Impressive win for Ball State as Navy is a sound football team. Navy streak of 30 point games ends. MAC moves to 7-6 non-conference with the win and Ball State is 2-0 which ties Vanderbilt for the best record in the country.

Another reminder of why early season friday night games on tv are great for the mac

in november we will also be reminded why midweek tv and psuedo tv (espnu) games are terrible for the mac

good show by bsu and fans , suprised to see lewis back at full speed this soon. he gives them a totally different dimension and makes that offense click nearly as much as davis

The first Friday night game in Ball State football history was everything it promised to be. An excellent performance by the offense and a much improved (over last year) defense led to a great win over a tough Navy team before a national TV audience and the 4th largest crowd in school history--22, 517. Perhaps best of all, a school record 10,546 students--astonishingly almost 60 percent of the student body and nearly all of them wearing red--helped fill the stadium. And almost all of them stayed for the entire game, something we haven't seen for years at BSU. In my humble opinion, this was the best and most important win in school history. It brought out fans who hadn't attended a game for many years and it built a great student spirit that should carry the team all year now. It was indeed a hot time in Muncie tonight. It truly was the most fun I have ever had in my many years of watching Ball State football. Brady Hoke is building a fantastic program--one which a reluctant community and a "show me" student body will almost certainly embrace. This is an exciting team to watch. They do what most fans love best--they put a lot of points on the board. Nothing but good things ahead for the Cardinals.

pono Wrote:Another reminder of why early season friday night games on tv are great for the mac

in november we will also be reminded why midweek tv and psuedo tv (espnu) games are terrible for the mac

good show by bsu and fans , suprised to see lewis back at full speed this soon. he gives them a totally different dimension and makes that offense click nearly as much as davis

Agree Pono but with the caveat that NOV FB in the MAC is a problem.

Conversely early SEPT FB can be a problem for the ACC and SEC. (the problem is called hurricanes).

If Mark Twain was talking about MAC FB he'd say Nov is the unkindest month.

Not much one can do about Midwest weather.

tchaump Wrote:Wanted to watch this but got sidetracked. First, congrats to BSU for a big win on an even bigger stage. Second, I'm interested in hearing any scouting reports on Navy based on their performance tonight. They've played quite a few MAC teams over the past few years, so most of us should be familiar with them. Do they look to have regressed since Paul Johnson's departure, or is Ball State just that good? How'd their defense look vs. the run/pass? Was Shun White as good as advertised?

BSU had a dominant passing game. From Davis decision making to play calling to receiver speed. All around dominant and that was the difference in the game.

Navy at times looked pretty good and their defense forced 2 Nate Davis interceptions. They were really moving the ball and I had thought it would be back and forth all night long. BSU however seemed to have more depth as the night progressed and wore down the Navy offensive line.

Shun White had some nice runs for Navy.

I DVR'd the game and watched some of it when I came home. I don't know if it was the fans, ESPN, or both but it made the stadium/field look awesome.

Frozenbaugh Wrote:I DVR'd the game and watched some of it when I came home. I don't know if it was the fans, ESPN, or both but it made the stadium/field look awesome.

Good national impression for the MAC.

Frozenbaugh Wrote:I DVR'd the game and watched some of it when I came home. I don't know if it was the fans, ESPN, or both but it made the stadium/field look awesome.

All of the above and at my house it was in HD.

Remodeled stadium, beutiful turf, 8K students in red, etc. etc. (I liked the look of the press box- awesome - think it is 3 levels).

This was big time.

The only difference between that game and say a Georgia game is the size of the stadium.

emu steve Wrote:

Frozenbaugh Wrote:I DVR'd the game and watched some of it when I came home. I don't know if it was the fans, ESPN, or both but it made the stadium/field look awesome.

All of the above and at my house it was in HD.

Remodeled stadium, beutiful turf, 8K students in red, etc. etc. (I liked the look of the press box- awesome - think it is 3 levels).

This was big time.

The only difference between that game and say a Georgia game is the size of the stadium.

I don't know.

If I didn't know much about MAC seating capacities I would have swore that was a 45,000 seat stadium. Not small time in the least.

Frozenbaugh Wrote:I DVR'd the game and watched some of it when I came home. I don't know if it was the fans, ESPN, or both but it made the stadium/field look awesome.

I thought ESPN did a nice job of using camera angles that complimented the stadium and crowd. It was a great game and impressive showing.

RocketJeff Wrote:

Frozenbaugh Wrote:I DVR'd the game and watched some of it when I came home. I don't know if it was the fans, ESPN, or both but it made the stadium/field look awesome.

I thought ESPN did a nice job of using camera angles that complimented the stadium and crowd. It was a great game and impressive showing.

Agree.

ESPN is very good at using camera angles to highlight the crowd.

When crowds are small they attempt to not show empty seats.

Empty seats never look good on TV but there were NONE last night.

One of the best MAC TV games going back to NIU/BG earlier this decade.

emu steve Wrote:

RocketJeff Wrote:

Frozenbaugh Wrote:I DVR'd the game and watched some of it when I came home. I don't know if it was the fans, ESPN, or both but it made the stadium/field look awesome.

I thought ESPN did a nice job of using camera angles that complimented the stadium and crowd. It was a great game and impressive showing.

Agree.

ESPN is very good at using camera angles to highlight the crowd.

When crowds are small they attempt to not show empty seats.

Empty seats never look good on TV but there were NONE last night.

One of the best MAC TV games going back to NIU/BG earlier this decade.

It doesn't get any better than NIU/BG in 2003.

1. College Game Day on the scene

2. Saturday afternoon ESPN football at a MAC stadium

3. Estimated 40,000 fans at the stadium.

4. Both schools ranked in the top 20.

It is clear evidence to how much potential the MAC has.