I'd assume coach Pete Lembo and his team were pleased to see the runway at Muncie airport Saturday night after getting walloped by Clemson.
Ball State was doomed when it stepped foot inside Memorial Stadium, more commonly known as Death Valley. Clemson carved up the visitors like a Thanksgiving turkey.
The Cardinals' defense seemed to be stuck in concrete, and the offense took too long to establish any consistency while being overpowered by a more aggressive and ferocious opponent.
The No. 12 ranked Tigers picked their teeth with the visiting Cardinals. But we knew this was likely to be the outcome weeks or perhaps months before the two teams met.
The Tigers are the defending Atlantic Coastal Conference champions and compete in a bigger and tougher field of teams than those of the Mid-American Conference.
So I'm not going to focus on bashing Lembo and his team for a 52-27 thrashing. To be honest, even though they were out-matched, the Cardinals stood their ground and competed to their fullest, which is all Lembo and his staff could've asked for.
A non-ranked team upsetting a Top 25 ranked team is a rarity. Even with the possibility of the Cardinals pulling off the unimaginable, the likelihood of it happening was very slim.
In 2011, there were a total of 35 upsets featuring a non-ranked team triumphing over a Top 25 ranked program. Just 15 of those upsets came against a Top 15 program.
The Tigers were upset twice at home last season, losing 31-17 to Georgia Tech and 37-13 to North Carolina State. They weren't going to let history repeat itself.
The Cardinals' loss is disappointing. But it's not necessary to spend a great amount of time harping on it. It was a non-conference game against a much better opponent.
But there were some positives to take away from the loss. For the second straight game, the Cardinals' offense proved to be effective on the ground, out gaining the Tigers 252-to-154.
It was obvious the Tigers planned their defensive scheme around sophomore running back Jahwan Edwards., but they forgot about the emerging reshirted freshman Horactio Banks, who created havoc for the opposition.
It wasn't as if the Cardinals waved the white towel when the Tigers jumped on them early. They stood their ground and fought back.
They put points on the board, gained experience and were presented a $650,000 paycheck for their services, according to the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette.
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