Ball State Football: Zips Topple Cards
MUNCIE — It was a tale of two halves Saturday in the Ball State football team’s 35-25 Homecoming loss to Akron at Scheumann Stadium.
The Cardinals (4-4, 1-3 MAC) piled up 267 yards in the first half, including 186 on the ground. They possessed the ball for nearly 20 minutes and built a 17-7 lead going into the break.
But Akron (5-3, 3-1 MAC) flipped the script in the second half. Ball State couldn’t keep its offense moving, while Akron scored touchdowns on its first three possessions after halftime to take control.
“You want to start fast, you want to sustain your drives, and you want to finish strong,” Ball State head coach Mike Neu said. “That’s the goal. That’s a formula you’d like to see. We got off to a good start, but as we know, there are two halves in football. We didn’t play as well as we needed to in the second half.”
Sophomore running back James Gilbert led Ball State offensively with 133 yards on 24 carries, topping the century mark for the fourth straight game and climbing within 13 yards of 1,000 for the season.
Quarterback Riley Neal threw for 187 yards and one touchdown while also running for 76 yards and another score. Senior wide out KeVonn Mabon hauled in eight of those passes for 88 yards.
Ball State saw its 10-point halftime lead turn into an 11-point deficit early in the fourth quarter. However, the Cardinals cut Akron’s advantage to just three points, 28-25, midway through the final quarter. Neal hit Aaron Hepp for a 17-yard touchdown and then ran in a two-point conversion.
The Ball State defense, which had forced a three-and-out on Akron’s previous possession, was in good position twice on the Zips’ next drive.
The Cardinals appeared to have forced Akron into a third-and-10 situation, but a targeting call gave the Zips a first down. Ball State later recovered a fumble on a fourth-and-one near midfield, but the runner was ruled down past the sticks, and the call was upheld upon review.
Akron quarterback Thomas Woodson hit JoJo Natson two plays later for 38 yards and then found Jerome Lane for a touchdown to put the Zips back up by 10 with only 2:22 to play.
The Cardinals moved into the red zone in the final minute, but Jordan George picked off Neal to seal the win for Akron.
“When we had the ball in the second half, we simply did not control the ball,” Neu said. “We didn’t sustain any drives or perform the way we needed to. I don’t want to take anything away from Akron. They made the plays when they presented themselves. On the flip side of that, we didn’t make the plays when they presented themselves on our end.”
Neal and Gilbert both ran for touchdowns in the first half, and the Cardinals settled for a Morgan Hagee field goal on another trip near the goal line. Akron, meanwhile, compiled 221 yards in the opening half but could only convert those yards into seven points on a 45-yard scamper from Van Edwards.
The Zips did convert in the second half. Woodson threw for 212 yards after the break, and Akron had 308 yards of total offense.
A 23-yard toss from Woodson to Natson put the Zips on top for the first time late in the third quarter. On the next possession, a 14-yard hookup from Manny Morgan to Austin Wolf on a trick play extended the lead to 11.
Ball State, on the other hand, saw its offense sputter. The Cardinals punted or turned the ball over on downs on their first three possessions of the second half.
“To have a Homecoming game here, to have a lot of people back here on campus and to not be able to come out with a win is disappointing,” Neu said. “We controlled the clock in the first half. We came back out in the second half and gave up momentum.”
Ball State will return to action Tuesday, Nov. 1, hosting nationally ranked Western Michigan for an 8 p.m. kickoff. The game will be televised on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.
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Tickets for next week’s Western Michigan game are now on sale. Fans can visit BallStateSports.com (click here), call 888-BSU-TICKET or visit the Stoops Buick/GMC Ticket Center inside Worthen Arena to purchase tickets.