DETROIT - The final seconds ticked off like a sucker punch to the gut.
Coach Brady Hoke watched his opposing coach receive a Gatorade bath he had dreamt about for six years. His players walked across Ford's Field in silence. Ball State University's fans watched an 8-5 University at Buffalo team celebrate the 2008 Mid-American Conference Championship after a 42-24 win.
The Cardinals' first loss in 13 games this season dashed its hopes of capturing the first MAC title since 1996.
"It's just rough," linebacker Bryant Haines said. "We didn't play the type of football we had throughout the rest of the year, which is disheartening. We didn't respond when we needed to, and that's what happens."
Friday's game was supposed to be the crowning moment for Ball State's 19 seniors who have built the program into a nationally ranked team after finishing 4-7 their freshman year. Hoke said he felt bad for the seniors because the loss was the wrong way for his seniors to go out in their last conference game.
"Whenever you invest a lot, it hurts," Hoke said. "That's the way football is. That's the way life is. They've done a lot for Ball State, for this program. They'll learn from this. There's adversity all over. It happens in life, and they'll bounce back from this."
Ball State lost in large part because it experienced the one thing it prevented in the previous 12 games - mistakes.
The Cardinals entered the game with the fewest turnovers in the MAC and lost four fumbles on the season. They lost four fumbles Friday.
None of Ball State's 10 turnovers entering the game were returned for a touchdown. Two of the fumbles were returned for touchdowns, the second giving Buffalo a 28-17 lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Cardinals entered the game as the least penalized team in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 30. They had six for 45 yards.
Playing with the flu, quarterback Nate Davis connected on 31-of-48 passes for 351 yards and a 22-yard touchdown to receiver Louis Johnson. However, the junior fumbled four times - two on mishandled snaps - and threw an interception ending Ball State's final drive.
"It was a big effect," Davis said. "They took two fumbles back to the house. But we've got to get back to Muncie, correct our mistakes and move on."
Ball State's defense came into the title game as the No. 1 ranked scoring defense in the MAC and had allowed no more than 24 points in any of its 12 games.
Two of Buffalo's five touchdowns in the second half came off the fumble returns. Two others came on short fields of 29 and 25 yards after a fumble and long kickoff return.
Defensive captain Brandon Crawford gave no excuses for his defense's performance.
"In our minds we know what we need to do," Crawford said. "We're not hanging our heads because basically we shot ourselves in the foot - bottom line. But don't take anything away from Buffalo. They are a good team. They came to play, and they capitalized on our mistakes."
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