Pat Boylan gives his thoughts on Ball State's most high-profile win in the school's history.
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Just one year ago, Ball State had suffered a 30-point loss at South Florida. Saturday night it was celebrating one of the biggest wins in program history.
Following his interception of South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniel's desperate pass, Ball State cornerback Eric Patterson was mobbed on the field by his teammates. He had just clinched the 31-27 win over the Bulls as time expired when he ran down the field before sliding.
But the interception made for new records in the Ball State football record book. For the first time in program history, a school from a BCS conference was defeated at Scheumann Stadium. It was the fourth time Ball State had beaten a BCS team - the other three wins came against Indiana. And it was the first time in school history Ball State beat two schools from BCS conferences in the same season, let alone the same week.
"These guys went out and executed," coach Pete Lembo said following the win. "It's just a pretty amazing day."
He quickly noted that the win was just another win, but for the second straight week his team came through on its final drive of the game. It also showed the progress that's been made at Ball State since Lembo's arrival. Before he was hired, the Cardinals' lone win against a BCS school was against Indiana in 2008. The team has three of those wins with Lembo as coach.
Two years ago, Ball State wouldn't have been able to compete with teams from the BCS. Lembo said his team couldn't compete with the same South Florida team last season.
That credits to strength coach Dave Feely, who in that two-year span secured Ball State as a team that doesn't just compete with teams from the BCS, but beats them, too.
But it's been the entire coaching staff that developed this Ball State team, which includes seniors that were part of the 2009 team that started the season 0-7.
"We went out and beat them," Lembo said. "This wasn't luck. We beat them."
Senior linebacker Travis Freeman has seen both the highs and lows of Ball State football. He was a freshman on the team that started 0-7 in 2009 and had lost several games in the fourth quarter earlier in his career.
After the game, he said he was tired of Ball State being an average team and with South Florida in Scheumann Stadium, it was an opportunity to not be average. But the last two seasons since Lembo and his coaching staff took over, he's noticed a change in team demeanor.
"We've become a more detailed football team," Freeman said. "Coach Lembo preaches detail, and I think that's what we were lacking in the past. When coach Stan Parrish was here, we lost a lot of games in the fourth quarter because we didn't know how to win in the fourth quarter. It's as simple as that. Coach puts emphasis on finishing games."
With wide receiver Willie Snead's touchdown grab and Patterson's interception, it was a near-perfect way to end what could be called Ball State's biggest win in school history and put the team at 3-1 on the season. Concurrently, it's yet to be determined whether this Ball State team will be bowl eligible or be a major player for the Mid-American Conference Championship in November.
Regardless, in the program's 88-year history, the 2012 Ball State football team has beaten more BCS opponents than any previous teams, only a quarter of the way into the season.
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