by The Ball State Cardinals captured their first Mac Championship of any kind in nearly 25 years with a thrilling 38-28 victory over Buffalo tonight. Thanks to a hot start from quarterback Drew Plitt and a dominant night from Jimmy Daw to lead the defense the Cardinals hoisted Championship gold!
The Cardinals defense led by Daw had their challenge ahead of them at the games beginning, and that was the prospect of stopping the MAC’s leading rusher Jaret Patterson. Daw and the Cardinals did just that, holding him to only 47 yards on 18 carries. His backfield mate Kevin Marks had the bigger night with 93 yards on 9 carries.
As mentioned, Plitt had the game of his career with the Cardinals as he threw for 263 yards and 3 touchdowns on 20 of 31 passing. Most of it coming in their 35-point first half, and 28-point second quarter. His biggest threat was Yo’Heinz Tyler who had 6 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Heinz left the game in the early moments of the second half with cramps, and perhaps his not returning was the biggest reason the Cardinals offense was slowed to just three points in the second half.
The Bulls led at one point 21-14 and seemed to be cruising. A big reason why was the strong play of their quarterback Kyle Vantrease. He would finish with 365 yards on 29 of 42 yards passing. He had 1 touchdowns on the ground, and one through the air.
The biggest and best weapons for Vantrease and the Bulls tonight were Antonio Nunn and Trevor Wilson. Nunn went off for 182 yards on 13 catches. Wilson piled up 118 yards on 6 catches as they both had season best performances.
The opening drive of the game was all Buffalo as the Bulls stormed down the field in 6 plays for 71 yards and a touchdown. The score came on the legs of Jaret Patterson, his 19th TD of the year on the three-yard run. On the drive, Patterson had 5 runs for 17 yards including the score. The big play was a 54-yard strike to Antonio Nunn to set up the score.
The Ball State Cardinals had little to no issues with answering the Bulls score. The Cardinals cruised down Ford Field for points of their own. Their scoring drive was capped off with a Drew Plitt to Yo’Heinz Tyler to the right corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass. The two touchdown underdog Cardinals showed no fear with a 11 play 75-yard scoring drive in just over 4 minutes.
For Vantrease, he would start 6 of 6 passing for 108 yards and a touchdown as the second drive for the Bulls led to more points. They would retake the lead with a Kyle Vantrease to Trevor Wilson with a 24-yard strike. This gave the Bulls a 14-7 lead with 3:21 left in the opening quarter.
After forcing the first punt of the game, The Bulls would get the ball back and get right back to work. It appeared briefly that the Cardinals may stop them after a first down was called back and moved to fourth and inches. The Bulls went with the hard count and got the Cardinals to jump. This kept the drive alive.
The first quarter would end with the Bulls on the march, as Vantrease finished the opening quarter going 7 of 7 for 113 yards, hitting 4 different wideouts along the way. The Bulls opened the second quarter the same way he finished the first, on the same drive and moving the ball at ease. Kevin Marks Jr went for 17 on the opening play and allowed the Bulls to set up shop once again the Red Zone. The drive would eventually fizzle as the Alex McNulty 27-yard Field Goal was blocked by Medina product Jimmy Daw.
The Cardinals were given a gift with the block and knew they needed to take advantage of it. 10 plays, 90 yards and 3 minutes later they were on the cusp of scoring as they looked a 4th and inches in the face from the goal line. The Cardinals decided to go for it and the gamble paid off as a Drew Plitt charged ahead to score.
The scoring was just getting started, Kyle Vantrease continued to have himself a night as he launched a 57-yard dart to Trevor Wilson on only the second play of the drive. This followed a 18 yard pass to Nunn on the play before. This 3-play scoring drive would be capped off by a Kyle Vantrease QB sneak up the middle.
As impressive as the 3 play 76-yard scoring drive was, the Cardinals barely noticed as they started yet another one of their own. The Cardinals once again picked apart the Bull defense with a 6 play 75 yard scoring drive of their own. This time it was Drew Plitt finding open threats all over the field, as he hit Justin Hall and Yo’Heinz Tyler whenever he needed them. They finished it off with a Plitt to Hall touchdown from 9 out to tie the game at 21-21.
After Buffalo was forced to punt for the first time all night, the Cardinals went back to work and soared again. After a near fumble was recovered by the Cardinals to keep the ball, the Cardinals took full advantage of their second chance. On the very next play it was Plitt finding Jalen McGaughy from 56 yards out to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 28-21. For the Bulls, it was the first time they trailed all season.
The crazy sequence for the Bulls continued, as a blitzed Kyle Vantrease got sacked and stripped by Jimmy Daw. The ball was picked up by Christian Albright and taken 34 yards to the house to build the Cardinal lead to 35-21 with 48 seconds to go in the first half. For the Bulls, it was only their fourth turnover of the game. For the Cardinals it was a 28-point second quarter as they took a 35-21 lead into half.
It was a great first half for both quarterbacks. Drew Plitt of Ball State went 12 of 16 passing for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns in the wild 30-minute stretch. Meanwhile, the Bulls quarterback Kyle Vantrease was also hard to stop as he went off for 210 yards on 11 of 13 passing and had a passing touchdown along with a rushing touchdown. Tyler of Ball State had 5 catches for 83 yards. All 3 Plitt touchdown passes were to different receivers as well.
The Bulls started the second half with constant blitzing of Plitt on the opening drive. They got to him several times but a few bad penalties allowed the Cardinals offense to stay on the field. The Cardinals would then pickup several first downs on third and long to continue the drive. It was Tye Evans running the ball down hill play after play into the red zone.
Facing a 3 down and goal to goal, it was a key moment for the Bulls defense to try and stop the soaring Cardinals and force them to a field goal. They did just that, finally getting off the field without letting up a touchdown for the first time in what seemed like forever. Jacob Lewis came on to hit the 21-yard field goal and make it 38-21. All in all on the drive, the Cardinals opened the half with a 16 play, 76 yard drive that put points up on the board and soaked up nearly 6 minutes.
On the Bulls opening drive of the second half, things just got worse as the nations leading rusher Jaret Patterson went down to an apparent knee injury near midfield. The Bulls would then go for it on fourth and short, but it was Jimmy Daw yet again shutting down the outlet pass to Marks to force the turnover on downs. The Cardinals couldn’t take advantage of the short field however, and would eventually punt it back to the Bulls.
Without Patterson in the game, the Bulls needed a spark from someone and they got that from backup tailback Kevin Marks on a 67-yard burst with Cardinals nowhere near him. The Marks touchdown burst finished off a quick 2 play 78 drive, cutting the lead to 38-28 with a minute left in the third quarter. The third quarter would then end by that same score of 38-28 Cardinals as we headed to the final 15 minutes of regulation.
After forcing another three and out, the Bulls looked as if the comeback was on until Ball State would answer again. This time it was on the first play of the fourth quarter as Vantrease attempted to go deep for a streaking Dunn until Antonio Phillips leapt up and intercepted it. The second turnover for the Bulls and only their fifth of the season.
Things got even stranger from there as Plitt gave the ball right back to Buffalo with a poorly thrown ball that was picked off by James Patterson. Suddenly, the Bulls had the ball back on the plus side of the 50 with a chance to make it a one score game. The Bulls couldn’t capitalize and had to pooch punt a few moments later.
The switch of field position would help the Bulls however, as a few moments later they would get the ball back near midfield again. This time, the Bulls would not waste their opportunity as a couple of Vantrease to Nunn connections put them in prime scoring position.
On 4th and two, it was decision time as a chip shot field goal could make it a one score game, yet, the Bulls decided to go for the first down instead from the 17. It was a terrible decision, not kicking the field goal was foolish and it cost them as they failed on fourth down. A pass in the hands of Marks was dropped, and it was ball back to the Cardinals.
The hasty decision to pass on the field goal would prove to be the death blow as the Bulls never got any closer to the end zone. The Ball State Cardinals hung on to win 38-28.
