Ball State University Athletics
Cardinals Look Toward Nonconference Matchup at Northwestern
October 05, 2026 | Football
MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State football will take a break from conference play this week with a nonconference matchup at Northwestern on Saturday. Head coach Mike Uremovich, along with Jamarion McDougle and Gavin Forsha, met with the media Monday to discuss the challenge of facing Northwestern.
Uremovich talked about the challenge of facing the Wildcats, as the program is riding off a 34-13 victory over Penn State last Friday.
"It's a big challenge for us to go on the road and play well up there in a tough environment," Uremovich said. "We're going to hopefully stay healthy this week and get some guys back and be ready to go compete."
Uremovich described the importance of finding success early in drives to avoid allowing Northwestern's pass rush to take over.
"We have to stay ahead of the chains because we can't be in third-and-long against what they do with their blitz package on third down," Uremovich said. "They just out-execute everybody."
The Cardinals prepare for a unique Wildcats offense that is coming off a 506-yard performance against the Nittany Lions.
"[Northwestern] runs plays that people don't see very often and don't defend very often," Uremovich said. "We have to know our rules and we have to teach some new rules for some of the things they're doing this week. It's going to be new stuff that we haven't practiced a ton against."
Forsha reiterated the importance of staying focused on defense and sticking to the game plan.
"We really have to stay locked in on our keys and can't get wandering eyes," Forsha said. "We need to be detailed and do our assignment every single play."
Offensively, Ball State looks to build off last week's first-half success. The unit strung together a 10-play, 75-yard opening drive to take a 7-0 lead against Toledo.
"We were able to do that because we played with each other," McDougle said. "We were playing together and I feel like we are building off of each other. We just need to keep working hard."
The Cardinals viewed last week's matchup as a step toward moving the team in the right direction.
"I think Toledo was a good stepping stone in the right direction for us and I think we should build upon it and see where next week takes us," Forsha said. "We played Toledo close for a lot of the game and I feel like we have a lot of stuff to build on."
The Cardinals will travel to Evanston, Ill. on Oct. 10, with kickoff scheduled for 12:30 p.m. The game will be available on Big Ten Network and WLBC 104.5.
