Ball State University
0-2 , 0-1
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Western Michigan
1-1 , 1-0
Ball State falls in back-and-forth battle with Western Michigan
September 10, 2022 | Football
Cardinals put up nearly 450 yards of offense, but fall late to Broncos
The Cardinals (0-2, 1-1 MAC) put up 447 yards of offense, highlighted by a 147-yard performance and one touchdown on the ground from running back Carson Steele and a 291-yard aerial attack on 23-of-39 passing with two touchdowns from quarterback John Paddock.
However, the Broncos (1-1, 1-0) used a patient ground game that broke open in the fourth quarter and totaled 207 yards on 43 carries to take the result.
"Tough loss. That's what the Mid-American Conference is all about," head coach Mike Neu said. "In the last three years, we've been in 15 one-possession games, like it was today. Give credit to Western Michigan. They made some critical plays in situations down the stretch, and we did not."
After Western Michigan got on the board with a rushing touchdown, Ball State earned three consecutive scores with the big play coming from a diving touchdown catch by Yo'Heinz Tyler mid-way through the first. Tyler had five catches for 52 yards on the day.
Kicker Ben VonGunten add a pair of field goals – one from 20 yards out and another from 47 yards away – to make it 13-7 late into the second quarter.
After another score in which the Broncos regained the lead, 14-13, the Cardinals went 44 yards in 27 seconds to set up a 44-yard field goal try from VonGunted, which was drilled as time expired and gave the home team a 16-14 lead into the locker room.
Steele gave Ball State its biggest lead of the afternoon after punching in a one-yard rush on fourth down to make it 23-14.
Western Michigan then used drives of eight and 10 plays, respectively, to make it a six-point ballgame at 29-23 in favor of the road team just after the start of the fourth quarter.
Wideouts Amir Abdur-Rahman and Jayshon Jackson put up nearly identical receiving marks with seven catches for 90 yards and seven receptions for 80 yards, respectively, while Abdur-Rahman added a one-handed touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinals a 30-29 lead.
The Broncos countered by scoring on a 60-yard run from La'Darius Jefferson, who had 18 carries for 67 yards and three scores, to regain the lead and mark the game's final score, 37-30. Sean Tyler led the way for Western Michigan with 15 carries, 123 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, defensive backs Jaquan Amos and Jordan Riley guided Ball State with eight tackles apiece, while Amos added 3.0 tackles-for-loss. Fellow secondary member Amechi Uzodinma II added an interception in the fourth quarter. Clayton Coll and Malcolm Lee had six stops each.
"I do believe that our football team is getting better," Neu added. "We're certainly not where we want to be at. We just need to focus on getting better every day. If we can do that and everyone can be bought in to that, we're going to be just fine."
Ball State returns to action Saturday, Sept. 17 for Family Weekend vs. Murray State. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET inside Scheumann Stadium.
Team Stats
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WMU 7, BSU 0
WMU - Jefferson,La'Darius 4 yd run (Domschke,Palmer kick), 9 plays, 33 yards, TOP 03:39
WMU 7, BSU 7
BSU - Tyler,Yo'Heinz 2 yd pass from Paddock,John (VonGunten,Ben kick) 7 plays, 77 yards, TOP 01:47
WMU 7, BSU 10
BSU - VonGunten,Ben 20 yd field goal 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:52
WMU 7, BSU 13
BSU - VonGunten,Ben 47 yd field goal 5 plays, 37 yards, TOP 01:31
WMU 14, BSU 13
WMU - Jefferson,La'Darius 5 yd run (Domschke,Palmer kick), 12 plays, 81 yards, TOP 02:03
WMU 14, BSU 16
BSU - VonGunten,Ben 44 yd field goal 5 plays, 44 yards, TOP 00:27
WMU 14, BSU 23
BSU - Steele,Carson 1 yd run (VonGunten,Ben kick), 7 plays, 40 yards, TOP 02:40
WMU 21, BSU 23
WMU - Jefferson,La'Darius 4 yd run (Domschke,Palmer kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:44
WMU 29, BSU 23
WMU - Crooms,Corey 12 yd pass from Salopek,Jack (Salopek,Jack pass) 10 plays, 56 yards, TOP 03:39
WMU 29, BSU 30
BSU - Abdur-Rahman,Amir 39 yd pass from Paddock,John (VonGunten,Ben kick) 7 plays, 85 yards, TOP 01:44
WMU 37, BSU 30
WMU - Tyler,Sean 60 yd run (Jefferson,La'Darius rush), 1 plays, 60 yards, TOP 00:09
