by Recently, a number of Mid-American Conference teams have had cinderella stories against top teams, with Bowling Green scaring #8 Penn State on the road and Northern Illinois shocking #5 Notre Dame in a four-point victory.
Ball State had similar aspirations heading into Hard Rock Stadium to take on #10 Miami (FL), but the talent of one of the ACC’s top teams proved far too much for the Cardinals to handle, losing to the Hurricanes 62-0.
Following the disappointing loss, Head Coach Mike Neu said that he felt like his team didn’t execute well enough to even give themselves a chance at any point in the game.
“We struggled to tackle, struggled to limit the explosive plays, and we struggled to really sustain any kind of drive,” Neu said. “We have to take it on the chin and own it.”
Last season, Ball State found itself in a similar situation after suffering lopsided losses to a pair of top programs: Kentucky and Georgia, but neither of those losses stung quite as bad as this loss against Miami, which proved to be the largest margin of defeat for the Cardinals in Mike Neu’s nine year tenure as Ball State’s head coach.
“We have to pick up the pieces,” Neu said. “We have to get back on that plane, get back to Muncie, and turn our focus to our first conference game at Central Michigan.”
One game doesn’t define a season, but it can certainly go a long way in shaping the mindset of players moving forward. Senior linebacker Keionte Newson noted that the true test of his Ball State team moving forward will be how they bounce back.
“We can’t let it (today’s defensive mistakes) roll over into the next week,” Newson said. “We have to bounce back, capitalize, and fix everything that we messed up on today.”
After putting 42 points on the board in last week’s victory over Missouri State, Ball State’s offense looked completely stagnant throughout their time in Miami. Redshirt freshman Kadin
Semonza was under consistent duress from the Hurricanes’ talented defensive line, who routinely forced pressure without blitzing. Semonza still threw at a 62% completion rate, but rarely pushed the ball into the opponents’ territory, finishing the game without throwing a single pass inside the Hurricanes’ red zone.
It wasn’t all negative for the Cardinals, however, with some offensive bright spots in junior tight end Tanner Koziol and senior running back Braedon Sloan. The Eastern Kentucky transfer Sloan led the Cardinals in all purpose yards with 54, while Koziol led the team in receptions with five for a total of 39 yards.
“Moving forward we have to put this one behind us,” Sloan said. “The upcoming weeks are going to tell us a lot about our team.”
On the defensive end, Ball State’s run defense did well to contain the Hurricanes in the first half, allowing a total of 22 rushing yards. The talent discrepancy was apparent throughout the game, however, as Miami’s deep roster earned 221 rushing yards in the second half and finished the day with 750 yards of total offense.
Ball State looks to bounce back on the road against their first conference opponent next week, when the Cardinals take on the Central Michigan Chippewas at Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Sept. 21.
