IU v. Ball State: A Loss 31 Years in the Making

[Brett Goldenhorn]

September 24, 1977- The Indiana Hoosiers matched up against Miami University of Ohio and lost. I bring that up for one reason and one reason alone: the Hoosiers loss this Saturday to Ball State University marked the first time IU has been defeated by a Mid-American Conference team in just a few days short of 31 years. Many Hoosiers fans mistakenly dismissed this game as an automatic win, however.

The first half was a scare, but the second half was just plain ugly. On a day when Kellen Lewis ran for 148 yards and a touchdown and also passed for 159 yards, the Cardinals of Ball State came out of the gates swinging.

MiQuale Lewis, the running back for the Cardinals ran for 166 yards and four touchdowns. Ball State had four rushing touchdowns to Indiana’s one. On top of that, add one passing touchdown to Indiana’s none. Why don’t you tack on a 40 yard interception return by BSU strong safety Sean Baker to top it all off.

I have only two possible answers for fans about this unexpected debacle that was Saturday evening: Either Ball State is for real, beating Navy then IU, or Sports Illustrated was correct in picking the Hoosiers to bottom out the Big Ten this year.

The first half supported the first possibility. The Hoosiers put up 20 points in a surprise shootout with the Cardinals. After that, however, in the second half the Hoosiers, to put it lightly, stunk. They scored zero points and gave up two fourth quarter rushing touchdowns to turn it from close to a blowout just like that.

I love my Hoosiers just as much as the rest of you, but when we're getting routed by Ball State University, there is something to be said. Scoring zero second half points against a MAC team is unacceptable and atrocious. I wish the Hoosiers good luck next week against their first real opponent of the season.

If Coach Lynch doesn’t get to work soon, we can expect more of the same from the Michigan State Spartans. The game is being played at Memorial Stadium at noon next Saturday. It will close out a four-game home stand that the Hoosiers will likely split 2-2.

But hey, the Hoosiers have proven me wrong before and I certainly hope they do once more.

[DJWhite03]

Hmm... Ball State's first ever win against a BCS school. I don't like our Hoosiers giving them that win. BUT, that being said, I think this year may be a great, great year for the Cardinals.

• Nate Davis, their junior quarterback, may be among the best in the nation. He's a great decision maker, an athlete, and overall just a better quarterback than Kellen Lewis (sorry IU fans). How does a school like BSU end up with a kid like him? Who knows. His stock is on the rise, though, and if Dante Love hadn't gotten injured Saturday, he could have had an even more special season.
• Ball State is for real. The score may have been close for a while, but they really just killed us on both sides of the ball. They are now 4-0 and I think they have a legitimate shot to go undefeated the rest of the regular season. It will be interesting to see how their MAC schedule plays out, but if it goes well, we could be talking about the Cardinals in a BIG bowl game this postseason.
• It's not just a passing game that BSU has on offense. MiQuale Lewis, a junior running back that many in Indiana knew as a high school standout from Fort Wayne Snider, has finally emerged as a star back. He's got 529 yards and 7 touchdowns on the season--through 4 games. Barring an injury, this team is going places.

It's unfortunate that the game didn't turn out for us how we would've liked it. But let's not pretend it was to a lesser team. They deserved it and it's nothing to be ashamed of.