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By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 03:04 p.m. EST, Dec 04, 2008
If the Mid-American Conference was looking for a subtitle for its 2008 championship game, here is one suggestion:
''The Battle of the Previously Downtrodden.''
Ball State (12-0, 8-0) and the University at Buffalo (7-5, 5-3) qualify for such a designation after undergoing years of futility and frustration.
Those days are merely a memory now for the Cardinals and the Bulls, who will meet Friday night at Ford Field in Detroit in the conference title game.
Buffalo, which won the East Division of the MAC, has not had a winning record since 1996 until this season. Since joining the MAC in 1999, the Bulls were 17-86 overall and 13-59 in the conference through 2007.
That changed when Turner Gill, a former star quarterback at Nebraska, took over in 2006.
''I saw this as a great opportunity,'' said Gill, one of three African-American head coaches in Division I and a hot candidate for major vacancies after the season. ''Obviously, it was not a good situation from their history, but I believed it was nothing but going up.
''I felt I would be able to put together a great staff and come in and change the culture . . . to get their young men to believe in their ability. I looked forward to that opportunity, and things have turned around.''
Ball State, winner of the West Division and No. 12 in the BCS rankings, had 10 consecutive nonwinning seasons before going 7-6 in 2007. From 1997 through 2007, the Cardinals were 44-82 overall and 34-49 in the MAC.
In 2003, the school hired Brady Hoke, a former player at Fairmont East (Ohio) High School in Kettering and at Ball State. Hoke, who was an assistant coach at Michigan when he was hired, gradually developed his team into winners.
Senior linebacker Bryant Haines said Hoke and his staff convinced him while he was being recruited out of Piqua (Ohio) High School that change was coming to Muncie, Ind.
''The first thing that jumped out at me was the excitement of the coaches. They were adamant that this was a program on the rise,'' Haines said. ''They said if we worked hard over our careers that one day we would be a champion. We go into every game expecting to win.''
Ironically, for the Bulls anyway, it was a game against Ball State that the UB players consider a benchmark in the program's development. On Sept. 29, 2007, Buffalo lost to the host Cardinals 49-14. Since that loss, the Bulls have gone 9-5 in the MAC and capped it with the first-place finish in 2008.
''It was a wake-up call to our team to get this thing going in the right direction,'' UB senior quarterback Drew Willy said about the Ball State loss. ''They played very well that day. They are balanced offensively and have a great defense. They showed us how to play true MAC football, and I think we have done that.''
The championship game will feature high-powered offenses led by premier quarterbacks and running backs.
The Cardinals are led by junior quarterback Nate Davis, a Bellaire, Ohio, product who finished second in the MAC in passing with 3,095 yards and 25 touchdowns. Junior tailback MiQuale Lewis led the MAC in rushing with 1,570 yards and in touchdowns with 20.
Buffalo will counter with Willy, a four-year starter who finished fourth in the MAC in passing with 2,885 yards and 22 touchdowns. Junior tailback James Starks finished second in MAC rushing with 1,226 yards. The Bulls also have one of the conference's best wideouts in junior Naaman Roosevelt, whose 1,196 receiving yards led the MAC.
Those players helped Ball State finish first in the MAC in total offense (455.8 yards per game) and scoring (37.7) and Buffalo to finish seventh in total offense (387.2) and third in scoring (30.2).
It is the defensive numbers that suggest why Ball State is favored by two touchdowns in the game. The Cardinals finished first in least points allowed (16.7) and fourth in total defense (351.8), and the Bulls were seventh in least points allowed (27.8) and 11th (out of 13) in total defense (400.4).
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
If the Mid-American Conference was looking for a subtitle for its 2008 championship game, here is one suggestion:
''The Battle of the Previously Downtrodden.''
Ball State (12-0, 8-0) and the University at Buffalo (7-5, 5-3) qualify for such a designation after undergoing years of futility and frustration.
Those days are merely a memory now for the Cardinals and the Bulls, who will meet Friday night at Ford Field in Detroit in the conference title game.
Buffalo, which won the East Division of the MAC, has not had a winning record since 1996 until this season. Since joining the MAC in 1999, the Bulls were 17-86 overall and 13-59 in the conference through 2007.
That changed when Turner Gill, a former star quarterback at Nebraska, took over in 2006.
''I saw this as a great opportunity,'' said Gill, one of three African-American head coaches in Division I and a hot candidate for major vacancies after the season. ''Obviously, it was not a good situation from their history, but I believed it was nothing but going up.
''I felt I would be able to put together a great staff and come in and change the culture . . . to get their young men to believe in their ability. I looked forward to that opportunity, and things have turned around.''
Ball State, winner of the West Division and No. 12 in the BCS rankings, had 10 consecutive nonwinning seasons before going 7-6 in 2007. From 1997 through 2007, the Cardinals were 44-82 overall and 34-49 in the MAC.
In 2003, the school hired Brady Hoke, a former player at Fairmont East (Ohio) High School in Kettering and at Ball State. Hoke, who was an assistant coach at Michigan when he was hired, gradually developed his team into winners.
Senior linebacker Bryant Haines said Hoke and his staff convinced him while he was being recruited out of Piqua (Ohio) High School that change was coming to Muncie, Ind.
''The first thing that jumped out at me was the excitement of the coaches. They were adamant that this was a program on the rise,'' Haines said. ''They said if we worked hard over our careers that one day we would be a champion. We go into every game expecting to win.''
Ironically, for the Bulls anyway, it was a game against Ball State that the UB players consider a benchmark in the program's development. On Sept. 29, 2007, Buffalo lost to the host Cardinals 49-14. Since that loss, the Bulls have gone 9-5 in the MAC and capped it with the first-place finish in 2008.
''It was a wake-up call to our team to get this thing going in the right direction,'' UB senior quarterback Drew Willy said about the Ball State loss. ''They played very well that day. They are balanced offensively and have a great defense. They showed us how to play true MAC football, and I think we have done that.''
The championship game will feature high-powered offenses led by premier quarterbacks and running backs.
The Cardinals are led by junior quarterback Nate Davis, a Bellaire, Ohio, product who finished second in the MAC in passing with 3,095 yards and 25 touchdowns. Junior tailback MiQuale Lewis led the MAC in rushing with 1,570 yards and in touchdowns with 20.
Buffalo will counter with Willy, a four-year starter who finished fourth in the MAC in passing with 2,885 yards and 22 touchdowns. Junior tailback James Starks finished second in MAC rushing with 1,226 yards. The Bulls also have one of the conference's best wideouts in junior Naaman Roosevelt, whose 1,196 receiving yards led the MAC.
Those players helped Ball State finish first in the MAC in total offense (455.8 yards per game) and scoring (37.7) and Buffalo to finish seventh in total offense (387.2) and third in scoring (30.2).
It is the defensive numbers that suggest why Ball State is favored by two touchdowns in the game. The Cardinals finished first in least points allowed (16.7) and fourth in total defense (351.8), and the Bulls were seventh in least points allowed (27.8) and 11th (out of 13) in total defense (400.4).
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
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