by MUNCIE, Ind. — Mike Uremovich was brutally honest in his post-game press conference Wednesday evening.
“Stats are for losers, man. Not that you guys are losers,” Uremovich said, laughing, to local media.
The head coach’s comment came after Ball State remained undefeated at home (4-0) by knocking off Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Kent State 17-13. He said it does not matter how you win as long as you score more touchdowns and record more turnovers.
“At the end of the day, it’s hard to win, and we have to find ways to win in the fourth quarter when it counts,” he said. “I was proud of the way our defense played and proud of where the offense scored when they had to.”
Like he said, the Cardinals (3-5, 2-2 MAC) performed when they needed to. Facing a fourth and one down 13-10 with 1:52 on the clock, redshirt freshman tight end Kameron Anthony’s name was called during the pre-play timeout.
He was ready.
‘People were like, ‘Come on, Kam,’” he said.
As the defense shifted to the right, he cut to the left side of the field and was wide open. Kelly hit him, running freely to the end zone for the lead.
“I wasn’t expecting to be that wide open,” Anthony said. “But I always expect somebody to be there.”
On the following drive, Kent State (3-6, 2-2 MAC) faced the same scenario with 16 seconds left in the game. Only this time, the Golden Flashes’ pass play was broken up. This secured Ball State’s lowest scoring win at Scheumann Stadium since defeating Western Michigan in 2002.
“As long as we win the game, I could play terribly and I’ll be happy,” Anthony said.
Besides the play that was drawn up for Anthony, the stat sheet proved the game wasn’t the prettiest or the best outing for Ball State. The Cardinals lost the yardage battle 301 to 238, allowed four sacks, missed two field goals and had multiple penalties to destroy drives.
Yet again, they came out on top.
One of the driving forces was the Cardinals’ defense. Kent State had five opportunities to score in the red zone, but the Red and White only allowed 13 points through four quarters. They also forced the Golden Flashes to turn the ball over on downs four times and picked off redshirt sophomore starting quarterback Dru DeSheilds.
“Our defense stopped them in the red zone, and that’s really all that matters,” Uremvich said.
Redshirt senior defensive back Joedrick Lewis made the interception in the fourth quarter, and after the win, said the effort starts in one place: practice.
“Everything starts in practice, and we are detail-oriented,” Lewis said. “We do that so we can replicate on Saturdays, like you saw today, or in this case a Wednesday.”
The Cardinals have already beaten their win total from last season (three), and this is the first time they’ve started this well at home since 2013. But while the win was celebrated by both coaches and players — especially coming off of last week’s loss to Northern Illinois — Uremovich said he wants the team to continue playing a ‘one-game’ season each week.
Throw in that seven teams in the MAC are either 4-1 or 3-2, and the Cardinals next face Eastern Michigan at home Saturday, Nov. 15, there is still something to fight for.
“We’re playing a game next Saturday that’s a meaningful game in November, and that’s your goal when you start the season,” Uremovich said. “You want to win every game you play, but we want to play games and make something in November, and we’ll get to do that next Saturday.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
