Ball State University Athletics
Football on the Road at Illinois Saturday
October 25, 2007 | Football
Ball State Cardinals (5-3; MAC West 2-1; MAC Overall 3-2)
at Illinois Fighting Illini (5-3; Big Ten 3-2) -- Saturday, Oct. 27 -- 11 a.m. (CT)
Urbana-Champaign, Ill. -- Memorial Stadium (Astro Play) -- Capacity: 57,078
Television: Ball State's game at Illinois will be televised on the Big Ten Network . . . Jim Kelly will handle the play-by-play . . . Chris Martin, a former Northwestern and Chicago Bears defensive back, will provide the color commentary.
Radio: All of Ball State's football games will be broadcast on the Ball State Radio Network . . . WLBC FM 104.1 is in its 52nd year as the flagship station for the Cardinals . . . Other network affiliates include ESPN 950 in Indianapolis and ESPN 1380 in Fort Wayne . . . Morry Mannies is in his 52nd year as the "Voice of the Cardinals" . . . Former Ball State quarterback and punter Mark O'Connell will provide the color commentary . . . All of the Ball State Radio Network broadcasts in 2007 are available at www.ballstatesports.com Ball State Head Coach Brady Hoke: Brady Hoke (Ball State ?82) is in his fifth year as the Cardinals head coach . . . Hoke, an assistant coach for the University of Michigan from 1995-2002, is one of only 18 coaches in the country to be coaching at their alma mater in 2007. Illinois Head Coach Ron Zook: Ron Zook (Miami University ?76) is in his third season as the head coach at Illinois and his sixth season as a collegiate head mentor . . . Zook owns a 9-22 mark at Illinois and a 32-36 career record. Quick Hits: Ball State owns a 3-1 record in road games this season, including a 2-0 MAC mark on the road . . . The Cardinals are 5-3 with two of those losses coming by a combined two points -- Miami University (14-13) and Nebraska (41-40) . . . This season marks the first time Ball State has been 5-3 since 1996 when the Cardinals ended the year with an appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl . . . Ball State ranks seventh in the nation with a +1.25 turnover margin . . . Ball State ranks in the top 30 in the nation in four additional statistical categories -- passing offense (18th), total offense (18th), passing efficiency (21st) and kickoff returns (28th) . . . Ball State managed three interceptions at Western Michigan, which marked the second straight game the Cardinals have tallied three interceptions in a game . . . It also marks the most interceptions in a game since the Cardinals had four vs. Western Michigan, Sept. 23, 1995 . . . Chris Miller (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel H.S.), who leads the nation in punting with a 47.18 average, punted 10 times at Western Michigan and placed five of those inside the WMU 20-yard line . . . Dante Love (Cincinnati, Ohio/Withrow H.S.) ranks seventh in the country in all-purpose yards (196.63), 19th in receptions per game (6.88) and 21st in receiving yards per game (93.00) . . . Love and Louis Johnson (Muncie, Ind./Central H.S.) each had over 100 yards receiving at Western Michigan, marking only the seventh time in Ball State history this has been accomplished . . . Frank Edmonds (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward H.S.) has rushed for three TDs in the last three games to bring his season total to a team-high six . . . Brandon Crawford (Fort Wayne, Ind./South H.S.), a 31-year-old sophomore defensive end, managed a career-high 10 tackles at Western Michigan . . . He leads the Cardinals with 11 tackles for loss and five sacks . . . Nate Davis (Bellaire, Ohio/Bellaire H.S.) had 48 pass attempts at Western Michigan, which ties for the second most in Ball State's single-game history . . . Curt Mallory, an assistant at Illinois, was an assistant at Ball State from 1995-2000 . . . His wife, the former Lori Hill, is a BSU alum and lettered in tennis from 1993-96 and then served as a graduate assistant coach for the Cardinals' women's tennis team from 1996-98 . . . She was an All-MAC selection in 1995 and part of the league's No. 1 doubles championship duo.
