Cardinals Down Rockets, Move to 6-0

Coming into Saturday's Toledo game, these Cardinals had been through just about everything a team can go through in one season... and that was only in two weeks. Extreme attention, the loss of a star player, an emotional win over an in-state rival. Saturday saw the Cardinals take to the road, against a good Toledo team, in a night game in the Glass Bowl. It had "Trap Game" written all over it.

But here we sit on Monday and it's another Cardinal win. An ugly 3-0 first half gave way to a 28-point second half, for a 31-0 Cardinal victory. The win proves that these Cards can win the tough ones and won't fold up when they don't jump out to an early large lead. Additionally, it proved the Ball State defense is for real, they're deep at the skill positions, and all that talk about trap game was for naught. Some things I take away from the win...

• This defense is legit. Yes, I know it was Toledo, but Toledo is a pretty decent football team with an offense that can light it up when need be. The Cards held the Rockets to 157 total yards and only 14 on the ground. That's an average of 0.7 yards per rushing attempt. Damn strong.
• Speaking of that defense, it was the OTP Liveblog Player of the Game on Saturday. For those that missed it, the Liveblog once again was rocking and rolling and provided a nice way to chat about the fame with fellow Cards fans. Kudos defense!
• Coming in a close second for the PotG award was MiQuale Lewis. The junior rushed for 157 and 2 scores on 31 attempts. Another solid day at the office for Lewis, who is quickly putting up numbers that will make people take notice.
• Nate and the passing attack went for 242 yards, but no touchdowns. Nothing to really be concerned about here, as he did exhibit democracy for all the receivers, hitting 8 different players with pass completions as the day went on.
• This team is deep... and most importantly... young. The only seniors who made significant contributions on Saturday statistically were TE Darius Hill and P Chris Miller. Of course, four of the five starters on the O-line are seniors, but let's ignore that.

All in all, another day, another dollar, another Ball State victory. They've got a couple of games to get ready for the heart of their MAC schedule, and Brady and co. get to see what it's like to prep for a game with a small little number next to your name in every telecast. That number? 25. As in 25th in the Associated Press poll. That number should climb higher and realistically could be mid-teens by the time the Cards face the Chippewas in mid-November.

Hoke-O-Meter:
(1-5 Bradys, 1 being happy enough to burst into song,
5 being filled with murderous rage)

1 Bradys

There is room for improvement, as a sluggish first half has got to be avoided in future road dates. But so far, so good, and it's all systems go in Muncie.