2020 Ball State Cardinals football team

The 2020 Ball State Cardinals football team represented Ball State University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinals were led by fifth-year head coach Mike Neu and played their home games at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana. They competed as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference.

2020 Ball State Cardinals football
MAC champion MAC West Division champion Arizona Bowl champion
MAC Championship Game, W 38–28 vs. Buffalo
Arizona Bowl, W 34–13 vs. San Jose State
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 23
AP	No. 23
Record	7–1 (5–1 MAC)
Head coach	Mike Neu (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Kevin Lynch (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Tyler Stockton (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Scheumann Stadium
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

2020 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 25 Buffalo xy		5	–	0					6	–	1
Kent State		3	–	1					3	–	1
Ohio		2	–	1					2	–	1
Miami (OH)		2	–	1					2	–	1
Akron		1	–	5					1	–	5
Bowling Green		0	–	5					0	–	5
West Division
No. 23 Ball State xy$		5	–	1					7	–	1
Western Michigan		4	–	2					4	–	2
Toledo		4	–	2					4	–	2
Central Michigan		3	–	3					3	–	3
Eastern Michigan		2	–	4					2	–	4
Northern Illinois		0	–	6					0	–	6
Championship: Ball State 38, Buffalo 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Mid-American suspended the season on August 8, but later decided to begin play on November 4.[1] Rankings from AP Poll.

Ball State Cardinals' current wordmark since 2011

In a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cardinals played to a 5–1 record in a limited regular-season schedule. The team then defeated Buffalo in the conference championship game. The season ended with a victory over San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl for the first bowl game victory in program history.^[2]

Schedule

Ball State had games scheduled against Indiana, Maine, and Michigan, which were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3][4] On July 28, it was announced that Ball State had added Iowa State to the schedule.^[5] Soon after, the MAC decided to cancel its season, followed by the same announcements from the Big Ten Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Mountain West Conference.

On September 25, the Mid-American Conference changed course, playing a six-week scheduled football season starting the week of November 4.^[6]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 4	7:00 p.m.	at Miami	Yager Stadium Oxford, OH (Red Bird Rivalry[7])	CBSSN	L 31–38	0
November 11	7:00 p.m.	Eastern Michigan	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	CBSSN	W 38–31	1,183
November 18	7:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN (Bronze Stalk Trophy)	ESPNews	W 31–25	0
November 28	12:00 p.m.	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPN3	W 27–24	0
December 5	5:30 p.m.	at Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPNU	W 45–20	N/A*
December 12	12:00 p.m.	Western Michigan	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN+	W 30–27	823
December 18	7:30 p.m.	vs. Buffalo	Ford Field Detroit, MI (MAC Championship Game)	ESPN	W 38–28	0
December 31	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 22 San Jose State*	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ (Arizona Bowl)	CBS	W 34–13	0
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 24 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[8]

Game summaries

Miami

Red Bird Rivalry

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	7	7	10	31
• RedHawks	0	10	14	14	38

• Date: November 4, 2020
• Location: Yager Stadium
  Oxford, OH
• Game start: 7:02 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 42 minutes
• Game weather: Temperature: 58 °F (14 °C) • Weather: Clear Skies • Wind: 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), SW
• Referee: J. Valentine
• TV announcers (CBSSN): John Sadak (play–by–play), Ross Tucker (analyst)^[9]

See also: 2020 Miami RedHawks football team

Eastern Michigan

Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	14	7	3	7	31
• Cardinals	7	6	8	17	38

• Date: November 11, 2020
• Location: Scheumann Stadium
  Muncie, IN
• Game start: 7:02 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 39 minutes
• Game attendance: 1,183
• Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C) • Weather: Clear • Wind: 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h), N
• Referee: Greg Sujack^[10]
• TV announcers (CBSSN): Ben Holden (play–by–play), Ross Tucker (analyst)^[11]

See also: 2020 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

Northern Illinois

Bronze Stalk Trophy

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	7	0	11	25
• Cardinals	0	14	6	11	31

• Date: November 18, 2020
• Location: Scheumann Stadium
  Muncie, IN
• Game start: 7:02 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 22 minutes
• Game attendance: 859
• Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C) • Weather: Clear • Wind: 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
• Referee: Ron Hudson^[12]
• TV announcers (ESPNews): Clay Matvick (play–by–play), Rocky Boiman (analyst)^[13]

See also: 2020 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Toledo

Ball State vs. Toledo

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cardinals	14	3	7	3	27
Rockets	0	3	6	15	24

• Date: November 28, 2020
• Location: Glass Bowl
  Toledo, OH
• Game start: 12:05 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 43 minutes
• Game attendance: 0
• Game weather: 41 °F (5 °C) • Weather: Sunny skies • Wind: 9 miles per hour (14 km/h) W
• Referee: Bryan Banks^[14]
• TV announcers (ESPN3): Michael Reghi (play–by–play), Devin Gardner (analyst)^[15]

See also: 2020 Toledo Rockets football team

Central Michigan

Ball State vs. Central Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cardinals	10	14	14	7	45
Chippewas	0	7	7	6	20

• Date: December 5, 2020
• Location: Kelly/Shorts Stadium
  Mount Pleasant, MI
• Game start: 2:02 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 13 minutes
• Game attendance: 0
• Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C) • Weather: Sunny • Wind: 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) W
• Referee: Tom Stapleton^[16]
• TV announcers (ESPNU): Clay Matvick, Rocky Boiman^[17]

See also: 2020 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

Western Michigan

Ball State vs. Western Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	3	17	7	0	27
• Cardinals	6	7	0	17	30

• Date: December 12, 2020
• Location: Scheumann Stadium
  Muncie, IN
• Game start: 12:05 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 33 minutes
• Game attendance: 823
• Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C) • Weather: Mostly sunny • Wind: 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) SW
• Referee: Ron Hudson^[18]
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Joel Godett, Jay Walker^[19]

See also: 2020 Western Michigan Broncos football team

Buffalo (MAC Championship Game)

Ball State vs. Buffalo
MAC Championship Game

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cardinals	7	28	3	0	38
Bulls	14	7	7	0	28

• Date: December 18, 2020
• Location: Ford Field
  Detroit, MI
• Game start: 7:31 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 25 minutes
• Game attendance: 0
• Game weather: n/a (indoor stadium)
• Referee: Tom Stapleton^[20]
• TV announcers (ESPN): Clay Matvick (play-by-play), Rocky Boiman (analyst) and Katie George (sideline)

See also: 2020 Buffalo Bulls football team and 2020 MAC Championship Game

San Jose State (Arizona Bowl)

Ball State vs. San Jose State
Arizona Bowl

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cardinals	27	0	7	0	34
No. 22 Spartans	0	0	13	0	13

• Date: December 31, 2020
• Location: Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
• Game start: 2:13 p.m. EST
• Elapsed time: 3 hours and 31 minutes
• Game attendance: 0
• Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C) • Weather: Scattered clouds • Wind: 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) ESE^[21]
• Referee: Joe Lehring
• TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Rick Neuheisel (analyst) and Jenny Dell (sideline)^[22]

See also: 2020 San Jose State Spartans football team and 2020 Arizona Bowl