Week 8 MAC Football Recap: Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Ball State Cardinals

Central Michigan piled up 455 total yards of offense, as the Chippewas ran by the Ball State Cardinals, 56-9 in Muncie, Indiana. Central Michigan moves to 4-4 (2-2 MAC) on the year, and Ball State falls to 2-5 (0-3 MAC).

Shane Morris played much better in this contest, as he completed 16 of 21 pass attempts for 199 yards and four touchdowns. Corey Willis led the Central Michigan receivers with five catches for 98 yards and three touchdowns on the day. Tyler Conklin also added three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Mark Chapman caught four passes for 34 yards as well for the CMU offense.

Jonathan Ward had a strong game, as he carried the ball 13 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Romello Ross was able to take over for Ward as he left the game with a minor injury and carried the ball 15 times for 83 yards. Ward returned later in the game.

The Ball State offense struggled to move the ball at all, as Jack Milas completed 18 of his 30 passes for just 118 yards. Zach Blair came in late for the Cardinals and completed two of four passes for nine yards. Blair also lost a fumble, which CMU recovered and took to the end zone. Caleb Huntley was the lone bright side for the Ball State offense, as he carried the ball 19 times for 79 yards.

Ball State has not scored a touchdown in a game since week 4 against Western Kentucky on Saturday, September 23rd.

This game was all Central Michigan from their first drive in the second quarter. With the score at 7-6, CMU drove down the field and Morris found Conklin in the end zone to bring the score to 14-6 with 6:39 to go in the second quarter. CMU would add two more touchdowns before the half, making the score 28-6 at the break.

Ball State wasn’t able to get anything going on offense, as CMU just poured on the points and yards in the second half.

The Cardinals offense was only able to gain 208 yards of offense, and gave up eight sacks to the Central Michigan defense. Joe Ostman had four sacks of his own in the game.

Central Michigan will have a bye next weekend then head to Kalamazoo to take on the Western Michigan Broncos for the Victory Cannon. The game will be played on Wednesday, November 1st, will start at 8 p.m., and be aired on ESPN2.

Ball State will try to get something going, as they stay home to host the Toledo Rockets on Thursday, Ocotber 26th. The game will start at 7 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3.