The streak is over, as Ball State beat Eastern Michigan 29-27 in a battle of winless teams. A game time temp in the 40's combined with the teams having an 0-13 record mad attendance sparse, as a grand total of 1,535 saw this battle. It looked really bad early on, as EMU took a 20-6 lead using two BSU turnovers and poor kick coverage to score at will. However, the tide turned in the middle of the third quarter when BSU put together an 8 play, 93 yard drive (all running) to cut the score to 27-20. On EMU's next possession, BSU's Robert Eddins blocked a punt for a safety, cutting the lead to 27-22. The ensuing drive was 6 plays, 64 yards (5 runs, 1 pass) to take a 29-27 lead with two minutes left in the 3rd quarter. EMU ran only 9 plays in the 4th quarter and had the ball for only 3:29. BSU ran 17 4th quarter plays, all runs, and held the ball for 11:31 to conserve the lead.
The big news out of this game is the record-setting running numbers put up by MiQuale Lewis and Cory Sykes. Lewis ran for a school-record 301 yards on 26 carries and 1 TD and Sykes ran for 203 yards on 23 carries with 3 TDs. Lewis broke the single-game rushing record of 260 held by Earl Taylor against EMU in 1976. It was also the 4th time in NCAA history that 2 players from the same team each ran for over 200 yards.
Now the bad news....Freshman running back Eric Williams was hurt early in the game and did not return. He is the best running threat out of the wildcat formation due to his size and strength. Lewis and Sykes are both small quick backs and will have trouble out of the wildcat formation against better teams. The other bad news is that we have no passing attack at all. With Kelly Page out for the season, Tanner Justice got his first start....it was not a good one. Justice was 2 of 10 for 1 yard. His two completions were to Tory Gibson for 8 yards and Lewis for -7. Justice also had an interception, a fumble, and took 2 sacks.
The Cardinals next face Ohio at the Schue on Halloween at noon. It looks like they will be about a 14 point underdog.
In personal news, my new running/walking routine seems to be working pretty well. This week I walked 50km and ran 20km to burn 4,996 calories. I lost another pound and am down to 190. In the last two weeks, I have walked 106km and ran 20km and burned almost 8,700 calories and lost 3 pounds. It just shows you that you can do anything if you just get out there and do it!
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