Saturday, October 8
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
3:30 PM ET
Ball State University
3-3 , 2-1
17
at
16
Central Michigan
1-5 , 0-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Ball State
0
7
7
3
17
Central Michigan
10
0
6
0
16
Photo by: Ball State Athletics
Defense shines as Ball State earns hard-fought win at Central Michigan
October 08, 2022 | Football
Cardinals force two turnovers, limit Chippewas in road victory
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Same team. Different formula.
While it was the offense that showed out the previous week, Ball State's defense took center stage and put forth an impressive display to key a hard-fought 17-16 win at Central Michigan Saturday inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The Cardinals improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Chippewas dropped to 1-5 and 0-2 in league action.
"Great win for our guys and really proud of the effort," head coach Mike Neu said. "We just figured out a way to get it done. The defense was phenomenal for the entire game. I thought the offense in the second half, really the offensive line and the running game - Carson ran so hard in the second half - those guys really did a good job of establishing the line of scrimmage."
Ball State's defense stymied Central Michigan all afternoon, which brought in one of the conference's top offenses, including a preseason All-American at running back. Despite being on the field for 89 plays and 36:16 in game time, the Cardinals limited the Chippewas to just 3.8 yards per play and forced a pair of fumbles.
In total, Ball State held Central Michigan to just 2.7 yards per rush, 19-of-40 through the air and 5-of-20 on third-down conversions.
"They were huge," Neu added. "I think they took it personal coming out of last week's game giving up over 300 yards rushing. We faced a great running back today in Lew Nichols. The defense rose to the occasion. We held him in check - he had 97 yards - and our defense tackled well all game long. The few times we did give up a little bit, we just kept battling back. It was an awesome defensive performance from start to finish."
Eighteen different defensive players recorded at least one tackle, led by inside linebackers Clayton Coll (13) and Cole Peace (10). Coll also forced a fumble, while Pearce had 2.0 tackles-for-loss and two pass breakups.
Kyle King, Jack Sape and Tavion Woodard each tallied a sack, while Sidney Houston Jr. and Loren Strickland added a tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
Carson Steele led the offensive output with 124 yards on 28 carries. John Paddock completed 15 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. Yo'Heinz Tyler caught five passes for 46 yards, while Jayshon Jackson added four receptions for 49 yards.
On special teams, Lucas Borrow had his arguably his best game in a Cardinal uniform with nine punts for an average of 45.6 yards per boot and had four land inside the 20-yard line. Ben VonGunten added a 22-yard field goal, which put Ball State ahead in the fourth quarter.
After falling behind 10-0 in a frustrating first quarter, Paddock led a scoring drive on a short field that went 40 yards on five plays and was capped by a 2-yard touchdown to Brady Hunt. The Chippewas took a 10-7 lead into the locker room shortly after.
The play of the game came from Houston midway through the third quarter.
After the Cardinals were stuffed twice at the goal line and turned it over on downs, Houston picked up an errant handoff and ran it into the end zone for a scoop-n-score to make it 14-10 in favor of the road team.
That lead, however, lasted just over four minutes as Central Michigan scored a touchdown on a seven-play, 62-yard drive, but missed the point-after attempt, making it 16-14.
Steele produced 35 of his 109 second-half rushing yards on the opening drive of the fourth quarter to set up VonGunten for a 22-yard chip shot, giving the Cardinals a one-point lead, 17-16.
The defense bowed up and forced a pair of punts on the ensuing Chippewa possessions and clinched it on the final drive, which started with 1:23 remaining, with three pass breakups. Ball State took over on downs and took two knees to secure their third straight win in Mount Pleasant.
"Great win on the road," said Neu. "We won a close game against a good football team. The formula changes, obviously totally different than a week ago. I'm just proud of our football team. We talked a lot about being the best team and the best family. We have to have each other's back no matter how it happens. The goal is always to win by one more point than our opponent, and that's what we got done today."
The Cardinals return home for a pair of games at Scheumann Stadium, first in non-conference action vs. UConn on Oct. 15 and then against Eastern Michigan on Oct. 22 for Homecoming. Both games are set for 2 p.m. ET kickoffs.
While it was the offense that showed out the previous week, Ball State's defense took center stage and put forth an impressive display to key a hard-fought 17-16 win at Central Michigan Saturday inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The Cardinals improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Chippewas dropped to 1-5 and 0-2 in league action.
"Great win for our guys and really proud of the effort," head coach Mike Neu said. "We just figured out a way to get it done. The defense was phenomenal for the entire game. I thought the offense in the second half, really the offensive line and the running game - Carson ran so hard in the second half - those guys really did a good job of establishing the line of scrimmage."
Ball State's defense stymied Central Michigan all afternoon, which brought in one of the conference's top offenses, including a preseason All-American at running back. Despite being on the field for 89 plays and 36:16 in game time, the Cardinals limited the Chippewas to just 3.8 yards per play and forced a pair of fumbles.
In total, Ball State held Central Michigan to just 2.7 yards per rush, 19-of-40 through the air and 5-of-20 on third-down conversions.
"They were huge," Neu added. "I think they took it personal coming out of last week's game giving up over 300 yards rushing. We faced a great running back today in Lew Nichols. The defense rose to the occasion. We held him in check - he had 97 yards - and our defense tackled well all game long. The few times we did give up a little bit, we just kept battling back. It was an awesome defensive performance from start to finish."
Eighteen different defensive players recorded at least one tackle, led by inside linebackers Clayton Coll (13) and Cole Peace (10). Coll also forced a fumble, while Pearce had 2.0 tackles-for-loss and two pass breakups.
Kyle King, Jack Sape and Tavion Woodard each tallied a sack, while Sidney Houston Jr. and Loren Strickland added a tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
Carson Steele led the offensive output with 124 yards on 28 carries. John Paddock completed 15 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. Yo'Heinz Tyler caught five passes for 46 yards, while Jayshon Jackson added four receptions for 49 yards.
On special teams, Lucas Borrow had his arguably his best game in a Cardinal uniform with nine punts for an average of 45.6 yards per boot and had four land inside the 20-yard line. Ben VonGunten added a 22-yard field goal, which put Ball State ahead in the fourth quarter.
After falling behind 10-0 in a frustrating first quarter, Paddock led a scoring drive on a short field that went 40 yards on five plays and was capped by a 2-yard touchdown to Brady Hunt. The Chippewas took a 10-7 lead into the locker room shortly after.
The play of the game came from Houston midway through the third quarter.
After the Cardinals were stuffed twice at the goal line and turned it over on downs, Houston picked up an errant handoff and ran it into the end zone for a scoop-n-score to make it 14-10 in favor of the road team.
That lead, however, lasted just over four minutes as Central Michigan scored a touchdown on a seven-play, 62-yard drive, but missed the point-after attempt, making it 16-14.
Steele produced 35 of his 109 second-half rushing yards on the opening drive of the fourth quarter to set up VonGunten for a 22-yard chip shot, giving the Cardinals a one-point lead, 17-16.
The defense bowed up and forced a pair of punts on the ensuing Chippewa possessions and clinched it on the final drive, which started with 1:23 remaining, with three pass breakups. Ball State took over on downs and took two knees to secure their third straight win in Mount Pleasant.
"Great win on the road," said Neu. "We won a close game against a good football team. The formula changes, obviously totally different than a week ago. I'm just proud of our football team. We talked a lot about being the best team and the best family. We have to have each other's back no matter how it happens. The goal is always to win by one more point than our opponent, and that's what we got done today."
The Cardinals return home for a pair of games at Scheumann Stadium, first in non-conference action vs. UConn on Oct. 15 and then against Eastern Michigan on Oct. 22 for Homecoming. Both games are set for 2 p.m. ET kickoffs.
Team Stats
BSU
CMU
Total Yards
236
340
Pass Yards
122
210
Rushing Yards
114
130
Penalty Yards
20
38
1st Downs
15
19
3rd Downs
0
5
4th Downs
1
3
TOP
23:44
36:16
1st Quarter
BSU 0, CMU 3
CMU - Rolston,Josh 44 yd field goal 14 plays, 52 yards, TOP 05:18
BSU 0, CMU 10
CMU - Nichols,Lew 1 yd run (Rolston,Josh kick), 2 plays, 3 yards, TOP 00:40
2nd Quarter
BSU 7, CMU 10
BSU - Hunt,Brady 2 yd pass from Paddock,John (VonGunten,Ben kick) 5 plays, 40 yards, TOP 01:58
3rd Quarter
BSU 14, CMU 10
BSU - Houston,Sidney 4 yd fumble recovery (VonGunten,Ben kick)
BSU 14, CMU 16
CMU - Carriere,Carlos 17 yd pass from Richardson,Daniel () 7 plays, 62 yards, TOP 01:32
4th Quarter
BSU 17, CMU 16
BSU - VonGunten,Ben 22 yd field goal 8 plays, 51 yards, TOP 02:49
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
15
TD
1
YDS
122
INT
0
Players Mentioned
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ILB
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OLB
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TE
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WR
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QB
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RB
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WR
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K
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DL
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