This was the type of game that could be easy for a Ball State fan to feel good about.
Playing underdog on a Big Ten opponent's turf, the Cardinals refused to roll over. They didn't get blown out. They still had a chance through three quarters.
So what's the glaring problem this week?
Purdue didn't beat Ball State on Saturday. The Cardinals gave the game away.
The Cardinals blew a golden opportunity to win their second-ever game against a BCS opponent, a chance to earn a statement win. They have only themselves to blame.
It would be one thing if Ball State wasn't good enough. I could understand that. But the Boilermakers are a bad football team. They're not much better than any team in the Mid-American Conference. You'll realize that next week when Toledo beats them.
The Cardinals had every opportunity to win. They failed to take advantage.
Consider the back breaker: Cortez Smith's 76-yard touchdown less than three minutes into the fourth quarter. It never should have happened. The ball went through cornerback Jeffrey Garrett's hands before tumbling aimlessly to Smith.
Garrett has to make that play. There's no way around it.
When you play a superior team — and even Purdue's scrap pile of talent is slightly more than Ball State's — you have to play clean, capitalize on your breaks and get a good coaching performance. The Cardinals failed in all three.
Ball State gave away two touchdowns in the first half. One came on an airmailed pass from Keith Wenning that forced a wide-open Eric Williams out of bounds. The other should have been a completion to Dan Ifft in the back of the end zone, but Purdue's Ricardo Allen intercepted the poor throw.
The Cardinals were in the red zone on both possessions. Neither resulted in points.
Some of those things are forgivable. You can't make the play every time. At the mid-major level, you're usually doing well to bat .500.
What I find inexcusable is the way Parrish used Williams.
With three minutes left in the fourth, Williams returned a kick 67 yards to Purdue's 33-yard line. The sophomore running back had 10 carries for 62 yards at the time.
He finished with those numbers.
That's nowhere near enough touches for Ball State's best offensive weapon.
I don't buy the excuse Williams wasn't 100 percent healthy, even if he wore a no-touch jersey during practices last week. He was healthy enough at game's end to run past the majority of Purdue's cover team.
Parrish has no idea how to use Williams. Ball State has three good running backs, and Parrish treats them equally. He shouldn't.
Williams is a workhorse. He's a premier running back who should constantly be fed the ball. Parrish approaches his rushing attack with a production-by-committee approach. MiQuale Lewis had four more carries than Williams on Saturday, an absolute joke.
I don't mean for this column to come off too harsh. There is a fine line in being honest and beating a dead horse. I'm just tired of Ball State failing to get out of its own way. I'm sick of seeing the same thing happen every week.
This season feels like living Bill Murray's life in "Groundhog Day."
Last week, Ball State lost to Liberty of the Football Championship Subdivision because it was sloppy. This week, same thing.
The Cardinals need to eliminate mistakes.
They took care of penalties for the first time this season, but turnovers killed them Saturday. Ball State's 50 percent success rate in the red zone gave it no chance to pull off the upset.
Too many mistakes. Too few big plays. A faulty game plan. A huge game Ball State should've won, but didn't.
Forgive me for not looking on the bright side.
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