Exam 12 - Ball State 41, UB 21
Running Game
The Bulls actually ran the ball pretty well. They were most effective when they spread the Ball State defense using four wide receivers and then ran the ball up the middle. As a team, UB ran for 152 yards. Dave Dawson picked his way for 90 yards and averaged 6.9 yards per carry. Aaron Leeper was the featured back in the first half and had 49 yards for the game. As usual, the Bulls fell behind and could not stick with the running game.
Grade: B-
Passing Game
The trouble with UB's passing game all season has been finding other receivers besides Andre Forde. Maurice Bradford, for the first time in 2002, emerged to have a big game. Bradford caught three passes for 107 yards and one TD - the TD being an 80-yarder on the last play of the game. Forde had six catches for 45 yards. Tight end Chad Bartoszek ended his disappointing season with only two catches for 13 yards. Bartoszek also exhibited a problem that plagued UB all season, dropping a key third down pass that forced the Bulls to punt from deep in their own territory into the wind. QB Randall Secky was 16-30 for 117 yards. The TD pass was thrown by freshman QB Michael Radon. The wind made it tough to pass for both teams.
Grade: C
Run Defense
To the surprise of many, for most of Ball State's first two drives UB was containing Marcus Merriweather pretty well ... until he broke out for a 67-yard touchdown run. The big play seemed to demoralize UB's defense. At the end of the day Merriweather had 224 yards and four touchdowns. Even BSU backup running back Scott Blair got into the act with 51 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.
Grade: F
Pass Defense
Once BSU established their running game, the Cardinals' passing game was not needed. Ball State could have run on every play, and there was no way UB would have stopped them. BSU QB Andy Roesch was 12-22 for 134 yards and a TD. Buffalo's Mike Lambert intercepted BSU backup QB Talmadge Hill in garbage time.
Grade: B-
Special Teams
Punter Scott McMahan was great with the wind and terrible going into it. He downed punts on the Ball State 13 and nine yard lines with the wind in the first quarter. McMahan then had a 15-yard punt against the wind that gave BSU the ball on the UB 43-yard line. In the fourth quarter he had a 19-yard punt that was downed at the UB 45-yard line. BSU's average starting field position for the game was their own 41-yard line. Forde had -2 yards on his only punt return. There were no field goals attempted by either team.
Grade: D+
Coaching
UB's offensive play calling was excellent with the exception of choosing to throw to the fullback on third and one on their second drive. They should have run the ball there, their first such situation of the game. Choosing not to run the ball sends a bad message. However, UB did a nice job loosening up the defense with deep throws and a spread offense. Buffalo even got pass interference calls when their deep throws did not work. It was good to see them move away from their typical dink and dunk offense. No scheme or play calling could have helped the defense; they were out-manned and physically beaten in every facet of the run defense.
Grade: A-
