Ball State University Athletics
Football Team at Western Kentucky Saturday
October 10, 2008 | Football
Ball State Cardinals
(6-0; MAC 3-0)
at
Western Kentucky
Hilltoppers (2-4)
Sat., Oct. 11, 2008
Bowling Green, Ky.
6 p.m. (CT); 7 p.m. (ET)
Houchens Industries-
L.T. Smith Stadium
(Capacity: 23,000)
Astroplay Surface
Ball State Captains: Brandon Crawford and Dan Gerberry are the team's co-captains, and Dante Love will serve as an honorary captain . . . Each game Ball State will select an honorary captain to represent Dante Love, who suffered a season-ending injury at Indiana Sept. 20, 2008.
Ball State Radio Network: This marks the 53rd season Ball State and WLBC FM 104.1 have aired the Ball State football games . . . Morry Mannies is in his 53rd year as the "Voice of the Cardinals" . . . Mark O'Connell, a former Ball State quarterback and punter, provides the color commentary for the eighth straight season . . . The pregame show begins one hour prior to kickoff, and is hosted by Jeff Weller, Ball State's director of corporate sales and broadcast services . . . In addition, ESPN 1340 AM will host a Muncie College Gameday show beginning two and a half hours before kickoff each week . . . Ball State football games can also be heard on 1380 AM in Fort Wayne and XL950 AM in Indianapolis . . . The Ball State student station WCRD will broadcast the majority of games on 91.3 FM.
Ball State Head Coach: Brady Hoke (Ball State ?82) is in his sixth year as the Cardinals head coach and his sixth season as a collegiate head coach . . . A former football student-athlete at Ball State, Hoke helped the Cardinals to the 1978 Mid-American Conference Championship . . . As one of four captains on the 1980 team, Hoke led the Cardinals and ranked sixth in the MAC with 150 tackles . . . Hoke coached Ball State to a 7-6 record, the MAC West Division Co-Championship and a berth in the International Bowl last season . . . Hoke owns a 28-37 career record, including a 22-20 mark in MAC action.
Quick Hits: Brady Hoke is one of only 18 coaches in the country to be the head coach of their alma mater in 2008 . . . Ball State has opened the 2008 season with six straight victories, which marks the best start for a Ball State team since the 1965 campaign when the Cardinals won their first nine games of the season . . . The last time Ball State started the Mid-American Conference season 3-0 was the 1993 campaign . . . Ball State is one of only four of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams which stand at 6-0, and one of only 15 teams still undefeated in 2008 . . . Ball State, Alabama, Penn State and Utah are each 6-0 in 2008 . . . The Cardinals 31-0 shutout at Toledo Saturday was the first shutout for a Ball State defense since the Cardinals defeated Connecticut 29-0 Nov. 18, 2000 . . . Ball State held Toledo to 14 yards rushing . . . The Cardinals have scored 24-of-26 times in the Red Zone this year, including 19 touchdowns and five field goals.
Quick Hits: Nate Davis has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 22 of the last 23 games . . . Davis has been sacked only four times through six games, which ranks 11th in the country for fewest sacks allowed with only 0.67 per game . . . Davis rushed for his first touchdown of the season at Toledo when he scored on a one yard run with 11:35 to play in the third quarter . . . MiQuale Lewis rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns at Toledo Saturday . . . It marked his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game of the year and the seventh of his career . . . The two touchdowns in the game marked his fourth straight multiple TD contest . . . Lewis tied the Ball State single-game school record with four rushing touchdowns at Indiana, and tallied a career high 166 yards vs. the Hoosiers . . . Ian McGarvey made four extra points at Toledo and has now made 40 straight dating back to last season . . . The 40 straight is the second best streak in Ball State history . . . McGarvey connected on a 47-yard field goal vs. Kent State, which tied his career long . . . Trey Lewis tallied his first interception of the season and the ninth of his career at Toledo . . . Cory Sykes scored his third touchdown of the season on a career long 57-yard rush . . . Sean Baker led the team with seven tackles at Toledo, while Robert Eddins tallied three tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack . . . Briggs Orsbon is leading the team with 52.8 receiving yards per game, while Myles Trempe has a team high 17.3 yards-per-catch average . . . Chris Miller has punted 14 times this season and has a 42.5 average . . . He has pinned opponents inside the 10-yard line five times and inside the 20-yard line eight times.
Associated Press Poll
1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Missouri
4. LSU
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Texas Tech
8. USC
9. Brigham Young
10. Georgia
11. Florida
12. Ohio State
13. Vanderbilt
14. Utah
15. Boise State
16. Kansas
17. Oklahoma State
18. Virginia Tech
19. South Florida
20. Auburn
21. Wake Forest
22. North Carolina
23. Michigan State
24. Pittsburgh
25. Ball State
