by A small patch of red in a field of black and gold, the cheers of Ball State’s loyal fans bunched up by the team’s sideline seemed to be drowned out by those of the Vanderbilt Commodores, still buzzing from the win their team delivered two weeks ago against an Alabama team that was ranked number one in the country. Yet, on Ball State’s final non-conference road trip of the season, Head Coach Mike Neu said that he and his players fed off the energy of those loyal few.
Backed by the support of their fans, the 2-4 Cardinals proved to be stiff competition for the 4-2 Commodores despite the reverse records, but the unrelenting run game of Vanderbilt’s dual-threat quarterback, Diego Pavia, eventually out-dueled the Cardinals’ run defense in what was a tie game heading into the fourth quarter.
Following the 14-24 loss, redshirt freshman quarterback Kadin Semonza sat in the postgame press conference with a realization he had come to following another close-fought game for Ball State that ended in yet another loss tallied to the Cardinals’ record.
“We’re a handful of plays from being 5-2, and we’re sitting here at 2-5,” Semonza said.
Despite improvements, team defense continues to be a sore spot for Ball State. Neu noted he felt this was the best his defense had fought all season, but that missed tackles and poor passing defense continue to be a focus of improvement moving forward.
Vanderbilt’s Pavia finished the game with a completion percentage of 54%, his second lowest percentage game of the season, but also finished with 275 passing yards, averaging over 16 yards per completion.
“I think, without question, the way they battled was the best four quarters that we’ve had,” Neu said. “Obviously there’s still things that we need to clean up.”
On the offensive side of the ball, a pair of negative plays resulted in back-to-back four-play drives for Ball State in the fourth quarter, while Vanderbilt’s offense ran smoothly through the team’s talented offensive line, helping support Pavia en route to a game-high 82 rushing yards and a game-sealing rushing touchdown.
Despite the team’s shortcomings in the fourth quarter, junior tight end Tanner Koziol produced another productive week for Ball State, leading his team in receiving yards and receptions with 68 and 9, respectively.
Redshirt junior Kiael Kelly also proved to be an offensive bright spot for the Cardinals, earning the team’s first touchdown of the day and being used successfully in a variety of positions throughout the game. Kelly earned yards as a passer, receiver, and rusher at various points in the contest, totaling 48 all-purpose yards.
“He did a great job,” Neu said. “Every week we’ve got a package, obviously trying to do the best we can to get Kiael the ball… but certainly one of his more productive nights tonight, for sure.”
Moving beyond non-conference play for the season, Neu says he feels the team is confident heading into its five remaining conference games and also mentioned that, after what was an especially disappointing loss for the team, he found the energy in the locker room was noteworthy given the situation.
“After the closing remarks with the guys in the locker room… I listen to those guys in there, and the attitude is where it needs to be,” Neu said.
Redshirt junior linebacker Joey Stemler, who generated his most productive performance of the season with 6 solo tackles and 5 tackle assists, reiterated Neu’s confidence about the team moving forward.
“We’ve gotten better week by week,” Stemler said. “We have the confidence there; we just have to keep stacking.”
