Man, what a gut punch. Ball State football just absolutely imploded in what was supposed to be their biggest test yet this season, dropping a brutal 51-15 loss at Liberty on Saturday, Sept. 19. That puts them at a miserable 1-2 on the year, and it feels a lot worse than it sounds. While their 56-3 annihilation at Ohio State was expected, and the 41-17 win over FCS Stony Brook was a gimme, this Liberty game was supposed to show where they really stood. In theory, Liberty was a peer, a fellow Group of Six team. They even looked vulnerable, barely beating Gardner-Webb and carrying the same 4-8 record from last year as Ball State. But in reality? Ball State was nowhere near their level.
What Went Wrong? Literally Everything.
The Cardinals’ problems were everywhere on that field. The offense couldn’t move the ball to save its life, the defense couldn’t get a single stop, and they just shot themselves in the foot with a mind-boggling **11 penalties** for the second week in a row! Head coach Mike Uremovich didn’t pull any punches either. “Disappointed in the result, disappointed in the coaching,” Uremovich said. “It starts with me, ends with me. I didn’t have the team ready to perform because they didn’t perform very well today in any aspects.” You gotta respect the accountability, but man, those are some harsh words after a performance like that.
The Offense Was a One-Trick Pony, And the Trick Didn’t Last
On offense, the only thing that worked was the ground game. TJ Horton was a beast, rumbling for 79 yards on just eight carries, averaging an insane 9.9 yards per pop, and scoring both of Ball State’s touchdowns. Johnny Thompson Jr. added 41 yards on seven carries, and even QB Keldric Luster chipped in 30 rushing yards. They had seven runs of 10-plus yards! That’s great, right? Wrong. Because the aerial attack was completely nonexistent. Luster, who had some success against Stony Brook, finished a pathetic 10-of-21 for only 93 yards. Zero plays of 15 or more yards through the air. You can’t be one-dimensional like that in college football, especially when you’re 1-for-8 on third downs and gave up four sacks. Three sacks hit Luster, and one came against backup Tyler Mizzell in garbage time. Uremovich laid it out straight, saying, “When we’re behind the sticks all day and everybody in the stadium knows we’ve got to pass the freaking ball, it’s not that hard to play defense against it. I mean, they got a sack at the end when they rushed three people and dropped eight. He had nowhere to go with the football. We can’t be giving up sacks against a three-man rush.” Oof.
The Defense Was Even Uglier
If you thought the offense was bad, the defense was somehow worse. Against Ohio State and Stony Brook, they at least started strong before fading. Against Liberty? They never even showed up. Liberty racked up 460 total yards of offense and scored touchdowns on seven of their 10 drives. Liberty QB Deshawn Purdie looked like a pro, carving up Ball State’s secondary from clean pockets, going 13-of-20 for 211 yards and three TDs. And their stable of running backs? They ate ’em alive, averaging 5.3 yards per carry on 40 attempts for a grand total of 212 rushing yards. This wasn’t just a loss; it was a total collapse across the board. The Cardinals are 1-2 now, and if they don’t fix this mess fast, this season is gonna be a long, painful ride.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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