The light at the end of the tunnel is approaching rapidly. With two weeks left in the season, the push for the Mid-American Conference Championship in Detroit is in its final stages.
Coming off a 31-13 victory over Western Michigan, Bowling Green brings a four-game winning streak to a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Ball State Cardinals (3-7, 2-4 MAC).
Head football coach Scot Loeffler led off his weekly press conference with high praise for Ball State, who has been on the wrong end of some close games in 2024.
“I think Ball State could very easily be playing for the Mid-American Conference Championship,” Loeffler began.
The Cardinals have lost four of their six conference games – the largest loss was by six points to Miami (OH), who currently sits in first place in the MAC.
They lost to Central Michigan by three, lost to Western Michigan by three, lost to Miami by six, and Buffalo by three in overtime.
However, college athletics is still a business, and unfortunately, one-score losses don’t buy time.
On November 16, Ball State parted ways with long-time head coach Mike Neu.
“I have a ton of respect for Mike [Neu]. I thought he did a great job there,” said Loeffler. “Unfortunately, they made a decision to change, but he’s one of the winningest coaches there, and he’s done a great job. [It] just shows you how fragile winning and losing is. It’s one or two plays. This is a really good football team that we’re playing.”
Even with the coaching change, Loeffler says that the preparation for their opponent does not change.
“We can’t control who’s the head coach and who’s not, but what we can control is our preparation and our actions,” Loeffler said. “We’re really challenging the guys to make this the best week of practice we’ve ever had. We had a great Monday today. I thought the guys were locked in, and I think they understand that we’re playing a really good team.”
Coming into Saturday’s contest, Ball State has the fifth-best scoring offense in the conference, averaging 27.0 points per game, just one spot and one-tenth of a point behind Bowling Green.
“It’s really dangerous. I think they’re really good on offense. They score a ton of points. Their defense has improved. They’re aggressive on special teams, and I know Colin Johnson will do a great job in Mike’s presence,” Loeffler continued.
Ball State is led by one of the conference’s best quarterbacks in redshirt freshman Kadin Semonza, who leads the conference in touchdowns (20), yards per game (235.6), and completions (227), and is aided by the MAC’s second best tight end, Tanner Koziol.
“I think he’s a good player, and I don’t know if you can stop him. You have to control the explosion battle with him. He’s a very accurate passer,” Loeffler said. “They have weapons on the perimeter. They have a really good tight end [Tanner Koziol]. The backs are good, and they’re playing good offensive football.”
This matchup features two of the best tight ends in not only the MAC but in the country.
“That position is valuable. In my opinion, when you can run the ball enough and you can use the tight end, it really opens up the wide receivers,” Loeffler said. “It’s a match-up nightmare. [Tanner Koziol’s] a match-up nightmare for us. I know Harold [Fannin Jr.] is a match-up nightmare, but there are some really good tight ends in this league. This week, we’re featuring two really good ones.”
Bowling Green has the easiest path to the MAC Championship out of anyone in the conference.
Win and you’re in.
Ball State on Saturday. Miami (OH) on Black Friday.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Rhys Patrykus and Holden Ruck will have the call starting at 1:15 p.m. on Falcon Radio.
