2011 Games of the Year: Ball State versus Buffalo

Ball State 28, Buffalo 25

The Ball State Cardinals used an 18-play, 75-yard drive to score with :29 left in the game to pull out a hard fought 28-25 win over the Buffalo Bulls in Muncie, Indiana.

The Bulls of Buffalo started the game with a kickoff return that never happened as a result of Scott Secor missing the kickoff out of bounds. Starting on the 40-yard line, Buffalo hit a 3rd-down pass of 24 yards to Marcus Rivers to get to the Ball State 33-yard line. Three plays later, Buffalo faced a 4th-and-4 on the Ball State 27-yard line. Terrell Jackson hit Rivers on a 4th down conversion that opened the scoring at 7-0 in favor of Buffalo.

Ball State then received the kickoff taking it to the 32-yard line before being tackled. Quickly, the Cardinals were into Bull territory following a roughing the passer call. The Cardinals then got as close at the Buffalo 25-yard line before stalling and facing a 42-yard field goal attempt. The kick by Steven Schott was no good giving the ball back to Buffalo with 7:41 left in the first. The missed field goal was followed by back-to-back-to-back 3-and-outs that ended with Ball State on their own 28-yard line with 4:44 left in the quarter.

The Cardinals then hit plays of 18 yards, 9 yards, 17 yards, and 10 yards with the ball on the Buffalo 17-yard line as the first quarter expired. The Cardinals were able to capitalize on the momentum of the drive and saw Jahwan Edwards go for 9 yards and then 8 yards to put the ball in the end zone. With 14:11 left in the half, the Cardinals tied the game at 7.

Again, the teams punted back-to-back-to back with Ball State ending up with the ball this time on their own 29-yard line. The Cardinals then went on an 8-play, 71-yard drive that was capped by Keith Wenning hitting Briggs Orsbon for a 19-yard touchdown pass to take the lead at 14-7 with 4:39 left in the half.

Buffalo tried to respond but could only muster another 3-and-out giving the ball back to Ball State for one last good drive. The Cardinals started with great field position following the punt and went 57 yards in 6 plays with Edwards scoring his second touchdown of the day, this time from 4 yards. That put the lead in favor of Ball State at 21-7 with only :49 left in the half.

Buffalo was again unable to move the ball with another 3-and-out. After the punt, Ball State decided to take one last try at extending the lead but Wenning was sacked by Gordon DuBois to end the half with the score 21-7 in favor of Ball State.

With a chance to really put things out of reach, Ball State received the second half kickoff and started on their own 25-yard line. The Cardinals then went on a 9-play, 53-yard drive that stalled out on the Buffalo 22-yard line with a 4th-and-1. Ball State trotted out their kicker to attempt to redeem himself for the earlier miss. Schott was unable to redeem himself missing a 39-yard attempt that would have extended the lead to 17.

In similar fashion to the first half, the Bulls were stuffed for a 3-and-out but were bailed out by a booming 48-yard punt that was fair caught on the Ball State 21-yard line. The Bulls were able to step up on defense and force Ball State to their own punt in 3 plays. The Ball State punt was disastrous with Buffalo ending up on the Ball State 26-yard line when all was said and done.

The Bulls kept the ball on the ground for three straight plays capped by Branden Oliver taking it in from 10 yard to cut the lead to 21-13 with an extra point pending. The extra point was blocked by the Cardinals and left the lead at 8-points at 21-13 in favor of Ball State.

The Bulls held Ball State to another 3-and-out to seize momentum late in the third quarter. The Bulls them moved to the Ball State 26-yard line facing a 3rd-and-8. The Cardinals then sacked quarterback Chazz Anderson moving the ball back to the 33-yard line for a 4th-and-15. The Bulls opted to punt and pinned the Cardinals on their own 15-yard-line. A couple of plays gained 5 yards and the third quarter ending with Ball State in the lead 21-13 but facing a 3rd-and-5 to start the fourth.

The Cardinals were unable to convert the third down and punted to Buffalo giving the Bulls the ball on the Cardinal 45-yard line. Anderson went for it all on 1st-down hitting Alex Neutz for a 45-yard touchdown pass cutting the lead to 21-19 with a conversion pending. The Bulls decided to attempt to tie the game but could not complete the 2-point conversion pass leaving Ball State gripping a 2-point lead at 21-19 with 13:58 left in the game.

Ball State came out gunning to extend the lead but saw three straight pass attempts fail with the Cardinals punting the ball back after wasting only :22 seconds off the clock.

Starting on their own 14-yard line, Buffalo came up with their most impressive drive of the game. Oliver ran for 62 of the yards in a 14-play, 86-yard drive that encompassed 7:01 of game time and giving Buffalo their first lead since 7-0 in the first at 25-21 following yet another failed 2-point conversion.

Shell shocked after watching a 24-point lead turn into a 4-point deficit, Ball State needed a big drive to take control of the game again. The Cardinals moved the ball to the Buffalo 34-yard line after needing to convert just a single third down along the game. Three straight unsuccessful plays later, the Cardinals were forced to go for it on a 4th-and-13 at the Buffalo 37-yard line.

Wenning dropped back and found Briggs Orsbon for an 18-yard completion to move to the Buffalo 19-yard line and keep the drive going. The Cardinals faced another 4th-down play on the Buffalo 16-yard line with the game on the line. Wenning coolly found Jamill Smith for a 12-yard gain that gave the Cardinals a 1st-and-goal on the 4-yard line.

After back-to-back plays gaining no yards, Wenning found Willie Snead for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 28-25 lead with :29 left in the game.

The Bulls then scrambled to answer the touchdown but were only able to get to the Ball State 46-yard line before seeing the ball fall to the ground incomplete with 0:00 left on the clock with the score 28-25 in favor of the Ball State Cardinals.