by TOLEDO, Ohio — Still looking to remain eligible for a bowl game, Ball State football visited the Glass Bowl Saturday afternoon for a road contest at Toledo.
But after 60 minutes of football, the Cardinals’ chances of extending their season were cut drastically as they fell to the Rockets 38-9.
Here are three notes from the contest.
Fast start for the Rockets
Though Ball State’s defense forced Toledo to go three-and-out on its opening drive, the Rockets did not let that affect them for long. They forced the Cardinals to punt on the following drive, but blocked the kick.
This set up Toledo’s offense at the Ball State 17-yard line, and two plays later, Toledo senior QB1 Tucker Gleason hit senior wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Trying to respond, the Cardinals were forced to punt on back-to-back drives after an intended backwards pass to redshirt sophomore running back TJ Horton was fumbled out of bounds.
Once again, the Rockets capitalized on the Cardinals’ limited success on offense to reach the end zone. This time, Gleason found freshman wide receiver Ryder Treadway for a wide-open 24-yard touchdown pass.
In total, the Rockets scored twice on nine offensive plays and in four minutes and nine seconds of game clock.
Ball State left its offense in Muncie
The stats alone prove that Ball State’s offense did not play well in the loss.
The offensive line had a rough day stopping the Rockets’ men up front. In the Cardinals’ first two drives of the game, Kelly was sacked three times. By the end of the first quarter, he was bright down four times as the Cardinals recorded -16 offensive yards in the opening period.
Ball State finished the first half with just 53 yards while the Rockets recorded 237. Though the Cardinals had two interceptions in the half — thanks to sophomore cornerbacks Will Yates and Eric McClain — the offensive unit was not able to build on that.
The second half was not much better as the Cardinals failed to find any momentum. Kelly ended the game with six sacks while going 13-for-30 with 166 passing yards. The only scoring came from sophomore running back Isaiah Thacker — a short touchdown rush in the fourth quarter — and redshirt senior kicker DC Pippin, who was 1-for-2 (48 yard kick) on the day.
Gleason finished the Rockets’ win going 15-for-24 with 218 yards and four touchdown passes.
Toledo’s run game was a huge component
It was a track meet for the Rockets as they finished the first half with 159 rushing yards. On the other hand, Ball State had a total of three at halftime. Though it did not help that redshirt junior Qua Ashley missed his second-straight game due to an injury, the rest of Ball State’s ground game was unable to find any rhythm regardless.
On Toledo’s third scoring drive of the game, senior running back Chip Trayanum took over the drive. He was the only Rocket to touch the pigskin, taking five carries for 73 rushing yards and a touchdown. He ended the win with 128 receiving yards.
Overall, Toledo walked off the field after gaining 186 ground yards while the Cardinals had 129.
Ball State will end its regular season schedule when the Cardinals play Miami in Oxford, Ohio Saturday, Nov. 29. The game will begin at noon.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
