Ball State Football Opens Season Thursday at Scheumann Stadium

September 02, 2010 | Football

By: Ball State Athletics

Ball State Cardinals (0-0)
vs.
Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (0-0)
Thurs., Sept. 2
Scheumann Stadium (FieldTurf)
Capacity: 22,500
Community Day
Presented by ProLiance Energy

EVENT INFORMATION

Community Day Presented by ProLiance Energy

Ball State athletics partnering with Muncie Chamber of Commerce
Games, Inflatables, Dunk Tank and more starting at 4 p.m. in Tailgate Town
Live Band -- 8 Stories High -- from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Free Thundersticks to first 5,000 fans courtesy of Mutual Bank
Fireworks Following the Game

COACHES

Ball State: Stan Parrish (Heidelberg '69) is in his sixth season at Ball State and his second as the Cardinals head coach . . . He was named the school's 15th head football coach Dec. 18, 2008, and was the head mentor in Ball State's Jan. 6, 2009, GMAC Bowl appearance . . . Parrish became the first Ball State assistant coach promoted to head coach since Wave Myers in 1968 . . . One of five finalists for the 2008 Broyles Award, which goes to the nation's top assistant, Parrish owns a 59-52-3 career head coaching record at Wabash (1978-82), Marshall (1984-85), Kansas State (1986-88) and Ball State . . . Parrish earned a college football national championship ring as a member of the 1997 Michigan coaching staff and owns an NFL Super Bowl ring after serving as quarterbacks coach of the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Southeast Missouri State: Tony Samuel (Nebraska '81) is in his fifth year at Southeast Missouri State and owns a 13-32 record at the school . . . He owns a 47-89 career head coaching record in 12 seasons, including New Mexico State from 1997-2004 . . . He came to SEMO after serving as the defensive ends coach at Purdue in 2005.

THE SERIES
First Ever Meeting

Ball State Quick Hits

Ball State's 2010 captains are Sean Baker (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield H.S.), Davyd Jones (Muncie, Ind./Central H.S.), MiQuale Lewis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) and Michael Switzer (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North H.S.)
The Cardinals have gone 58 straight games without being shutout, which is the second longest stretch in Ball State history. The last time a Ball State team did not score in a game was Oct. 1, 2005, at Boston College. The school record is 124 from Sept. 26, 1987 to Sept. 19, 1998.
The Cardinals have appeared on national television 16 times in the last two seasons. Ball State played twice on ESPN2 plus appeared on ESPNU, CBS College Sports and Fox Sports in 2009 . . . Ball State is scheduled to appear on television three times this season -- at Purdue (Big Ten Network), vs. Western Michigan (ESPN Regional) and at Buffalo (ESPNU).
Ball State has won 14 of its last 20 Mid-American Conference games. The Cardinals won their final three MAC games in 2007 and all eight league contests in 2008 for 11 straight conference victories, which ranks as the second longest league winning streak in school history.
Ball State head coach Stan Parrish has been selected for induction into the Heidelberg College Athletic Hall of Fame . . . Parrish is a part of the 25th induction class in school history . . . The official induction will take place Oct. 9, during halftime of Heidelberg's football game vs. Muskingum . . . Coach Parrish will be unable to attend, but will be represented at the induction.

NOTES ON THE CARDINALS

MiQuale Lewis Rushing for the Record: MiQuale Lewis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.), a fifth-year senior on the Ball State football team, has rushed for 3,334 yards in his career and needs 669 rushing yards to become the Cardinals all-time leading career rusher . . . He needs 150 rushing yards to pass Bernie Parmalee, who is second on Ball State's career charts with 3,483 from 1987-90 . . . Marcus Merriweather is Ball State's career leading rusher with 4,002 yards from 1999-2002.

Lewis Already Inked All Over Record Book: MiQuale Lewis set the Ball State single-game rushing record with 301 yards at Eastern Michigan Oct. 24, 2009 . . . He rushed 26 times for 301 yards and one touchdown . . . Lewis teamed with Cory Sykes (Harvey, Ill./Thornton H.S.), who rushed for 203 yards, to become the first duo in Football Bowl Subdivision history to have one player rush for 300 yards in a game and a teammate rush for 200 yards in the same game . . . The duo gained an NCAA record 504 yards and became only the fourth tandem in NCAA history to gain at least 200 yards apiece in the same game.

Sykes Setting His Sights: Cory Sykes (Harvey, Ill./Thornton), a junior for the Cardinals, rushed for 85 yards on 10 carries vs. Central Michigan last season . . . The 85 rushing yards was the second best performance of the year for Sykes, who rushed for a career high 201 yards at Eastern Michigan earlier in 2009 . . . Sykes led Ball State with a 6.2 yards-per-rush average and was third on the team with three rushing touchdowns.

Williams' Numbers: Eric Williams (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central H.S.) averaged 5.7 yards per rush and led the Cardinals with a 23.9 average on kickoff returns in 2009 . . . He ranked fourth in the MAC in kick return average and ninth in all-purpose yards a year ago . . . Williams rushed a career high 12 times at Northern Illinois and scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season against the Huskies in 2009 . . . He rushed for a career best 88 yards vs. Bowling Green last year . . . Against New Hampshire in 2009, Williams posted a career long 50-yard kickoff return . . . At Temple last year, Williams was credited with his first career touchdown after recovering a ball in the endzone . . . Against Bowling Green in 2009, Williams was credited with his first rushing touchdown on a 30-yard run with 12:16 left in the third quarter . . . He rushed for 59 yards on five carries, including a career long 55-yard run and his third rushing TD of the season vs. Ohio last season.

Punter U. Continues: Scott Kovanda (Hartland, Mich./Detroit Central Catholic H.S.) averaged 40.0 yards per punt to rank fourth in the Mid-American Conference in 2009 . . . He punted 57 times and forced opponents to start inside their own 20-yard line 15 times, while forcing teams to fair catch nine times . . . Kovanda had a career long punt of 63 yards vs. North Texas, and tallied a 62-yard punt vs. Ohio . . . Ball State opponents returned 25 punts for an average of 3.8 yards per punt last year, which ranked eighth in the nation . . . Ball State has a long tradition of outstanding punters . . . Brad Maynard (1993-96) set the Ball State career record with a 44.2 average, was a consensus All-American and is in his 14th year in the National Football League . . . Reggie Hodges (2000-04) punted for 10,210 yards and is in his sixth year in the NFL . . . Chris Miller (2004-08) completed his career in 2008 ranked second in Ball State annals with 10,342 career punt yards and breaking Maynard's career average record with a 44.77 mark.

Leading the Defense: Davyd Jones (Muncie, Ind./Central H.S.), who managed a career high 15 tackles vs. Central Michigan last season, led Ball State with 100 tackles in 2009 . . . Jones ranked 11th in the MAC in tackles as a junior last year . . . He also ranked third for Ball State with eight tackles for loss and added two pass breakups and two forced fumbles . . . Jones led the Cardinals in tackles vs. CMU and tied for team-high honors with nine tackles vs. Ohio.

Freeman Now a Sophomore: Travis Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville H.S.) started the last 11 games as a true freshman in 2009 and ranked 15th in the MAC in tackles . . . He was second on the team with 93 tackles, including two tackles for loss, one interception and two quarterback hurries as a true freshman . . . Freeman led the Cardinals with 10 tackles at Temple and with seven at Eastern Michigan a year ago . . . He tied for team-high honors with nine tackles vs. Ohio and managed a career high 11 tackles at Army and at Auburn in 2009.

Secondary Leaders: Charlie Todd (Bear, Del./Howard H.S.) tallied a career high and team high 12 tackles at Northern Illinois last season . . . Todd, who is in his second year at Ball State after graduating from Nassau Community College, ranked 24th in the MAC in tackles last season. . . He managed nine tackles at Temple and eight tackles vs. North Texas and at Army . . . He registered his first career interception vs. Toledo . . . Todd returned a punt for 87 yards and a touchdown vs. Western Michigan in the season finale . . . Sean Baker (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield H.S.) was fifth on the team in tackles and led the Cardinals with four interceptions in 2009 . . . Baker, the 2008 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, suffered a broken bone in his hand at Army but missed only the Auburn game last season . . . He managed the seventh interception of his career vs. North Texas last season and tallied his eight career INT vs. Ohio . . . Baker tallied two interceptions in the season finale at Western Michigan to bring his career total to 10 and marking the second multiple interception game of his career.

Rushing Robert Eddins: Robert Eddins (Detroit, Mich./Crockett H.S.), a senior defensive end for the Cardinals, registered a team high 13.5 tackles for loss, and led the team with seven sacks in 2009 . . . He was sixth on the team with 55 tackles last season . . . Eddins tied for 28th in the nation in tackles for loss and was third in the Mid-American Conference in tackles for loss and fifth in sacks . . . Eddins blocked the third punt of his career and the second of the 2009 season at Eastern Michigan . . . He blocked an EMU punt with 5:33 to play in the third quarter, and the ball rolled out of the Eagles endzone for a safety to reduce a deficit to 27-22 in a game the Cardinals would win 29-27.

Orsbon Staying Steady: Briggs Orsbon (Convoy, Ohio/Crestview H.S.) tallied a season high 10 catches for a season best 88 receiving yards vs. Toledo in 2009 . . . He also tallied his first receiving touchdown of 2009 vs. the Rockets . . . In the next contest at Temple, Orsbon managed 10 catches again for 82 yards . . . Orsbon tallied 76 receiving yards vs. Bowling Green . . . He led Ball State with 51 catches and 461 receiving yards a year ago.

Just for Kicks: Ian McGarvey (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) connected on a career long 48-yard field goal vs. New Hampshire and at Western Michigan in 2009 . . . He also made a 47-yard field goal vs. New Hampshire and vs. Toledo last year . . . McGarvey tied his career high with three field goals in a single game four times in 2009 -- New Hampshire, Auburn, Toledo and Western Michigan . . . He set the school record with 81 consecutive extra points made from Nov. 13, 2007, to Oct. 3, 2009 . . . McGarvey shattered the previous record of 40 straight extra point kicks made by Brian Jackson in 2003-04 . . . McGarvey was first in the Mid-American Conference and ninth in the nation in field goals per game last year.

Offensive Line Returns Experience: Seven Ball State offensive linemen who combined for 60 starts in 2009 return to the 2010 squad . . . Kreg Hunter (Lebanon, Ind./Lebanon H.S.), Cameron Lowry (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.) and Michael Switzer (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North H.S.) each started all 12 games in 2009 . . . Hunter at center, Lowry at left tackle and Switzer at left guard . . . Dan Manick (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central H.S.) started nine games last season -- five at right guard and four at right tackle . . . Austin Holtz (Holt, Mich./Holt H.S.) started eight games at right tackle in 2009 for the Cardinals . . . Travis Arnold (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) registered five starts at right guard last season and Kitt O'Brien (Walton, Ind./Lewis Cass H.S.) started two games at right guard.