6. Drew Plitt was amazing enough when he had to be
The Ball State quarterback threw an interception in every game but one, but he didn’t give up any picks, didn’t do anything to let the Spartans get back into the game, and he hit on the big plays to put the game away. He completed 12-of-19 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score. With everything else working for the Cardinals, he did his job, and …
5. The Ball State offensive balance mattered
That was always the biggest key to the Ball State season – the offensive balance was there. It was heavily leaning to the passing side in most games, but there was enough of a ground game to balance things out, and early on there was enough to take over when needed.
The Cardinals only ran for 185 yards and struggled to pop too many big plays, but Will Jones ran for 89 yards and a touchdown, Donny Marcus ran for 69, and there was enough happening to keep Plitt from having to force anything.
4. Mike Neu just made himself into a hot head coaching name
San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan is still a big head coaching prospect after working miracles with the program that struggled for so long. But after this, and with the MAC Championship win over Buffalo, Ball State head man Mike Neu is going to start to become a name on the next-job-up circuit.
The former Ball State quarterback was an Arena League coach before taking on the Cardinal job and there wasn’t much happening. The program went 13-33 in his first four years, but there was an improvement in each of the last three seasons.
He just turned 50, he came up with a whale of a season – more on that in a moment – and he’s one more great campaign away from potentially getting a long look.