Cardinal Roundtable: Ball State-Miami Preview

(Cripes...this past week flew right by. I can't believe it's GAMEDAY! already. What we have is another great opportunity to make ourselves famous with what should be a great performance against Miami—and most important, shut up people like Mark Schlabach, who sucks at life. I'll tackle that column in a bit but let's just say TSBB isn't happy. The phrase I use to describe Miami is "sneaky bad." Because when someone says "Miami," most people automatically think, "Ooooh, they're good." In fact, this year, they are atrocious.)

Let's get it on...

1) Ball State has three games standing in the way of being undefeated for the regular season. Two of the games are against upper echelon MAC teams in Central Michigan and Western Michigan. This Tuesday's contest pits the Cardinals against 2-7 Miami. How concerned about a "trap game" are you for the Cardinals?

Not in the least bit about this game. One of these days, that comment is going to bite me in the ass. But let's face facts. Yes, I know Miami is our rival and anything can happen. I've made many bold proclamations about blowouts and been wrong. But Miami is terrible. Atrocious. The aforementioned "sneaky bad."

If we want to attain our goals, this better not be a trap game. But from what I've seen so far from both schools, I don't think this is a trap game at all for the Mighty Bird.

It wasn't that long ago when it was Ben Roethlisberger's junior year and some people thought we'd hang around because of the rivalry. We lost, 49-0.

Think about that.

2) The BCS standings released on Sunday put the Cardinals at 14th. How have your hopes for a BCS berth changed over the last week or so, with Ball State's victory, their move up in the polls, and teams ahead of them dropping?

Mine haven't changed at all. As I've said all along, let's focus on us, go undefeated, and let the chips fall where they lie. To quote Mr. Dewey Cox, it's a long, hard walk. If we make it to the BCS, it'll be awesome. If not, I won't be disappointed. I'm not gonna go on BSUFans and fire off an unbelievable rant about how we got screwed.

Unfortunately, our schedule isn't very good, and we happened to be having the once-in-a-lifetime season in a year in which there are two other non-BCS schools who are also very good and have the rep to go along with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping, wishing, wanting, but I try to stay realistic.

But that doesn't mean I haven't been checking out hotels in Miami or estimating mileage for the drive ;).

3) With the emergence of Louis Johnson on Wednesday, the Cardinals are not only talented, but also very deep at the wide receiver position. Who on the offensive and defensive side of the ball do you expect to have a monster game on Tuesday?

Oooh, predictions. My pre-game Helmet Stickers go out to MiQuale Lewis on the offensive side and Brandon Crawford on the defensive side.

Lewis has been over 100 yards the past few games, but we haven't "heard" heard from him like we did in, say, the IU game. This feels like a 150-plus, three-TD game for him. It hurts a little in that we'll call off the dogs, so we can't get 150 from Lewis and 350 from Nate, but whatever.

Defensively, hopefully we'll pin our ears back and get to Miami's backup QB a few times, and if it does happen, it'll be Crawdaddy.

4) What Miami player would you like to see suit up in Cardinal and White?

No one on their roster really stands out to me. I have been saying wideouts the past two weeks because we're missing an elite one, but it almost feels like none of the receivers we've played against are even as good as Briggs Orsbon.

So I'm gonna go with kicker Nathan Parseghian. He's got the bloodline (descendant of Ara Parseghian), and he's been quite the kicker this year: 18-of-18 on extra points and 13-of-15 on field goals, including 6-of-7 from 30-39 yards and 2-3 from 40-49. Feels like an upgrade to me.

5) What do you expect from the Cardinals and RedHawks in this midweek contest? Does Ball State walk away 10-0 for their best start in school history, or does Miami shock the world and shake up the BCS standings on their home turf?

If Miami shocks the world, I will run the streets of Frankfort naked. Luckily, only about 10 people live in this town. But I think the Cardinals run away with this one easily, 52-7. These predictions won't be so brash in the next two weeks.

6) BONUS QUESTION ASKED BY ME TO ANSWER MYSELF: What were your thoughts on the Northern Illinois game?

My first reaction was: Brady Hoke (and Stan Parrish), you sandbagging son of bitches. Myself (and quite a few others) have wondered what exactly was wrong with the BSU offense. Why aren't we scoring points at a furious pace? Why does it seem lackadaisical?

Well, I think we saw why. We're saving it all for this four-game stretch run. 45 against Northern Illinois (and it could've been more). That's the best defense we'll see, and we got 45. The possibilities are endless against the remaining three teams.

The sandbagging idea was actually my brother's. He sent me a text during the game saying that he felt like we've definitely been holding back. And to quote Maximus, "On my command, unleash hell."

Welcome to Ball State football.

Mid-American Conference Football Redefined.

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