After the final seconds have ticked off the Memorial Stadium clock Saturday, we will know whether Ball State University's 84th football team is ready to receive national credibility.
Saturday's game against Indiana University is the golden opportunity to measure whether the Cardinals are pretenders masquerading behind a handful of future pros, or if they're a team worthy of national respect.
It's the chance for Ball State's athletics department to be known for producing a credible football program instead of a racial controversy it hasn't fully recovered from. It's the moment when becoming the next Boise State or Hawaii is a possibility instead of a distant dream among the fan base.
There's no doubt these Cardinals have the talent to achieve these things. They're capable of stepping onto the national stage, maybe running through a dream season.
But there's one issue that's preventing me from buying into it right now - Ball State hasn't played anybody yet.
I understand winning is the bottom line in college football and the BCS no longer takes the strength of schedule into consideration. But there's a big difference between a road game against an Akron program that smells worse than the rotting wood in its press box and a road trip to Bloomington.
Simply competing against a major-conference opponent doesn't cut it anymore. There are no more moral victories for this team. It may have been OK to go into a Michigan or Nebraska in the past and give the big, bad BCS a scare, but not now. It is put up or shut up time for a program that's been built for the big time.
I know this Hoosier team isn't ranked No. 2 in the nation - like Michigan two years ago - and they don't have the vaunted Blackshirts on defense. It's not out of the question for Indiana to make its second straight bowl appearance this season, but the bottom of the Big Ten standings is a more likely destination.
The Hoosiers do present key obstacles to Ball State on both sides of the ball, which will give us a way to see Ball State's true colors.
It's no secret the underbelly of the Cardinals' defense has been their inability to prevent a mobile quarterback from wreaking havoc with his feet. The issue led to Indiana's comeback win in 2006, when Hoosiers' quarterback Kellen Lewis burst onto the scene with 88 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries in his first college game.
"Kellen Lewis running wild," Hoke said when asked what he remembered of that game. "I mean, he ran all over us."
In the two games Indiana has played this season, Lewis has rushed for 183 yards on 10 carries and added two touchdowns on the ground. Ball State has prided itself on having better team speed defensively, but we'll see if it can put an end to its struggles against scrambling quarterbacks.
The Cardinals' offensive line has a rematch with Indiana's defensive stud, Greg Middleton. The junior defensive lineman had two sacks on Ball State quarterback Nate Davis last season and applied pressure several other times.
The Cardinals' offensive line had small struggles against Akron's blitz packages Saturday, allowing its first sack of the season. Ball State's left tackle - Andre Ramsey, who has been the team's best offensive lineman the past three games - will line up across from Middleton and have his hands full all game trying to stop the 6-foot-3, 273-pound force.
Ball State coach Brady Hoke maintains his team's primary focus this season is on winning a Mid-American Conference title. Everything else is secondary, and that is an acceptable way to approach this season.
It doesn't mean Saturday's non-conference game is not extremely important in the context of the Cardinals' 84th season.
Write to Ryan at rtwoody84@aol.com
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