Football looks to snap losing streak against Ball State
Coming off of a 49-10 loss to Western Michigan in front of 3,411 people in Kelly/Shorts Stadium, Central Michigan football is determined to beat Ball State on Saturday to earn its first Mid-American Conference win and snap its two-game losing streak.
In CMU's first three games, the defense held opponents to 18 points per game. Since then, the defense has surrendered 91 points in its past two games. It allowed more than 400 passing yards against Virginia and more than 250 rushing yards against WMU.
The Cardinals (3-2, 0-1 MAC) come into Saturday's game after losing 31-24 to Northern Illinois in Muncie. Ball State features a balanced offense that has rushed and passed for more than 200 yards per game.
Greg Colby, CMU's defensive coordinator, said his defense focused on addressing recent mistakes during practice this week.
"We haven't played very well for two weeks," Colby said. "Two weeks ago we didn't play hard enough and last week we didn't tackle very well. We need to have better fundamentals, which we've been really focused on this week in practice."
BSU's sophomore running back James Gilbert leads the Cardinals' running game, tallying 447 yards rushing and six touchdowns on 4.7 yards per carry this season. The team is second in the MAC in rushing touchdowns with 12.
"(Ball State) is a solid football team that's playing really well," Colby said. "They've got a quarterback that's one of the best we'll see all year throwing the ball. They're very good at doing what they do. We're going to have our hands full and have to execute this week."
Despite challenges, Colby said he believes the team has plenty of favorable matchups to turn the Chippewas' fortunes around.
Ball State's defense ranks third in the MAC in points allowed and seventh nationally in sacks with 18. During the loss against WMU, the Chippewas allowed a season high eight sacks and were limited to 277 yards of total offense and 10 points, both season lows.
CMU's offensive line has had a difficult time protecting senior quarterback Cooper Rush, who has been the second-most sacked quarterback in the conference.
"Defensively, they're playing well," head coach John Bonamego said. "Going into last week, they were leading the country in sacks, so that definitely has our attention coming off a game where we gave up eight of them."
Bonamego said the key to minimizing the pass rush will be to avoiding second or third-and-long situations where play calls get predictable.
Injuries have affected the Chippewas lately, but the team will have some players return Saturday. Junior offensive lineman Derek Edwards will be able to play in at least a limited role after missing last week's game, and senior safety Tony Annese will be a game-time decision for the second consecutive week. He has not played since Sept. 10 against Oklahoma State.
True freshman running back Johnathan Ward will miss an extended period of time with a leg injury. Ward has been the team's third back and returned kickoffs throughout the season.
