Cardinals Battle Bobcats to Close Regular Season

Ball State (3-8, 2-5 MAC) at Ohio (8-3, 6-1 MAC)
Game 12 - at Ohio	Friday, Nov. 29 at Noon Live Stats \| CBSSN \| Ball State Gainbridge Radio Network \| WMUN App Google \| WMUN App Apple
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All-Century Team Voting and 100th Season	All-Century Team sponsored by Gainbridge \| 100th Season Video \| 100 Yards of History \| Ball State Celebrates 100th Season \| 2024 Record Book
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MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State closes the 2024 season at Ohio on Black Friday, Nov. 29, when the Cardinals travel to Athens, Ohio to face the Bobcats. Ball State hopes to play spoiler while the Bobcats contend for a bid to the MAC title game. The Cardinals have not won in Athens since 2011.

** Nine-year head coach Mike Neu ended his tenure as the leader of Ball State's football program following the Cardinals' overtime defeat at Buffalo on Nov. 12. Since Nov. 16 when sixth-year offensive line coach and running game coordinator Colin Johnson was named as interim head coach, the Cardinals dropped a 38-13 decision to Bowling Green. A 2003 Ball State graduate and former center and team captain for the Cardinals, Johnson takes the reigns Friday for his second game as a college head coach.

** Ball State trailed the Falcons 10-7 at halftime last Saturday, but faltered 28-6 in the second half as Bowling Green added a win to its MAC ledger while battling Ohio and Miami for the MAC's regular season title. Kadin Semonza threw for 211 yards and two TDs, including a 51-yard strike to running back Vaughn Pemberton who nabbed the longest reception of his career. Defensively, the Cardinals were led by George Udo's 11 tackles. Keionte Newson had seven tackles, and Riley Tolsma contributed six stops with a pair of sacks.

** Tanner Koziol's 84 catches this season are the most ever by a Ball State tight end. He needs six grabs to eclipse Darius Hill's mark of 158 catches, the most in a career by a Cardinals' tight end, from 2005 to 2008.

** Koziol already is the first TE in Ball State history with over 70 catches and 700 yards, and he needs just 49 yards to reach 80 & 800. His 84 grabs rank seventh in Ball State history by any receiver and they are the most by a Cardinal since Willie Snead's record season with 106 grabs in 2013. He is 175 yards shy of the Cardinals' single-season mark for receiving yards - 926 by Hill in 2007.

** Koziol is a national semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, presented to the country's most outstanding tight end. Darius Hill, in 2008, is the only other Ball State player to receive that distinction.

** 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. Season-long 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.

BY THE NUMBERS
1 - Ball State is tied with Georgia Tech, Louisiana and San Diego State as national co-leaders with just one lost fumble this season.

6 - Still in his third college season, Tanner Koziol (153) needs six catches to break the Cardinals' career mark for receptions by a TE (158).

7.6 - Tanner Koziol is 4th in FBS rankings with 7.6 catches per game. His 84 receptions this year are a Ball State record for a tight end.

67 - Keionte Newson & George Udo enter Friday's game tied as Ball State's tackling co-leaders with 67. Newson led the club in 2023 with 81.

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Players Mentioned

Tanner Koziol

Keionte Newson

Vaughn Pemberton

Kadin Semonza

Riley Tolsma

George Udo