Football Suffers 38-10 Setback at Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Ball State football team struggled to sustain drives and to contain a balanced Indiana attack Saturday in a 38-10 loss at Memorial Stadium.

The Cardinals (1-2) ran for 204 yards, led by James Gilbert's 89, but threw for only 143. Indiana (3-0) topped the 200-yard mark on the ground and through the air.

"Credit IU, coach (Tom) Allen and his staff," Ball State head coach Mike Neu said. "Fine game by them. But for us, after having a good week of practice, we're disappointed not to come out and execute the way we're capable of in all three phases.

"We have take it on the chin here, learn from the tape, clean up some of our mistakes and move on and get ourselves mentally ready to have a good week of practice and come back home against Western Kentucky."

Third-down conversions were the name of the game for Ball State, offensively. The Cardinals converted their first one of the day and didn't make another one until quarterback Riley Neal scrambled to get to the sticks with 3:00 left in the third quarter.

Both of those first downs led to scores -- the first one a Morgan Hagee field goal and the second a Gilbert touchdown run. But the Cardinals finished the day 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) on third-down opportunities.

Gilbert's touchdown, a 27-yarder in the third quarter, was the 26th of his career and moved him into sole possession of 10th place on the Cardinals' all-time list.

But before he scored, Ball State had fallen behind 31-3. The Hoosiers managed all four of their offensive touchdowns on the ground, including two from Stevie Scott. They also reached the end zone on a deflating 86-yard punt return from J-Shun Harris early in the second quarter.

Ball State, which largely bottled up the run game last week at No. 8 Notre Dame, saw Indiana rush for 255 yards and 5.8 yards per carry. Scott finished the game with 114 yards. And after sacking Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush four times a week ago, BSU could not get to the Hoosier quarterbacks, who combined to complete 24 of 32 passes.

[HIGHLIGHTS] @BallStateFB falls to @IndianaFootball 38-10.

Ball State returns home next week as they host @WKUFootball.#WeFly | #ChirpChirp | #ItsTime pic.twitter.com/08DRvnrnD7
— Ball State Sports (@BallStateSports) September 15, 2018

"Once they got settled in after their first drive where they kicked a field goal, they did a pretty good job of controlling the line of scrimmage," Neu said. "We obviously had problems trying to get pressure on the quarterback. They did a nice job with their run-pass option game."

The Cardinals tried to swing the momentum toward the end of the second quarter. Trailing 17-3 and with Indiana threatening again, linebacker Ray Wilborn forced a red zone fumble and Jeremiah Jackson snagged it out of the air. But BSU went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and Indiana tacked on another touchdown before halftime.

Neal completed 12 of 24 passes on the day for 115 yards for Ball State, while Corey Lacanaria was the team's top receiver with four catches for 40 yards.

After two straight games on the road, the Cardinals will now return home for three in a row. Next Saturday's Family Weekend game versus Western Kentucky will air on ESPN3 beginning at 3 p.m.

For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State football team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateFB and @BSUCoachNeu.

Players Mentioned

James Gilbert

Morgan Hagee

Jeremiah Jackson

Corey Lacanaria

Riley Neal

Ray Wilborn

Players Mentioned

James Gilbert

Morgan Hagee

Jeremiah Jackson

Corey Lacanaria

Riley Neal

Ray Wilborn