices leading up to the game. More important, he said, was the adversity the Cardinals' senior class has previously fought through.
Ball State's 21 seniors were on the team when it lost 63-3 to Auburn University in 2005, a defeat Hoke described as "getting your teeth kicked in." The seniors were also in the Cardinals program when it went through a textbook scandal with the NCAA the same year.
A couple years later, Hoke said, those 21 seniors are the ones leading this program through another adverse situation.
"The guys who are the backbone of this team have really done a great job," Hoke said. "I think it helps a ton having guys who are mature enough, guys who have been through some not-so-pleasant things on the field. Those guys kept coming back, and they keep fighting and keep staying together. They've got a great camaraderie with each other."
As Love's injury moves further into the past, Hoke said it will remain on players' and coaches' minds. But Love wants the team to move on with its season, Hoke said, and that's what the coach expects his team to do.
"It's a teaching lesson, a life-skill lesson to some degree," Hoke said. "You have to focus back in as a team. Your thoughts and prayers are there, but we've got to keep moving forward. And believe me, Dante wants us to move forward."
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