FOOTBALL GAMEDAY: Glass Bowl Awaits Cardinals and Rockets

Ball State (4-6, 3-3 MAC) at Toledo (6-4, 4-2 MAC)
Game 11 - at Toledo	Saturday, Nov. 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+
Ball State Gainbridge Radio Network	Radio Pre- and Postgame: 1:00 p.m. ET on WMUN 92.5 FM/1340 AM Game Broadcast: 2:00 p.m. ET on WLBC 104.1 FM WMUN Listen Live \| WLBC Listen Live
Game Notes and Media Info	Ball State \| Toledo \| MAC \| Media Center
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TOGETHER - A Ball State Sports Link Documentary Series	Episode 1 \| Episode 2 \| Episode 3 \| Episode 4 \| Episode 5 \| Episode 6 \| Episode 7 \| Episode 8 \| Episode 9 \| Episode 10

MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State opens its final two weeks of the regular season with contention for a bowl game and a MAC Championship Game still very much in play. In the Cardinals' way, though, are a pair of road bouts against Toledo, Nov. 22, and Miami, Nov. 29, who currently sit a game ahead of Ball State in conference standings.

-- The Cardinals absorbed a 24-9 defeat to Eastern Michigan last weekend, which not only tainted an otherwise perfect home record, but put Ball State in seventh place in the MAC standings with a 3-3 league record -- behind five teams tied at 4-2.

-- Should the Cardinals win at Toledo and Miami the next two weeks, Ball State would need losses by Buffalo, Central Michigan and Ohio in order to finish in a second-place tie at 5-3. Ohio and Buffalo play each other, so the only help the Cardinals would need to create that scenario is a CMU loss to either Kent State or Toledo; and the winner of the Ohio-Buffalo contest must lose its other game. A loss in either of the next two weeks eliminates Ball State from contention for a bowl game or the MAC Championship Game.

-- Ball State remains two wins from bowl eligibility, with two games to play. Ball State coach Mike Uremovich is vying to become the first Ball State coach ever to lead the Cardinals to a bowl game in his first season on the Muncie sidelines.

-- Ball State defensive end Nathan Voorhis added his MAC-leading 11th sack of the season two weeks ago against Kent State. He remains third nationally in sacks per game (1.10) and total sacks. He has earned at least one sack in seven of Ball State's 10 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).

-- Offensively, quarterback Kiael Kelly leads the Cardinals with 527 rushing yards and 1,217 passing yards. Kelly's 1,217 pass yards this season already have surpassed his first three seasons combined (608), more than tripling his career total to 1,825. On the ground, Kelly's 1,435 career rushing yards are 179 from breaking the Cardinals' career rushing mark (1,613) by a quarterback.

WHAT A WIN MEANS:
-- Ball State will alternate wins and losses for the 10th consecutive week.
-- The Cardinals will win their fourth MAC game for the first time since a 4-4 mark in 2021.
-- The Cardinals will move within a game of bowl eligibility, a status they last achieved in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

INSIDE THE SERIES: TOLEDO
-- Saturday's 50th meeting against the Rockets marks the sixth team Ball State has played at least 50 times.
-- The 2024 season was the only time in the Cardinals' 50-year tenure in the MAC that the Rockets and Cardinals did not play on the gridiron.
-- Toledo has won eight of the past ten meetings in the series, beginning a five-game win streak in 2014. Ball State won home-and-road games in 2019 and 2020 during that stretch.

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 Toledo. 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 two games to play in the regular season, Ball State (3-3 in MAC play) remains one game out of second place in the Mid-American Conference, and therefore remains in contention for a possible bid in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game.
-- Ball State's only defeat against the six programs currently in first or second place 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 (4-2) and Miami (4-2) to end the regular season.
-- Should the Cardinals win at Toledo and Miami the next two weeks, Ball State would need losses by Buffalo, Central Michigan and Ohio in order to finish in a second-place tie at 5-3.
-- Ohio and Buffalo play each other, so the only help the Cardinals would need to create that scenario is a CMU loss to either Kent State or Toledo; and the winner of the Ohio-Buffalo contest must lose its other game.
-- A loss in either of the next two weeks eliminates Ball State from contention for a bowl game or the MAC Championship Game.
-- Under the leadership of first-year coach Mike Uremovich, Ball State was picked 10th in the MAC coaches preseason poll.

... AND THE BOWLING CONVERSATION
-- Ball State is two wins from bowl eligibility for the first time since the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
-- Mike Uremovich would become the first, first-year coach in program history to lead a Cardinals team into a bowl game.
-- Uremovich would join six other Ball State coaches who have guided the Cardinals into a bowl game: Ray Louthen (1965 & 1967), Paul Schudel (1989 & 1993), Bill Lynch (1996), Brady Hoke (2007 & 2008), Pete Lembo (2012 & 2013) and Mike Neu (2020 & 2021).

TURNOVER CARDS: FIRST FIVE VS. LAST FIVE
-- Over the past five games, the Ball State defense has forced TEN turnovers (7 INTs, 3 FRs), compared to just ONE in its first five games.

LEWIS LEADING CARDINALS AIR DEFENSE
-- Ball State has intercepted a pass in five straight games, the longest streak in one season by a Cardinals team since a six-game streak to end the 2020 campaign.
-- The Cardinals had zero interceptions in their first five games, with seven over the last five.
-- The last time Ball State had a longer streak, overall, was a seven-game stretch over the 2020 and 2021 bowl seasons.
-- Joedrick Lewis had interceptions in three straight games against Akron, Northern Illinois and Kent State. Other picks over the past five games have come from Eric McClain (WMU), Roman Pearson (Akron), Michael Gravely Jr. (EMU) and Muheem McCargo (EMU).

VOORHIS: THIRD AMONG FBS SACKS LEADERS
-- Nathan Voorhis (pronounced VORR-is) currently ranks third among FBS leaders for sacks per game (1.10) and total sacks (11), and is two shy of Ball State's single-season program record of 13.
-- Voorhis has had a sack in seven of Ball State's 10 games and boasts eight sacks over five Cardinals' home games, including a career-high 3.5 in a victory over MAC-leading Ohio.
-- His 3.5 sacks against Ohio are tied as the most in any game by an FBS player this year, (Isaiah Smith of SMU had 3.5 against Boston College; and Western Michigan's Nadame Tucker who had 3.5 against Ball State.)

FBS Sacks Leaders
Player   Gms   Sacks   Yds   SPG
1.   Cashius Howell, Tex A&M   10   11.5   80   1.15
2.   David Bailey, Texas Tech   11   12.5   114   1.14
3.   Nathan Voorhis, Ball State   10   11.0   74   1.10
4.   Nadame Tucker, W. Mich.   10   10.5   82   1.05
5.   Melkart Abou Jaoude, UNC   10   10.0   61   1.00

CARDINALS' ALL-TIME SACKS LEADERS
-- MAC 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
7.   Wilber McDonald, 1997   10.0   71

-- 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.

LIMIT THE FLAGS
-- The MAC leader for almost the entire season in fewest penalties (45), fewest penalties per game (4.50), fewest penalty yards (384) and fewest penalty yards per game (38.40), the Cardinals slipped to second this week in all four categories behind conference frontrunner Western Michigan (43 | 4.30 | 354 | 35.40).

KELLY AS QB1
-- Kiael (pronounced ky-ELL) Kelly has appeared in 34 career games and been a starter in 19 overall (twice at WR, once as utility QB).
-- In the 16 games in which he has started as Ball State's primary QB, Kelly has amassed 1,174 rushing yards on 280 carries, for an average of 73.4 yards per game.
-- He has rushed for 90+ yards in six of his 16 starts as QB1, including games this year against New Hampshire and Ohio.
-- The Cardinals are 6-6 in the MAC with Kelly as QB1, including a 3-3 mark to end the 2023 season. He finished his home career last week with a 6-3 career mark as QB1.
-- 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 Toledo game 179 yards shy of breaking 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 89.5 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 1,435 career rush yards overall through 10 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   1,435   355
3.   Riley Neal, 2015-18   1,363   325

BALL STATE BY THE NUMBERS
6-6 -- Kiael Kelly's record in the MAC as QB1. He was 3-3 during a six-game stretch in 2023, and 3-3 so far in 2025
10 -- Takeaways by Ball State over its past five games -- 7 INTs and 3 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.
179 -- Kiael Kelly needs 179 rushing yards to pass Art Yaroch (1,613 from 1973-76) with the most career rush yards in by a Ball State quarterback.

FOOTBALL GAMEDAY: Glass Bowl Awaits Cardinals and Rockets

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Players Mentioned

Michael Gravely Jr.

Kiael Kelly

Joedrick Lewis

Muheem McCargo

Eric McClain

Roman Pearson

Riley Tolsma

Nathan Voorhis