by Though Ball State football is coming off a Mid-American Conference (MAC) victory over defending conference champion Ohio, first-year Cardinals’ head coach Mike Uremovich said that it’s on to the next game during Monday’s press conference.
“There were still plenty of things that we needed to correct and plenty of things that we needed to fix on special teams and individual offensive and defensive position groups,” Uremovich said. “You’re trying to improve every week, which is what we’re trying to do … You can’t just gloss over things because you’re happy that you won.”
Ball State (2-3, 1-0 MAC) will look to make it back-to-back wins when it faces Western Michigan on the road Saturday, Oct. 11, at 3:30 p.m.
Uremovich credited Western Michigan (3-3, 2-0 MAC) and discussed facing an all-around quarterback like the Broncos’ sophomore QB1, Broc Lowry.
“He’s a very talented runner, and he’s a bigger downhill runner. He runs the ball like a tailback with good body lean, he falls forward, he runs people over and he can throw a football,” Uremovich said. “He’s not just a guy who is just going to sit back there all day.”
Lowry is 69-for-114 with 751 passing yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, he has 319 yards and six touchdowns.
Though Lowry has found early success this year, so has Ball State’s defense. After recording 3.5 sacks in Ball State’s win over the Bobcats, senior defensive end Nathan Voorhis was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week.
“It’s nice to be acknowledged for it, but the most important thing is to win,” Voorhis said. “That’s what I really wanted.”
Voorhis is No. 1 in the country with 8.0 total sacks and is tied for first place with seven solo sacks. Ball State defensive line coach Adam Siwicki said he believes it’s Voorhis’s attitude that has propelled his game to the next level.
“He’s like a pro, so every day he approaches it with that mindset. He comes out early, he warms his body up like a professional would and he studies a lot of film,” Siwicki said. “That’s why I think you’ve seen a lot of success with him as well … He’s been awesome for our room to see how all of his hard work translates to success.”
Though he admitted it was pretty cool to see his name leading the ESPN and NCAA charts for quarterback takedowns, he’s taking the hot streak one game at a time.
“It’s kind of showing that my hard work is finally paying off. It’s something I dreamed about and was one of my goals for this season,” Voorhis said. “But it’s through five games. So if I can’t do it for the rest of the season, then it really doesn’t matter what I do right now.”
But while Voorhis and the defense look to have the same success against the Broncos that they did against Ohio, the offensive line aims to do the same thing. In Ball State’s first MAC game and victory of the season, the unit did not allow a sack.
Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Tristan Cook said the line’s unity has been one of their strong points throughout Ball State’s first five games.
“All five have to do their job at the same time for the play to happen,” he said. “One person makes a mistake, and the whole thing’s collapsed. When we all play together, it all works out. Then when all 11 are on the same page, we’re making good, big plays.”
Looking at the Broncos’ defense, the group has also caught fire through their first six games. They lead the MAC with 23 sacks and sit in fourth place with five interceptions. In conference play alone, they lead the league with seven sacks and three interceptions.
Though the statistics prove the Broncos’ level of play, Uremovich said he wants to see Ball State’s offense start games quicker, no matter the opponent. In their match with Ohio, the Cardinals did not score before halftime and recorded 20 unanswered points in the second half.
“We needed to start faster on the first play of the game. We had a couple of missed assignments, and that’s disappointing, because it’s the first play of the game, and they ran a play that we practiced for all week,” he said. “Offensively, we have to start faster as a team. That’s been a kind of recurring theme this year. We got to get some points on the board earlier instead of waiting till the second half.”
He said the play calling hasn’t changed in the second half, as it has been execution issues that have resulted in sluggish starts for the Red and White’s offense. Ball State redshirt senior QB1 Kiael Kelly said he thinks this unit can turn that around against the Broncos’ strong defense.
In the win over Ohio, the Cardinals’ quarterback was 17-for-33 with 185 passing yards and a game-deciding touchdown pass to redshirt senior receiver Qian Magwood. Kelly also had 96 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.
“It’s just about seeing what they do and focusing on what we have to do,” Kelly said. “We have to execute our game plan. We can prepare for the defense, but they could come out in a different look. We have to master our game plan and understand what we have to do [to win].”
The Cardinals are currently 22-29 against Western Michigan in the program’s history. On the road, Ball State is 9-16 and will look to gain another W for the win column when foot meets leather this weekend.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
