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7 Unit Play #153 Ball State -1 over Eastern Michigan (2:00pm est):
Most forget that Ball State won the MAC title last season going 7-1 overall and they returned nearly every one this year. The Cardinals got off to a slower than expected this year but much of that had to do with having to play a tough schedule early on. They had to go into Penn State where they were no match for one of the better programs in the country. The next week they had to travel again and play at one of the tougher places in all of CFB at Wyoming and had to deal with not only the high altitude there but also game time temperatures that were in the 80's. The following week the Cardinals played what most feel is the premier program in their conference next as they hosted a Toledo team that was off two straight losses and who were also looking for revenge for losses to Ball State the past two seasons. After three straight defeats it didn't look to be getting any easier for them their next game as they went up against an undefeated Army team that came into the game averaging 39 points per game. The Cardinals played their best game of the year in that one jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the 1st half and rolling to a 12 point victory while holding the Black Knights to just 16 points in the game. Last week Ball State had another big test going on the road to face a Western Michigan team who up till then looked to be the best team in the conference this year but Ball State went toe toe with the Broncos and pulled away late for another excellent performance.
On the other side of things Eastern Michigan is off to a decent 4-2 start to their season but they have also played one of the easiest schedules in CFB thus far. One of their wins this year at home over Texas State was a blowout victory but TSU was down more than 20 players in that game from covid. EMU went on the road to open conference play at the beginning of October and they lost 27-20 to Northern Illinois in a game that NIU pushed them around up front with 200+ yards rushing than the Eagles and 5 sacks overall to a 0 from EMU. Last week Eastern Michigan got a one point win over Miami Ohio but they probably shouldn't have won that game as they were out-gained by more than 100 yards in the game and were also facing a backup quarterback as well.
This is a big game for a veteran Ball State team looking to defend their conference title. I expect them to step up here and take care of business against an opponent they have a talent edge over. Take Ball State.
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