FOOTBALL GAMEDAY: Cardinals Aim for Perfect Home Record When Eastern Michigan Visits Muncie

Ball State (4-5, 3-2 MAC) vs. Eastern Michigan (3-7, 2-4 MAC)
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MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State puts an unblemished home mark on the line Saturday in a home finale and Senior Day when it hosts Eastern Michigan and tries to complete an unbeaten home record for the first time since a 6-0 finish in 2013.

-- The Cardinals moved to 4-0 at home last Wednesday night in Midweek #MAC-tion play while upending Kent State, 17-13, with a late TD pass from Kiael Kelly to tight end Kameron Anthony. Ball State scored first and led 10-0 before 13 unanswered points by the Golden Flashes put the home streak in jeopardy. Ball State faced 3rd-and-12 at Kent State's 39-yard line, with 2:23 to play, when Kelly found Anthony for a 10-yard completion. Following a timeout, Kelly hit Anthony again, on 4th-and-2, for the clinching 29-yard touchdown. Entering that series of downs, Anthony had two career catches for 15 yards.

-- While the Ball State offense has shined at Scheumann Stadium so far this season, averaging 32.0 points per game prior to last week's victory, the Cardinals labored through the final three quarters against Kent State. Leading 10-0, Ball State punted five times and missed on a pair of 50-yard field goal tries until capitalizing on Kent State miscues and taking its final possession just 37 yards from paydirt. Four plays later, the Cardinals were celebrating.

-- Ball State defensive end Nathan Voorhis added his MAC-leading 11th sack of the season against Kent State. He ranks first nationally in sacks per game (1.22), second in total sacks, and has earned at least one sack in seven of Ball State's nine games. Within two sacks of the Cardinals' program record, his 11 sacks are the most since Anthony Winbush recorded 11.5 in 2017. The Ball State record of 13 is shared by Kelly George (1982) and Craig Newburg (1981).

-- Other defensive stars against Kent State included Joey Stemler with a season-high 10 tackles, the most by a Ball State player this season, and Joedrick Lewis who corraled an interception for the third straight game. Lewis' fourth-quarter pick turned back one of several Kent State drives deep in Cardinals' territory.

-- Offensively, Qua Ashley and Kiael Kelly remain the Cardinals' rushing leaders with 525 and 470 net yards this season. Kelly's 1,155 passing yards this season already have surpassed his first three seasons combined (608), more than doubling his career total to 1,763.

WHAT A WIN MEANS:
-- Ball State will record consecutive wins for the first time this season.
-- Ball State will move to 5-0 in Scheumann Stadium for the first time since 2013 when the Cardinals went 6-0 at home (10-3 overall) and earned a berth into the GoDaddy Bowl.
-- The Cardinals will finish with an unbeaten and untied home record for the eighth time at Scheumann Stadium and the 17th time in program history. The last was a 3-0 mark in 2020.
-- The Cardinals will win their fourth MAC game for the first time since a 4-4 mark in 2021.
-- Mike Uremovich will become the first Ball State coach to go unbeaten at home in his first year as coach, since Dwight Wallace went 5-0 (10-1 overall, 8-0 MAC) and won the MAC title in 1978.

INSIDE THE SERIES: EASTERN MICHIGAN
-- Saturday's 66th meeting between Ball State and Eastern Michigan stands as the longest series in program history.
-- Since 14 meetings between 1936 and 1970, the Cardinals and Eagle met on the gridiron in every season from 1973 to 2023 (51 seasons), stopped last season when the MAC dropped its divisional format.
-- Besting the Eagles with a 37-26-2 record in the series, Ball State has gotten the better of Eastern Michigan at both Scheumann Stadium (17-13-2) and Rynearson Stadium (20-13).
-- Since 2000, the Cardinals are 16-8 vs. EMU.
-- Ball State began playing in the MAC in 1975, EMU in 1976. Prior to 1976, EMU led the early years of the series, 9-6-2. But since both schools have competed in the MAC, Ball State boasts a 31-17 advantage.
-- The last time Eastern Michigan won three straight against the Cardinals was 2016-18, taking two in Muncie and one in Ypsilanti.

SENIOR DAY
-- Twenty-one Ball State senior student-athletes will be honored before Saturday's Senior Day game against EMU: Jack Beebe, Drew Cassens, Alfred Chea, Adam Dolan, Koby Gross, Otto Hess, Scott Hudson, Drew Hughes, Kiael Kelly, Qian Magwood, Muheem McCargo, DC Pippin, Nick Presley, Aaron Roberts, Hunter Sanderson, Adam Saul, Zavier Simpson, Joey Stemler, Nathan Voorhis, Jackson Wiegold and Khristian Zachary.
-- Nine of those departing seniors players are among 11 Cardinals have already received their undergraduate degrees:
From Ball State (6): Jack Beebe, Drew Hughes, Aidan Leffler, Joey Stemler, Maximus Webster and Jackson Wiegold
Transfers (5): Drew Cassens (Butler), Alfred Chea (UConn), Adam Dolan (Butler), Aaron Roberts (Purdue) and Eric Weatherly (Bucknell).
-- Also recognized on Saturday will be seven senior student staffers: Brittney Bottomley, Megan Heilman, Cecelia Kramer, Dane Massey, Cam Pippin, Cosmo Rodriguez and Madisyn Standridge.

STATEMENT WIN FOR UREMOVICH?
-- First-year coach Mike Uremovich aims to become just the second coach in Ball State history to open his first season with an unbeaten and untied record in the Cardinals' home stadium.
-- He would be the first to do so while inheriting a team with a losing record.
-- The only other coach to make that claim was Dwight Wallace in 1978, who inherited a 9-2 team and went 10-1 to win a conference title in his first season. Wallace and the Cardinals won the MAC championship (8-0) while finishing 5-0 at Scheumann Stadium.

TWO-WIN IMPROVEMENT IN FIRST SEASON
-- Mike Uremovich can lead the Cardinals to a two-win improvement over last season's three wins, with a Saturday victory over EMU. Since World War II, no coach has ever recorded more than a two-win improvement in his first year.
-- Former Ball State coaches with a two-win improvement in their first season: George Serdula (1953), Ray Louthen (1962), Bill Lynch (1995), Pete Lembo (2011).

STILL IN CHAMPIONSHIP CONVERSATION
-- With three games to play in the regular season, Ball State (3-2 in MAC play) remains one of seven teams within a game of first place in the Mid-American Conference.
-- Ball State's only defeat against the other top six programs was its loss at Western Michigan.
-- Looming large in any tiebreaker scenario is Ball State's 20-14 win over co-leader and defending champ Ohio.
-- Key games for the Cardinals are road bouts at Toledo (3-2) and Miami (4-1) to end the regular season.
-- Under the leadership of first-year coach Mike Uremovich, Ball State was picked 10th in the MAC coaches preseason poll.

EVERY GAME TIGHT IN THE MAC
-- Eleven of Ball State's past 17 games in the MAC have been decided by six points or less. Eleven of the last 15 have been decided by seven or less.
-- Six out of eight Ball State games in the Mid-American Conference last year were decided by six points or less -- five of those by three points or less.
-- Last season's only games not decided by six points or less were the season's final two games following a coaching change.
-- The 2024 campaign marked the first time in program history with six or more MAC games decided by six points or fewer.

SHAQ VANN: EMU GRAD & BALL STATE WR COACH AMONG 30 COACHES UNDER 30
-- Wide receivers coach and Eastern Michigan grad Shaq Vann has been named one of the top young Division I coaches in America by 247Sports.com. He had a successful on-field debut with the Cardinals, coaching a pair of all-conference selections (Cam Pickett, Malcolm Gillie) and having a successful recruiting cycle despite a head coaching change. Retained by Mike Uremovich, he previously spent time at Washington where he was a GA working with wide receivers. That WR group helped lead the Huskies to the national title game and had a trio of players picked among the first three rounds of the NFL Draft.
-- A native of South Bend, Indiana, Vann earned a master's degree at EMU while serving as a graduate assistant for two seasons before landing at Washington. A star running back for the Eagles, Vann ranks sixth in the EMU record book with 24 career touchdowns and finished his EMU career seventh with a career 2,577 rushing yards.
-- Vann's wide receiver group in 2025 may be led by veterans Qian Magwood, Ty Robinson and transfer Eric Weatherly, but the strongest of the group may be up-and-coming youngster Donovan Hamilton.

TURNOVER CARDS IN LAST FOUR GAMES
-- Over the past four games, the Ball State defense has forced EIGHT turnovers (5 INTs, 3 FRs), compared to just ONE in its first five games.

LEWIS LEADING CARDINALS AIR DEFENSE
-- Ball State has intercepted a pass in four straight games, with Joedrick Lewis boasting an interception in each of the past three.

LIMIT THE FLAGS
-- Ball State is the MAC's leader in fewest penalties (40), fewest penalty yards (339), fewest penalties per game (4.44) and fewest penalty yards per game (37.67).

Fewest Penalties - 1st in MAC, 10th in FBS
Fewest Penalties/Gm - 1st in MAC, 12th in FBS
Fewest Penalty Yds - 1st in MAC, 11th in FBS
Fewest Penalty Yds/Gm - 1st in MAC, 11th in FBS

VOORHIS: FBS SACKS LEADER
-- Nathan Voorhis (pronounced VORR-is) currently ranks first among FBS sack leaders (1.22 per game), and is two shy of Ball State's single-season program record of 13. His 11.0 total sacks rank second nationally.
-- Voorhis has had a sack in seven of Ball State's nine games and boasts eight sacks over four Cardinals' home games, including a career-high 3.5 in a victory over MAC-leading Ohio.
-- His 3.5 sacks against Ohio are the second-most in any game by an FBS player this year, trailing four by Isaiah Smith of SMU, against Boston College. (Ironically, Voorhis' 3.5 vs. Ohio are tied by Western Michigan's Nadame Tucker who had 3.5 against Ball State.)

FBS Sacks Leaders
Player   Gms   Sacks   Yds   SPG
1.   Nathan Voorhis, Ball State   9   11.0   74   1.22
2.   Cashius Howell, Tex A&M   9   10.5   76   1.17
3.   David Bailey, Texas Tech   10   11.5   107   1.15

CARDINALS' ALL-TIME SACKS LEADERS
-- MAC and FBS sacks leader Nathan Voorhis boasts 11.0 sacks on the year, twice as many as last year's leader, Riley Tolsma, who had 5.5.
-- Voorhis is just the second Ball State player since 2000 to record at least 10 sacks in a season. His current total of 11.0 is the most in a season for a Cardinals' defender since Anthony Winbush registered 11.5 in 2017.

Ball State Single-Season Sacks Leaders
Player   Sacks   Yds
1.   Kelly George, 1982   13.0   --
   Craig Newbury, 1981   13.0   --
3.   Anthony Winbush, 2017   11.5   64
4.   Nathan Voorhis, 2025   11.0   74
   Keith McKenzie, 1995   11.0   52
   Bryant Branigan, 1992   11.0   72

-- Anthony Winbush is the Cardinals' "NCAA-recognized" official record-holder with 11.5 sacks in 2017. Sacks have been officially recognized as an NCAA statistic since 2000. Ball State sack records date to 1978. Ball State sack yardage records date to 1990.
-- Since sack yardage was first recorded at Ball State in 1990, Voorhis' 74 yards in sack yardage this year is second in program history to Toby Beagle who had nine sacks for 82 yards in 1990.

CARDINALS AMONG MAC & FBS SACK LEADERS
-- As a team, Ball State's 2.33 sacks per game (21 total) rank fourth in the MAC and 40th nationally.

KELLY AS QB1
-- Kiael Kelly has appeared in 33 career games and been a starter in 18 games overall (twice at WR, once as utility QB).
-- In the 15 games in which he has started as Ball State's primary QB, Kelly has amassed 1,107 rushing yards on 265 carries, for an average of 73.8 yards per game.
-- He has rushed for 90+ yards in six of his 15 starts as QB1, including games this year against New Hampshire and Ohio.
-- The Cardinals are 6-5 in the MAC with Kelly as QB1, including a 3-3 mark to end the 2023 season.
-- With Kelly at the helm in 2023, Ball State averaged 235.3 rush yards over its last six games.

CAREER RUSHING BY A CARDINALS QB
-- Kiael Kelly is always a threat to gain yards with his legs, and he enters the Eastern Michigan game 245 yards shy of the Cardinals' career record for rushing yards by a quarterback. He is currently second in career rush yards by a QB.
-- He must average at least 82 yards per game in order to break the QB rushing record by the end of the regular season.
-- He tallied 83 yards in one game as a reserve in 2022. He rushed for 724 yards during a six-game stint as starter in 2023, and he compiled 91 lining up as a QB or wildcat last season.
-- Those 724 yards over six games in 2023 stand as a Ball State single-season record for a quarterback.
-- He boasts 1,368 career rush yards overall through nine games of the 2025 season. He is one of just three Ball State QBs ever to rush for over 1,000 yards in their careers.

Ball State Career Rushing Yards by a Quarterback
Player   Yards   Carries
1.   Art Yaroch, 1973-76   1,613   421
2.   Kiael Kelly, 2022-present   1,368   340

GAMES WITH 100 RUSHING YARDS BY A QB
-- Kiael Kelly is the second QB in Ball State history to rush for at least 100 yards in two different games. The other, Art Yaroch (pronounced yuh-ROW), quarterbacked from 1973-76 (in Ball State's first season in the MAC in 1975, and in their first league championship season a year later). Yaroch rushed for 100+ yards on four occasions.

KELLY PASSING HIGHS
-- Kiael (pronounced ky-ELL) Kelly had the three best passing games of his career in Ball State's games against UConn, Ohio and Kent State.
-- He had career highs with 17 completions and 209 passing yards at UConn, in addition to catching the first touchdown pass of his career.
-- He had similar numbers against Ohio, with 17 completions and a career-high 33 pass attempts. His 185 passing yards were the second-highest total of his career.
-- Against Kent State, he completed 17 passes for a third time this season and his 173 passing yards were the third-best of his career.
-- Kelly's 53-yard strike to Qian Magwood at UConn, one play before his 19-yard TD reception from Magwood, was the longest throw of his career.
-- He has accounted for (passed or scored) at least two touchdowns in five of the Cardinals' past seven games.

MAGWOOD & KELLY CONNECTIONS
-- Fifth-year senior Qian Magwood is Ball State's only returning player from the Cardinals' 2020 MAC championship season and he currently leads Ball State with 18.3 yards per catch. His 13 receptions are second to Eric Weatherly among wide receivers and he is always a favorite target of QB Kiael Kelly.
-- In the Ohio win, Kelly found Magwood for a 43-yard game-winning TD down the left sideline with 57 seconds remaining in the game.
-- On the final play of the first quarter at UConn, Kelly found Magwood on a screen pass. Magwood sprinted the right sideline for 53 yards for what was the longest catch of Magwood's career and the longest pass of Kelly's.
-- To open the second quarter, Kelly handed to Magwood on a reverse and ventured into his own route in the right flat. On the first pass of his career, Magwood found Kelly for a 19-yard TD, reaching the end zone for Ball State's first score.
-- In two consecutive plays at UConn, Kelly & Magwood connected for 72 yards with career longs and career firsts for both of them.

STRONG IN RUN GAME IS UREMOVICH MANTRA
--Since hired last December, head coach Mike Uremovich has preached a strong run game.
--Ball State has rushed at least 33 times in eight of nine games this season, averaging 134.3 yards per game on the ground. The Cardinals have tallied at least 170 rushing yards in four games, most recently with 216 yards in the win over Akron.
--Ball State is 3-1 when rushing for at least 170 yards. By comparison, Eastern Michigan has allowed at least 115 rushing yards in all 10 games, and at least 170 yards, with a 1-7 record, in 8 of 10.
--Ball State's season high 308 rushing yards against New Hampshire were the most Ball State rush yards in a game since 2019.
--The Cardinals had 243 yards on just 15 carries at halftime against UNH. It was just the 15th 300-yard rushing game in Ball State's 101-year football history.

CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH A RECEPTION
-- Wide receiver Eric Weatherly has caught a pass in 32 consecutive games, counting 23 over every game with Bucknell the past two seasons.
Only eight players in the country have caught passes in more consecutive games.

BY THE NUMBERS
6-5 -- Kiael Kelly's record in the MAC as QB1. He was 3-3 during a six-game stretch in 2023, and 3-2 to begin the 2025 campaign.
8 -- Takeaways by Ball State over its past four games -- five INTs and three fumble recoveries. The Cardinals collected just one in their first five games
11 -- Sacks by Nathan Voorhis are the most by a Cardinal since Anthony Winbush had 11.5 in the 2017 season. The program record is 13.
5-0 -- Ball State is looking to improve to 5-0 at home for the first time since the 2013 season, when the Cardinals went 6-0 at "The Scheu."

FOOTBALL GAMEDAY: Cardinals Aim for Perfect Home Record When Eastern Michigan Visits Muncie

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Players Mentioned

Kameron Anthony

Qua Ashley

Jack Beebe

Drew Cassens

Alfred Chea

Adam Dolan

Malcolm Gillie

Koby Gross

Donovan Hamilton

Otto Hess

Scott Hudson

Drew Hughes

Kiael Kelly

Aidan Leffler

Joedrick Lewis

Qian Magwood

Muheem McCargo

Cam Pickett

DC Pippin

Nick Presley

Aaron Roberts

Ty Robinson

Hunter Sanderson

Adam Saul

Zavier Simpson

Joey Stemler

Riley Tolsma

Nathan Voorhis

Eric Weatherly

Maximus Webster

Jackson Wiegold

Khristian Zachary