Blue-collar approach has put Ball State's football program on map

A group of determined players led by junior end Brandon Crawford has given Ball State its first national ranking. The Cardinals are currently 20th. David Bergman/SI Cory McCartney's Mailbag Have questions or feedback? E-mail Cory McCartney. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Ball State's place in popular culture had been established by its most famous alum, David Letterman, so it would stand to reason that for many, the mere mention of the school conjures up thoughts of Paul Shaffer, Stupid Pet and Human Tricks and Rupert Jee.

The Late Show host, a 1969 grad, has established a scholarship for average students, has a building named after him on the Muncie, Ind., campus and even joked on-air that the Cardinals football stadium should carry his name, though he wouldn't pay for its renovation because "each and every night, especially during football season, I'm giving them a million dollars in free exposure."

There's no matching the level of notoriety Letterman has given the school over the years, but the Ball State football team is making a name for itself, without the aid of the man behind the Top 10 lists and Great Moments in Presidential Speeches.

Two weeks ago, Ball State made its first appearance in the polls -- ever -- and at 7-0 and 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference's Western division, has climbed up to 20th in the latest AP and Coaches' polls. It's rarefied air for a program that has nine winning records in the past 20 years and hasn't won more than eight games since going 10-1 in 1978.

"It's flattering and believe me, it's been great attention for Ball State University," said coach Brady Hoke, who was also a linebacker on that 10-win team 30 years ago. "But we've got to get ready every week and we have to keep our routine as much as we can."

So far, that routine has included a remarkably balanced offense and a defense that bends but rarely breaks. Ball State is 15th nationally in total offense (21st in passing and 24th rushing) with the MAC's latest standout quarterback in Nate Davis (1,817 yards 13 touchdowns and four interceptions) and the conference's leading rusher in MiQuale Lewis, who has 914 yards and 13 scores behind an offensive line that returned all five starters. The defense has struggled against the run, giving up 169.5 yards per game (87th nationally), but the Cardinals have been strong against the pass (25th in pass defense and 19th in pass efficiency defense) and are largely keeping opponents out of the end zone, giving up 15.4 points per game (16th), including seven total points in their last eight quarters.

The schedule has also been the Cardinals' ally. It currently ranks 115th and includes just one victory over a team with a winning record, Navy. But that Midshipmen team did go on to beat nationally-ranked Wake Forest and the Cardinals earned their first win over a Big Ten team in topping Indiana. Ball State also whipped Toledo 31-0 a week before the Rockets stunned Michigan in Ann Arbor.

But Ball State's best start since 1965 hasn't completely been a fairytale. In the win over the Hoosiers, wide receiver Dante Love, who at the time was leading the nation with 144.3 receiving yards per game, suffered a cervical spine fracture and a spinal cord injury that likely ends his playing career. Love made a short catch in the first quarter and after a helmet-to-helmet hit by Indiana cornerback Chris Adkins, fell to the ground. He lay motionless for 15 minutes before he was strapped to a backboard and taken off the field and to Bloomington Hospital, where he underwent a five-hour surgery. Love was recently released from an Indianapolis rehabilitation center and returned to Ball State, where he will continue his therapy.

"What happened to Dante, man, words can't explain the hurt on our team," junior defensive end Brandon Crawford said. "Our thing is we just wanted to regroup as much as possible and just put all that energy that we were feeling, whether it be negative or whatever it may be, and just put it toward being that much more successful on the field."