Week 1 Flashback: Reliving Ball State's Greatest Football Games

Today was supposed to mark the beginning of the 2020 football season at Ball State. The Cardinals were to host Maine at Scheumann Stadium under the lights to kick off a promising new campaign.

With the postponement of the season by the Mid-American Conference because the COVID-19 pandemic, ballstatesports.com will instead provide a look back at some of the Cardinals' most memorable games throughout the fall.

On each day that would have been a game day, we will relive top contests from that week of competition in previous seasons. We start today by revisiting some of the most exciting and meaningful Week 1 games of all time.

Week 1 Flashback:
1978 vs. Miami | 2011 vs. Indiana | 1995 at Miami | 1981 vs. McNeese State | More Notables

Ball State 38, Miami 14
Sept. 9, 1978 (Muncie, Ind.)

It may have only been the season opener, but some were referring to the 1978 Ball State-Miami showdown as the MAC championship game.

And for good reason.

The teams had combined to win the previous two league titles, Ball State in 1976 (just its second year of MAC competition) and Miami in 1977. Miami, in fact, had won four of the past five conference championships. The prognosticators saw the 1978 season going the same way, picking Miami atop the preseason poll followed by Ball State.

This was an era that saw Miami finish in the top 12 of the national rankings three straight years from 1973-75. And the 1978 season saw Ball State receiving votes in the preseason AP poll.

Gallery: (9-1-2020) 1978 vs. Miami

The programs had been so successful that both of them had seen their head coaches poached after the 1977 season, Ball State's Dave McClain by Wisconsin and Miami's Dick Crum by North Carolina. Dwight Wallace, a 34-year-old former McClain offensive coordinator, returned to Muncie after three years on the Colorado staff, to lead the Ball State program. He would match wits this day with 33-year-old Tom Reed of Miami in the first game as a head coach for either man.

But while the head coaches were new, many of the players remained the same. Miami welcomed back 17 starters. Ball State returned 15, including the likes of future All-American tackles Ken Kremer and Rush Brown on defense and the All-MAC connection of quarterback Dave Wilson and receiver Rick Morrison on offense.

The teams had not met in 1977, so Ball State did not get a chance at Miami's team that won the league with a 5-0 record. BSU went 5-1 that year, falling only to Western Michigan, and could have had a shot at the title if the two teams had played. So the Cardinals were more than ready for this one.

In front of 17,875 fans, the second-largest crowd at the time to see a game in what was then known as Ball State Stadium, the Cardinals staked their early claim to MAC supremacy. Even Indiana governor Otis Bowen was on hand to witness it.

Wilson, a Findlay, Ohio, prep star unrecruited by Miami because of his size, played with an extra chip on his shoulder this 90-degree day. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound signal caller scored the game's first touchdown on the ground and then threw for three more, including a 48-yarder to Morrison.

The Chicago brotherly running back duo of Archie and Ken Currin led the ground attack, combining for 162 yards on 17 carries.

Wilson's 9-yard scoring toss to Tim Clary broke a 14-14 tie in the second quarter, and Mark O'Connell added a late 47-yard field goal to send Ball State to the locker room up 10. That proved to be more than enough.

The Cardinals' defense pitched a second-half shutout against Miami's highly touted offense. BSU forced five turnovers on the day, including both an interception and fumble recovery by defensive back Jon Hoke. Hoke's brother and future BSU head coach Brady Hoke had 12 tackles in the game, second only to Larry Williams' 16.

The Cardinals pulled away with a third-quarter scoring pass from Wilson to Ken Currin and a fourth-quarter touchdown run from Gary Acklin to seal an emphatic 38-14 victory.

It was Miami's worst loss in seven years.

The performance left Reed, the Miami head coach, to say afterward, "Except for Ohio State and Michigan, I'd have rather played anyone in the Big Ten today than Ball State."

And as many thought might be the case, the winner went on to claim the 1978 MAC championship. The Cardinals ran roughshod to an 8-0 league record, outscoring their conference opponents 223-58 in total on the way to their second MAC title in just their fourth year in the league.

Ball State 27, Indiana 20
Sept. 3, 2011 (Indianapolis, Ind.)

This game featured its share of firsts, as well. Again the first game for a new Ball State head coach, this time Pete Lembo. And the first college football game to be played in the Indianapolis Colts' sparkling Lucas Oil Stadium three years after its 2008 opening.

Sophomore quarterback Keith Wenning, who went on to rewrite the Ball State passing record book, threw touchdowns to Barrington Scott and Connor Ryan on this night and also ran for a score.

Gallery: (9-1-2020) 2011 vs. Indiana

Indiana led 17-14 at the half but did not score again until the final minute of the game. Wenning's 20-yard touchdown pass to Ryan gave Ball State its first lead at 24-17 late in the third quarter. The Cardinals made it a two-score game with a sustained 15-play, 80-yard drive covering more than seven minutes of the fourth quarter, capped by Steven Schott's second field goal of the half.

Indiana managed a late field goal, but the Cardinals recovered the ensuing onside kick to spoil Kevin Wilson's IU head coaching debut in a cleanly played opener that featured no turnovers and only eight combined penalties.

Ball State players doused Lembo with water as the final seconds ticked off the clock and then went to celebrate in front of the BSU section. A crowd of more than 40,000 was on hand for what was a Cardinals' home game.

It was the second of three straight victories for Ball State over the Hoosiers and set the tone for an exciting period of BSU football. The Cardinals went on to finish 6-6 in 2011 before really taking flight in 2012 and 2013.

Ball State 17, Miami 15
Aug. 31, 1995 (Oxford, Ohio)

Something about coaching debuts has made for some exciting opening games over the years. This time it was a thrilling win for Bill Lynch, the former Cardinals offensive coordinator under Paul Schudel who returned to take over the reins in 1995.

It was a big one in Oxford, Ohio. For the first home night game in Miami history, Yaeger Stadium was under portable lights brought in from a company in Iowa. Originally scheduled for a Saturday afternoon, the game was moved up to Thursday night for the occasion.

An historic night in Oxford turned into a memorable win for the team from Muncie in a game that was a bit of a slugfest and was truly decided by inches. It turned out to be Miami's only conference loss of the season.

Gallery: (9-1-2020) 1995 vs. Miami

The first half did not feature any offensive points. The Cardinals were the only team to find the scoreboard by virtue of a late second-quarter punt blocked by Raphaol Ball and returned for a touchdown by Barry Clark.

The Ball State offense struggled to find a rhythm for most of the night, relying on the leg of All-American Brad Maynard and his 12 punts for a 46.3-yard average to play the field position game. Michael Blair's 5-yard touchdown run late in the third gave the Cardinals a 14-0 lead, but Miami rallied with two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter to take a 15-14 lead with 4:54 left.

The Cardinals were not done, however. Blair scampered 44 yards to move the ball inside 10-yard line, and Brent Lockliear converted a 19-yard field goal to put BSU back on top, 17-15, with 1:55 to play.

Miami still had time to maneuver into field goal range for a potential game-winner, but Chad Seitz's 51-yard attempt deflected off the right upright with 3 seconds left. The Cardinals hung on to avenge a loss from the previous year when Miami had scored a touchdown with just 45 seconds left to win that meeting, 24-21.

Miami went on to finish second in the MAC in 1995 at 6-1-1 in conference play. Ball State was third at 6-2, but the foundation was in place for the Cardinals' 1996 team that would return the MAC championship trophy to Muncie.

Ball State 24, McNeese State 21
Sept. 12, 1981 (Muncie, Ind.)

McNeese State had it rolling. The Cowboys were coming off back-to-back appearances in the Independence Bowl, and they had lost only one regular season game over the previous two seasons when they arrived in Muncie as the favorite in the 1981 opener at then-Ball State Stadium.

But Ball State, behind a record-setting effort from a first-time starter at quarterback, had other ideas. The Cardinals raced to a 24-7 lead on the arm of sophomore Doug Freed and then held off a late charge from the visiting Cowboys and the nation's top rushing quarterback Stephen Starring.

Gallery: (9-2-2020) 1981 vs. McNeese State

Freed set a BSU record for completions at the time, hitting 27-of-42 for 281 yards. He threw one touchdown to Tim Petty and ran for another. Petty also scored a rushing touchdown of his own.

Through three quarters, the only points McNeese State mustered came on an 82-yard kickoff return. But the Cowboys found two more big plays – a 25-yard touchdown run from Jordon Buford and a blocked punt for a touchdown – to pull within 24-21 with 6:22 to play.

They never got the ball back. Ball State methodically moved 63 yards in 15 plays, picking up five first downs to run out the clock and avenge a 24-6 loss at McNeese State from the previous year.

Other Notable Week 1 Games
Sept. 11, 1976 vs. Louisiana Tech: This one gave Ball State a share of the longest active winning streak in the country at eight games (BSU would eventually stretch it to 11). Louisiana Tech had gone 8-2 in 1975 in its first year of Division I football. Two years before that, the Bulldogs were the Division II national champions. But the Cardinals, led by quarterback Art Yaroch, won a shootout in Muncie, 41-28. Yaroch ran for three touchdowns and threw one to outduel the Bulldogs, a team sportswriter Jerry Fennell described at the time as "one of the best to ever play here."

Sept. 5, 1992 at Clemson: Playing just its second game ever against a nationally ranked opponent, Ball State gave No. 13 Clemson all it wanted in Death Valley. Behind the arm of Mike Neu, the legs of Corey Croom (135 yards on the day) and a defensive effort spearheaded by Blaine Bishop, the Cardinals entered the fourth quarter in a 10-10 tie with the Tigers. But Clemson scored a pair of touchdowns in the final stanza to spoil to upset bid.

Sept. 3, 1994 at West Virginia: The Mountaineers were coming off an unbeaten regular season and a Sugar Bowl berth in 1993. They were ranked 24th in the nation. But they needed a field goal with 4 seconds left to escape with this win in Morgantown. The Cardinals didn't generate much offense on the day, but a field goal attempt blocked by Cory Gilliard and returned for a touchdown by Marcellus Davis and a Michael Blair touchdown run had BSU on top 14-13 in the closing minutes. West Virginia, however, went 51 yards in the final two minutes to win the game, 16-14, on Bryan Baumann's 33-yard field goal.

Week 1 Flashback: Reliving Ball State's Greatest Football Games

Related Videos