NORMAN, Okla. – In the last four years, Ball State has played 15 bowl teams and three teams ranked in the Top 25. It played Auburn the year before Cam Newton arrived and took largely the same team to the national title and Central Michigan the night Dan LeFevour became the Mid-American Conference's career leader in passing yards.
In the eyes of senior safety Kyle Hoke, all of Ball State's previous opponents in his career paled in comparison to Oklahoma. The Sooners raced to a 62-6 win against the Cardinals on Saturday night, Ball State's worst defeat since falling 63-3 at Auburn in 2005.
"Are they the best team? I'd say yeah," Hoke said. "They executed very well, they've got good players."
The AP Top 25 voters weren't quite as impressed. The day after Oklahoma's destruction of Ball State, it fell a spot in the poll to No. 3 behind LSU and Alabama. The Sooners remained No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
Hoke said a game like this can't be completely forgotten.
"I wouldn't say it's trying to get rid of the game," Hoke said. "You've got to move on."
Though the loss on the scoreboard wasn't pretty, Ball State's biggest setback may come on the injury list. Three Cardinals defensive backs left the game Saturday night with injuries in the first half and did not return.
Junior cornerback Armand Dehaney suffered a concussion while making a tackle on the Sooners' first offensive play of the game. Senior safeties Sean Baker and Josh Howard went down later in the half. Coach Pete Lembo had no update on their prognosis after the game, saying only that they would be reevaluated.
Ball State's defensive backfield was already banged up. Baker was playing with a cast on his right hand to protect a chip fracture in his thumb. All-Mid-American Conference junior cornerback Jason Pinkston missed his second straight game Saturday with an injured hamstring.
Lembo was forced to reach deep onto his bench for replacements against the Sooners. Cornerbacks sophomore Kendall Moore and freshman Eric Patterson each played in their second game of the season.
"Those guys actually played pretty well," Lembo said. "I was pleased with Eric Patterson. I thought he played pretty physical in the second half."
Lembo also singled out freshman safety Brian Jones. He has played mostly on special teams this season, but was forced into extended action on defense.
"Brian Jones, backup safety, redshirt freshman also played significantly in the second half of the game and did some good things as well," Lembo said.
The injuries made the difficult assignment of containing Oklahoma's prolific passing game even tougher. Oklahoma junior quarterback Landry Jones threw for 425 yards and five touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Ryan Broyles became the Big 12's all-time leading receiver with four catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns. In all, the Sooners gained 655 yards of total offense.
Hoke supplied one of the few bright spots for Ball State's defense when he hauled in an overthrown pass by Jones for an interception. It was Hoke's first career interception in 30 games.
With the toughest game behind it, Ball State will return to MAC play with this week's Homecoming game against Temple. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who grew up in Ohio and was an assistant coach at Kent State, predicted good things in the Cardinals' future.
"Ball State is making some excellent improvement," Stoops said. "I think Pete has done a great job there, and they will continue to get better."
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