Ball State watches undefeated season go down the tubes in loss to Buffalo

In the week prior to Ball State’s MAC championship game against Buffalo, much of their attention was diverted by a hypothetical matchup against the nation’s *other* undefeated team screwed by the BCS system, Boise State.  The plan was floated to book a game between Boise and Ball State in the Humanitarian Bowl, but that was shot down by MAC commissioner Rick Chyrst.  He may have done them a favor, as Ball State wants no part of arguably the best team in Bronco history.  It’s immaterial now anyway, as Ball State figured they could “phone in” their game against Buffalo and found themselves on the wrong end of a 42-24 score.

Ball State held a 10-7 halftime lead, but sloppy play combined with 35 second half Buffalo points sent the team home losers.  Buffalo won for the first time against Ball State after seven losses, and defeated a ranked opponent for the first time in program history.  The Bisons will play in Toronto’s International Bowl against Connecticut on January 3rd.  The Bisons previously were invited to the Tangerine Bowl in 1958, but turned down the bid since the team’s black players weren’t allowed to participate.   The current Buffalo team will honor the 1958 team as part of their current season bowl experience.

The Cardinals dominated the game statistically but were undone by careless play.  Star QB Nate Davis appeared more interested in impressing NFL scouts than anything else, and was involved in all of Ball State’s four fumbles—all of which were turned into scores by an opportunistic Buffalo offense.  He also threw an interception, though did gain 351 yards while throwing a TD pass.  His lesser known Buffalo counterpart Drew Willy, meanwhile, threw for 206 yards and 3 TD passes—with no interceptions.

With the loss Ball State will no longer have to spend time and energy griping about being passed over for a BCS bowl game and can focus on their January 6th date with Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, AL.   Their QB Davis, who had been transparently lobbying NFL scouts during the later part of the season, apparently realized that his shoddy performance in the team’s biggest game of the season had damaged his “perceived value” as a pro signal caller.  He did try to spin it as his “plan” from the start:

"I will come back. There's no doubt about. It's been the plan all along."