Eastern Michigan at Ball State: 5 Things Learned

After roughly four and a half hours, Eastern Michigan would emerge victorious over the Ball State Cardinals with a score of 48 to 41. This was after Eastern Michigan fell to Ball State by a score of 21 to 3 in the first quarter.

When two teams are evenly matched, turnovers can decide the game.

After three quick turnovers in the first quarter, Ball State roared to a 21-3 lead. Eastern Michigan would turn around and get five turnovers of their own. Probably the key of the bunch was a fumble by Ball State’s quarterback Riley Neal through the end zone. It came at a time when Ball State was getting ready to put the nail in Eastern Michigan’s coffin. Eastern Michigan would score on that bringing their deficit to 5 points making a ball game out of it.

Brogan Roback is pretty good.

Brogan Roback passed for 468 yards with no interceptions. He would throw for three touchdowns. He would also get 45 yards on the ground. This would help keep drives alive.

Riley Neal is pretty good.

With the exception of the fumble, he was pretty solid as well. He managed to throw for 393 yards with three touchdowns. The only knock was the two interceptions he gave up. Given that he is only a sophomore, he will be a force to be reckoned with for a couple more years.

Neither team was willing to give up.

Eastern Michigan was down by 18 points at the end of the first quarter. They managed to gain a lead. At the start of the fourth quarter, Ball State was down by 12 points. They managed to get the lead back only to lose it to Eastern Michigan.

Eastern Michigan’s run game needs help.

While Ian Eriksen managed to get 109 yards, Eastern Michigan still had to pass. It seems like they had just enough of a running game to get Ball State to bite on the run fakes. I would like to see Eastern Michigan running the ball more, but I understand that injuries have not helped them in that cause.

At any rate, I’m going to savor this win. It was a pretty hard fought win for Eastern Michigan.