Like what if the Cardinals hadn’t missed two field goals?
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On Saturday the No. 17 Northwestern Wildcats will host the Ball State Cardinals. Those are nice for bragging rights, but the real tests begin in Big Ten play, beginning next week against Minnesota. The freshman’s completion percentage is hovering around 50%, but the Northwestern ground game is keeping the scoring attack afloat.
“We’re holding ourselves more accountable and we’re not being complacent”, linebacker Drew Smith said.
And that is by no means coachspeak; that’s honesty.
Ball State vs. Northwestern 2015 features unranked Ball State coming off of a 2-1 start this season. He has 332 yards this season after running for 120 on a career-high 35 carries last week. On their third attempt, the Cardinals took the ball from the Northwestern 40 and drove into the red zone before knocking in a field goal to make it 24-19. Wisconsin 2015 score is 0-14. What if? “And I think a lot of it comes from being exhausted of not winning when we know we had the chance to and not performing well when we had the talent to”. “Just enough mistakes to cost you a game”.
It appeared that the game was well in hand for the 17th-ranked Wildcats, but the Cardinals refused to go down without a chirp. But it does leave a bad taste, especially considering the defense, led by Ben Ingle’s 13 tackles, did enough to keep them in the game.
STAYING THE COURSE: Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson had a rough time last week, completing just 9 of 23 passes for 70 yards and throwing his first two interceptions.
But perspective is important. The over/under for this game is 49.5 total points. Ball State got a 29-yard touchdown catch from Jordan Williams and a 36-yard Morgan Hagee field goal for nine unanswered points, but Northwestern held on in the final moments, barely getting a punt off to help run down the clock. 3. While doing his best wide receiver impression he collected five receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns. The true freshman spoke after practice last week about developing chemistry with his wideouts in such a short amount of time.
“We really instill the idea that the next man up had to ready to go when it’s their time to shine”, safety Traveon Henry said. “It’s not tough. When you have all-MAC receivers everywhere, it’s not hard to build chemistry with guys like that”.
The Ball State offense will be challenged by a Northwestern defense that’s handling offenses early on this season. The Cardinals proceeded to drop four straight after that, including a home game against Indiana State the following week. The Cats got a field goal the next time they had the ball, scoring on all three of their third-quarter drives.
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That’s to be determined.
