Why Tomorrow's Game Worries Me

Are you as worried as I am about this game tomorrow? 

After the ugly loss last Thursday, a lot of fans are on the ledge already this season, remembering how ugly games were down the stretch last season.  The play on all sides of the ball last Thursday night brought back bad memories, memories that haunt me as the team travels to Muncie, Indiana.  

At 2-1, the season is far from over, but like you all, I can see the disaster on the horizon. Unless the team gets its act together, but this road trip could be a trap.  

Let's start with our team.  For one, the offense is all over the place.  From bad offensive line, to no running game, to the erratic plays of B.J. Daniels, it has been one thing or another.  On defense, the soft zone, missed tackles, and lack of turnover production continues to allow opponents to stay on the field and keep drives alive.  The coaching staff have been making some changes this week, but unless they are magicians, we are probably going to see some of the same mistakes and now, on the road, they could be in for a rude awakening. 

The Bulls are on the road, heading to a place they have never been to before, Muncie, Indiana.  Now while Muncie doesn’t sound like a dangerous place to play (there are only about 22,000 seats in their stadium, so there’s that), it is still a road game.  The Bulls will be in a hostile territory where they won’t have the fans behind them and after the Thursday night, they could still be in the hangover, trying to figure out what happened. 

Another issue is the opponent themselves, Ball State.  While the Cardinals are not an elite team, they are feeling good about themselves after beating Indiana last week and sit at 2-1.  They have the momentum and they can run the ball, which eats the clock, keep Daniels on the sideline and forces the defense to stay on the field.  The Bulls defense was on the field for nearly 38 minutes last week and with a Cardinal team that can run the ball and control the clock, it could make for a close scoring game.  If it’s a close scoring game, there are always the ghosts that haunted the team from last season, that could determine the outcome of the game.  The Bulls were on the good side last week on the win against Nevada, but we have seen it time and time again, the bad losses in close games and we have to wonder, is this team capable of winning close games late in the 4^th quarter?  It was obvious last week they couldn’t do it.

Then the final reason this could be a long Saturday, the FSU game next week.  The team talks 24/7 about one game at a time, but when friends and family are asking for tickets every hour, fans are talking about the tailgate before the big game happens and the local media talking about the huge impact it will have, the Bulls players are hearing it.  Whether or not they want to admit it, it’s on their minds.  If the Bulls are looking ahead and not taking Ball State as seriously as they say they are, the Cardinals could shock them and upset them if they are looking ahead for even a minute.

Saturday will be a very intense day.  There will be a lot of yelling, screaming, and grey hair growing, but let’s hope it all leads to a win.