Football Suffers 42-38 Loss to Western Michigan

Saturday, October 11

Muncie, Ind.

3:00 PM

Ball State University

1-5 , 0-2

Western Michigan

3-3 , 1-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Western Michigan	7	7	14	14	42
Ball State	7	24	7	0	38

October 11, 2014 | Football

Box Score

By: Ball State Athletics

In its 88th Homecoming contest, the Ball State football team suffered a heartbreaking 42-38 loss to Western Michigan Saturday afternoon in Scheumann Stadium.

With the loss, Ball State falls to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the Mid-American Conference. Western Michigan evened its record at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in league play.

“It is all about defense right now," Ball State head coach Pete Lembo said. "We are hurting and it is showing. We are missing tackles and giving up big plays. Offensively, it was a better day. We moved the chains against a team with all man coverage, and it's not always easy to move the chains against a team like that. The kids kept fighting, and we are all hurting right now. It is obviously not the result we wanted."

The Cardinals controlled the first half and led 31-14 at the break. But Western Michigan answered in the second half, holding Ball State to only one touchdown, and erased the Cardinals' 38-28 lead heading into the final period. The Broncos took their first lead of the contest with 1:52 left in the game and stopped Ball State's final drive on the 8-yard line.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Milas threw for 326 yards and four touchdowns, while completing 26-of-42 passes in his collegiate debut. His yardage total was the most ever for a Ball State freshman, while his four TD tosses tied the Cardinals' freshman record. Jordan Williams had a career-high 11 catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

After trailing the Cardinals by 17 points at the half, Western Michigan started the third quarter with back-to-back touchdowns to cut the deficit to only three with 3:12 left in the quarter.

Milas' fourth touchdown throw of the contest came on of a 26-yard pass to junior wide receiver KeVonn Mabon with less than a minute to play in the third quarter and gave the Cardinals a 38-28 lead.

But the fourth quarter was all Western Michigan, and the Broncos' TD at the 7:32 mark pulled them within three. The Broncos added the game-winning TD with 1:25 to go in the contest on a 12-yard pass.

"Hopefully we get a few guys back on defense soon and that will help," Lembo said. "It was a better day offensively. I think that speaks for itself. We made some big plays offensively and threw the ball better today than we have all year, so that's encouraging. Again, we are not there yet and we are not the same defense we were against Colgate and Iowa. We have to keep working hard to get that back.

"The guys need to focus on getting better and I will take the heat for our record and where we are at this point in the season. I want them to stay focused on getting better every day and I thought we saw some encouraging signs today.”

The Cardinals, which lost for only the third time in their last 15 conference games, continue MAC action Saturday at Central Michigan with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff in a game on ESPN3.