Cardinals and Commodores Tangle in Nashville

Ball State (2-4, 1-2 MAC) at Vanderbilt (4-2, 2-1 SEC)
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MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State visits Nashville to battle a Southeastern Conference opponent for the third time in two seasons. Counting its game at Miami (Fla.) last month, Saturday's game reflects the Ball State's fourth matchup against a Power Four opponent the past two years.

**Ball State used seven sacks and a strong run defense to get past Kent State last Saturday. The Cardinals led 27-7 in the third period, but big plays kept Kent State in the game, cutting the lead to 27-21 early in the fourth. Even after Jackson Courville's third field goal of the contest staked the Cardinals to a 30-21 lead with 3:19 to play, the Golden Flashes got two more touchdowns to keep applying pressure to the Ball State lead. Vaughn Pemberton's 41- yard burst with 1:13 was the difference-maker in the 37-35 victory.

**For the first time this year, it was the Cardinals' defense that shone most brightly against Kent State. Brandon Berger had a career-high three sacks and the total defensive effort limited Kent State to just 67 rushing yards. Riley Tolsma and Joey Stemler each had eight tackles, and Stemler added 1.5 sacks. The Cardinals totaled nine stops in the Flashes' backfield.

**Junior TE Tanner Koziol ranks seventh nationally with 7.7 receptions per game, grabbing eight catches at Kent State after corralling exactly nine in each of the previous three weeks. He ranks second among tight ends in catches per game and third with 72.3 yards per game.

**FCS transfer Braedon Sloan has netted 423 yards on 99 carries this season, in addition to 222 yards on 19 catches. The versatile Sloan has approached or exceeded the 100-yard mark in all-purpose yards in each game: 155 vs. Western Michigan, 103 vs. Missouri State, 97 at Kent State, 94 at CMU and 72 at JMU. He scored two rushing touchdowns last Saturday.

**The 100th anniversary of Ball State's first season in 1924 coincides with the 100th season on the field, given that the Cardinals didn't field a team in 1943 due to World War II. Seasonlong celebrations of the 100th season will be displayed at Scheumann Stadium this season. Similarly, it is the program's 50th season in the MAC -- formally joining the league in 1973 and playing its first football games in 1975.

WHAT A WIN MEANS:
**Currently the fifth winningest coach in Ball State football history, Mike Neu will capture his 40th victory as head coach of his alma mater, tying Dwight Wallace (40) with the fourthmost wins as the Cardinals' head coach.

BY THE NUMBERS:
7.7: Tanner Koziol is 7th in FBS rankings with 7.7 catches per game. Receptions over the last four weeks: 9, 9, 9 and 8.
33.5: Malcolm Gillie's 33.5-yard KOR average is second in the country. He topped the FBS rankings prior to the game at Kent State.
16 of 17: The Cardinals have scored on 16 of 17 trips into the Red Zone, with touchdowns on 12 of those drives (8 passing, 4 rushing).
100: In what is the 100th season of Ball State football, former Cardinals QB Mike Neu coaches his 100th game as the Ball State head coach.

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Berger

Jackson Courville

Malcolm Gillie

Tanner Koziol

Vaughn Pemberton

Braedon Sloan

Joey Stemler

Riley Tolsma