Ball State University Athletics
Football Hosts Northern Illinois Wednesday on ESPN2
October 31, 2014 | Football
Game #9
Ball State Cardinals (3-5; MAC 2-2)
Head Coach: Pete Lembo
Career Record: 107-54/14th year
At Ball State: 28-18/4th year
vs.
Northern Illinois Huskies (6-2; MAC 3-1)
Head Coach: Rod Carey
Career Record: 18-4/2nd year
At NIU: 18-4/2nd year
GameDay Information
Wed., Nov. 5, 2014 -- 8 p.m. ET
Scheumann Stadium (Capacity: 22,500)
Field Turf -- Muncie, Ind.
Ball State Radio Network
Flagship Station - WLBC FM 104.1
Joel Godett, play-by-play
Rich Spisak, analyst
Luke Martin, sidelines
WCRD-Radio (Ball State Student Station)
91.3 FM
Tyler Bradfield, play-by-play
Connor Onion, analyst
Matt Organ, sidelines
ESPN2
Dave Lamont, play-by-play
Desmond Howard, analyst
Kaylee Hartung, sideline
Live Stats - www.ballstatesports.com
Tickets -- www.ballstatesports.com/tickets
Ball State Football Quick Hits
Ball State tallied a 35-21 home victory over Akron Oct. 25 to improve to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the Mid-American Conference . . . The Cardinals trailed Akron by a 21-6 margin midway through the second quarter, and the comeback from the 15-point deficit matched the seventh largest come-from-behind win in school history.
Ball State has suffered three of its five losses this year by seven points or fewer and the other two losses have been by nine points and 11 points.
Ball State has generated five turnovers in each of the last two games . . . Against Akron, the Cardinals tallied four interceptions and one fumble recovery . . . At Central Michigan, Ball State registered three interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
Prior to the past two games, Ball State had not generated five turnovers in a game since the 2009 season finale on Nov. 24.
The Cardinals have 17 takeaways on the season with 10 in the past two games and 15 in the last five games . . . The 10 turnovers forced in the past two games are the most created by Ball State in a two game stretch since at least 2000 . . . The Cardinals own a 10-1 advantage in turnovers over their opponents in the last two games.
Ball State moved up to fifth in the nation in turnover margin after forcing the five turnovers vs. Akron . . . The Cardinals are +1.38 in average turnover margin this year . . . Ball State is fifth in the NCAA in fewest turnovers lost with six -- fumbles lost (4), interceptions (2) . . . With only two interceptions this season, the Cardinals rank third in the nation in fewest passes intercepted . . . Ball State is 16th in the NCAA in turnovers gained with 17.
Ball State ranks 18th in the nation in red zone defense, having allowed opponents to score on only 73.5 percent of trips inside the 20-yard line.
The Cardinals rank 15th in the nation for fewest penalties per game (4.5), 20th in the nation for fewest penalty yards per game (42.38), 22nd nationally for fewest penalties (36) and 30th in the NCAA for fewest penalty yards (339) . . . Ball State ranks No. 1 in the MAC in all four of those categories.
Ball State is 19-7 in its last 26 regular season games and competed in the GoDaddy Bowl after the 2013 season to mark back-to-back bowl appearances for only the second time in the school's history . . . The only other time Ball State played in back-to-back bowls was after the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
Senior running back and Ball State's career leading rusher Jahwan Edwards pushed his career rushing total to 4,134 yards and now has 828 rushing yards in 2014 . . . He needs 172 rushing yards to join Marcus Merriweather (2000-02) as only the second player in school history with three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Eric Patterson recorded his sixth career interception vs. Akron, which was his third pick in the last two games . . . He was responsible for three of the five turnovers Ball State forced at Central Michigan . . . He had two interceptions at CMU plus tallied his third career forced fumble . . . In addition, Patterson ranks 21st in the nation in kickoff returns with a 25.7 average.
