In a season filled with positives, one of the negatives that stood out for No. 17 Ball State University was its sloppy performance Oct. 11 at Western Kentucky University.
After the 24-7 win, coach Brady Hoke criticized his team's poor execution and singled out the Cardinals' seven penalties for 71 yards. His players took the message to heart.
Ball State hasn't committed a penalty in the three games since. It's the least penalized team in the country with 26 in 10 games.
Hoke said he couldn't be more proud.
"We haven't hurt ourselves in the last three games," Hoke said as he knocked on his wooden podium twice for good luck. "When you play smart and you don't have the bad penalties - jumping offsides, motion, formation penalties, those pre-snap penalties - I think that's a big part of [success]. We'll see if we can keep that going."
Hoke said staying away from penalties is one of the most important keys to having a successful football team.
"I think our kids are doing a great job of playing smart football and using technique and fundamentals," Hoke said. "When you don't use your technique and fundamentals, that's when you get into some problems."
Ball State's offensive captain and senior center Dan Gerberry said he had no idea his team had gone three games without a penalty. He knew how many were charged to him this season - three - but he didn't learn the Cardinals were the least penalized team in the country until he was asked about the topic at Friday's press conference.
Gerberry said Ball State's clean play needs to continue Wednesday when it kicks off against Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The Chippewas are the two-time defending Mid-American Conference champions, and penalties could be a major difference determining the game's outcome. Central Michigan is 11th in the MAC in penalties with 57 for 564 yards.
"If you want to win football games, you can't have stupid penalties," Gerberry said. "To me, that shows that we've been concentrating. That's something we need to continue if we want to play with them."
In actionBall State at Central Michigan
Time: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Venue: Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Broadcast: ESPN2 (Ch. 24), WCRD 91.3 FM
Fast fact: The Cardinals have not defeated the Chippewas since 2003 - Brady Hoke's first season as the head coach.
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