 BSU's MiQuale Lewis ranks 4th in the nation in rushing
(12)Ball State (12-0, 8-0 MAC) vs. Buffalo (7-5,5-3 MAC), 8:00 pm ET
Site: Ford Field - Detroit
Television: ESPN2
Series: Ball State leads 6-0. Last meeting: Ball State 49, Buffalo 14 in 2007.
 Scouting the Cardinals: Ball State arrived in the title game with an unblemished record with one of the more balanced squads in the conference this season and the Cardinals have been doing it on both offense and defense. The Cardinals enter the contest with league’s top-ranked scoring offense, averaging 37.7 points per game and also owners of the MAC’s top-ranked scoring defense, giving up only 16.7 points per game. Ball State also ranks first overall in total offense, averaging 455.8 yards per game.
Offense: The Cardinals offense is fueled by the frequently jaw-dropping play of junior quarterback Nate Davis, the 2008 MAC Offensive Player of the Year. The junior signal caller ranks first in the conference, and sixth nationally, in passing efficiency averaging 257.9 yards passing per game. Davis has tossed 25 touchdowns and only six picks this season Davis’ strong-armed, dead-on accuracy has been on display all-season and will be the toughest test the Bulls’ secondary will have faced this season. Davis’ top target has been freshman wide-out Brigg Orsbon who has stepped in following the unfortunate career-
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| BSU QB Nate Davis |
ending injury suffered by Dante Love. Orsbon leads the squad with 626 yards receiving but the Cards’ top aerial scoring option has been All-MAC tight end Darius Hill who has seven TD’s and is averaging an impressive 16.3 yards per catch. But the Cards are far from being a one-dimensional offense. Junior tailback MiQuale Lewis, another All-MAC selection, tops the MAC and is fourth in the nation, averaging 130.8 yards per game as well as a league-best 20 rushing touchdowns, giving Ball State what has been at times a nearly unstoppable offensive combination all aided by an offensive line that has yielded a league-low 11 sacks this season.
Defense: The defensive side of the line of scrimmage has also been a strong suit this season for the Cardinals. The Cards’ defense has given up only 23 touchdowns this season, lowest of any team in the MAC. 2008 MAC Freshman of the Year, DB Sean Baker, has been one of the top ball-hawking defensive backs in the nation, with six interceptions for a passing defense that has yielded only 11 aerial scores all year. Baker also tops the squad with 90 tackles this season. The Cards lead the MAC in rushing defense, allowing 108.8 yards per game. LB Kenny Meeks paces the Ball State defense with six sacks and is tied with fellow LB Davyd Jones for the team lead with eight tackles for loss.
Special Teams: Punter Chris Miller, a preseason Playboy Magazine All-American, has averaged 42.9 yards per punt while the Cards lead the MAC in net punting average (37.1 ypg). PK Ian McGarvey is a perfect 59-59 on PAT efforts and is 13-18 in FG attempts, with a season-best 47 yarder. The Cards rank second in the MAC in punt returns, averaging 13.8 yards per return led by BJ Hill who has averaged 13.7 yards per return.
 Scouting the Bulls: Buffalo arrives in the title game as MAC East champs marking one of the more impressive turnarounds in all of college football. Head coach Turner Gill has taken the team from being one of the worst in the nation for several years following the Bulls’ first season in 1A in 1999 to one game away from a MAC championship. Prior to Gill’s arrival the Bulls had won a grand total of ten games as a member of the MAC. Since then the Bulls have won fourteen games in his three year tenure.
Offense: Buffalo has a pretty solid QB of its own who has had an impressive season. Senior QB Drew Willy, like BSU’s Davis, has a pin-point accurate throwing arm and has tossed 22 touchdowns this season against only five interceptions. Willy, a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award semifinalist, is averaging an impressive 240.4 yards per game through the air for an offense that is averaging 30.2 points per game, tied for second in the MAC with Central Michigan. Leading the receiving corps for the Bulls has been All-MAC honoree
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| UB QB Drew Willy |
Naaman Roosevelt who tops the league with 99.7 yards receiving per game (9th nationally) and his average of 7.2 receptions per game is good for third in the MAC and 12th in the nation. Roosevelt also leads the squad with ten receiving scores. Much like the Cardinals, the Bulls offer a balanced offensive attack led by one of the MAC’s most explosive running backs in James Starks. Starks, also an All-MAC selection in 2008, has rushed for 1,226 yards this season and ranks second in the MAC with an average of 122.6 yards per game. Starks has reeled off four TD runs this season of 52 yards or more, with three of those going for over 60 yards. As a team the Bulls rank seventh overall in the MAC, averaging 387.2 yards per game.
Defense: Buffalo’s defense has given up an average of over 400 yards per game but some of that can likely be attributed to the fact that the Bulls have had four games go into overtime, including going a total of six overtimes in two of its final three games. The Bulls do possess several impressive playmakers on defense and one of the players to emerge this season has been sophomore LB Justin Winters who leads the MAC with four forced fumbles and leads the team with 112 tackles which also ranks fourth this season in the MAC and his average of 9.4 tackles per game places him in the top twenty in the nation. Sophomore safety Davonte Shannon has 97 tackles this season and with another three stops would become only the third Buffalo player to record 100 or more tackles in more than one season, after racking up 123 tackles last season.
Special Teams: Ernest Jackson has been a strong return man on kicks this season, averaging a solid 25.4 yards per return, including a 97-yard return for a touchdown this season. Australian import, Peter Fardon, has averaged 37.8 yards per punt and has placed 15 of his 50 punts inside the 20-yard line. PK AJ Principe is 10-15 on FG attempts this season but has converted on only 1-5 from beyond 40 yards this season.
Analysis: The games features a matchup between this year’s MAC Coach of the Year, Brady Hoke, against the 2007 MAC Coach of the Year, Turner Gill as well as teams that rank 1-2 in turnover margin with Buffalo topping the MAC just ahead of Ball State. The squads also rank 1-2 in scoring offense, but the similarities seem to end there.
The Cardinals have scored less than thirty points only once this season and recorded double digit margins of victory in all but one contest. The Bulls meanwhile have been the cardiac kids, with no fewer than four games going into overtime and six contests being decided on the last play of the game. Ball State has stepped up and delivered consistently this season, winning huge contests against Western Michigan and Central Michigan in the tough MAC West division while Buffalo emerged as champion of a considerably weaker MAC East, including finishing their regular season with a loss to Kent State.
Both teams are bowl-bound with Buffalo likely headed to Toronto for the International Bowl while Ball State maintains an outside, slim shot at a BCS bowl. The Bulls may keep things close early but the Cards have been an impressive second-half team and have far too many weapons for the Bulls’ defense to contain.
Prediction: Ball State 38, Buffalo 17.
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