Ever-Optimistic Neu Guides Cardinals into Familiar Homecoming Matchup

Game 7 – Homecoming
Ball State (3-3, 2-0 MAC) vs. Toledo (4-2, 1-1 MAC)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 19
Kickoff: 2:05 p.m.
Location: Muncie, Ind. (Scheumann Stadium)
Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: WLBC 104.1 FM | Live Stats
Social: @BallStateFB, @BallStateSports, #ChirpChirp, #WeFly, #OTM
Game Notes: Ball State | Toledo

Mike Neu is nothing if not eternally optimistic.

Always positive. Always full of belief. Even in the most difficult circumstances. He's like that as the Cardinals' head football coach, and he was like that as a player.

And Neu produced one of his finest moments 26 years ago on Homecoming week, leading his team from the depths against the same Toledo program the Cardinals will face this time around. Out the mud, in the parlance of this 2019 BSU squad.

"I'll never forget that day just walking up and down the sideline saying, 'We're gonna get it done,'" Neu said.

There was certainly reason for doubt, trailing 30-3. But then came two touchdown passes from Neu to Brian Oliver, including a school-record 98-yard connection. Then a scoring toss to Kyle Robinson and another to Erin McCray.

By the time the dust settled, Ball State had scored four times in the final 18 minutes to stun the Rockets, 31-30. The 27-point comeback remains a school record, as does Neu's final passing total of 469 yards.

"It went from looking like one of the worst performances in the history of Ball State Homecomings to hopefully one of the better ones," Neu said. "I'll just never forget the scene in the locker room and being a part of that."

19762 — **The Cardinals storm the field after a 27-point comeback to beat Toledo on Homecoming in 1993.**

Neu's sense of optimism has certainly been tested early in his career as the Cardinals' head coach, but he has maintained his never-say-die outlook throughout. And his players are now displaying that positivity, too.

Sure the deficits haven't been 27 points, but Ball State has come from behind in the second half the past two weeks. The Cardinals scored 24 straight to overcome a 14-point deficit at Northern Illinois and rattled off 15 in a row to come from nine down at Eastern Michigan.

"I'm really proud of the find-a-way attitude we've shown," Neu said. "The locker room the last two weeks was so awesome at halftime, and that tells me a lot about this team in terms of chemistry, attitude and character."

19764 — **The 2019 Cardinals celebrate after defeating Northern Illinois to win back the Bronze Stalk.**

So now BSU enters a Homecoming matchup with Toledo boasting a 2-0 record in MAC play with a pair of road wins. Just like the 1993 team did.

The Cardinals will certainly get a motivated Rockets squad. Picked to win the MAC West Division, Toledo surprisingly suffered its first league loss last week against rival Bowling Green.

But Ball State will be motivated, too. Motivated to prove its standing atop the West Division is no fluke. Motivation to win its Homecoming game for the first time since 2013.

That 1993 team never did lose a conference game. The Homecoming comeback was a springboard to a 7-0-1 league record, the MAC championship and a spot in the Las Vegas Bowl. Still, it's not something the 1993 MAC Offensive Player of the Year brings up very often to his current team.

"I don't talk a whole lot about that Toledo game," Neu said. "No. 1 because I don't want them to really know how old I am. No. 2, we're not trying to repeat that first half performance."

Ever-Optimistic Neu Guides Cardinals into Familiar Homecoming Matchup

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