Cardinals Continue MAC-tion Play Tuesday With First Trip to Buffalo Since 2016

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MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State prepares for yet another tight Mid-American Conference matchup next Tuesday when the Cardinals visit Buffalo for the first time since 2016. The Cardinals, 2-3 in the MAC, have played to a difference of six points or less in all five MAC games, and in eight of their past nine MAC games dating to last year.

** The Cardinals fell 27-21 on election night to Miami, allowing a pair of Redhawks field goals in the fourth quarter after knotting the score in the third. Ball State drove to the Miami 34-yard line on its final possession, but turned the ball over on downs with 54 seconds left.

** Besides a pair of Jackson Courville field goals, the Cardinals scored on a pair of big-play touchdowns. Senior linebacker Brandon Berger scored Ball State's first defensive TD of the season with an interception return on a Miami punt attempt that went awry. After Miami's punt snap was fumbled, the punter attempted a pass that fell into Berger's arms and he rambled 46 yards for the score and a 7-0 lead. Ball State tied the score 21-21 in the third period when Kadin Semonza found Justin Bowick for a 55-yard score down the left sideline. Cam Pickett ran into the endzone for a two-point conversion.

** Bowick had eight catches for 171 yards and the best receiving day for Cardinals receiver since Riley Miller's 208-yard performance against Kent State in 2018. His eight catches were a career high and he finished six yards shy of his career high, 177, while at Eastern Illinois.

** Tanner Koziol caught four first-half passes to establish a new Ball State single-season mark (68) for receptions by a tight end. He enters the Buffalo game 22 catches shy of breaking the Cardinals' career mark for receptions by a tight end (158 by Darius Hill, 2005-08). Koziol's 629 yards this year are fifth by a Ball State TE, 41 yards shy of Hill's 670 in 2008 which are third on the list. Like Koziol's distinction last week, Hill was Ball State's only other national semifinalist for the Mackey Award honoring the nation's most outstanding tight end.

** 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.

WHAT A WIN MEANS:
** Ball State will move back to .500 in the MAC and win for the 12th time in 14 meetings with the Bulls.
** Currently tied with Dwight Wallace for fourth in Ball State football history with 40 career victories, Mike Neu will stand alone as the Cardinals' fourth-winningest head coach.

BALL STATE BY THE NUMBERS
8.0 - Tanner Koziol is 5th in FBS rankings with 8.0 catches per game. Receptions over the last six weeks: 9, 9, 9, 8, 9 and 9.

22 - Still in his third college season, Tanner Koziol (137) needs 22 catches to break the Cardinals' career mark for receptions by a TE (158).

46 - Brandon Berger's 46-yard interception return for TD against Miami was the Cardinals' first defensive score of the 2024 season.

55 - Ball State's longest offensive scoring play this season came on last week's 55-yard TD throw from Kadin Semonza to Justin Bowick.

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Cardinals Continue MAC-tion Play Tuesday With First Trip to Buffalo Since 2016

Players Mentioned

Brandon Berger

Justin Bowick

Jackson Courville

Tanner Koziol

Cam Pickett

Kadin Semonza

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