Mike Uremovich stood in front of his team the week of the MAC opener and told them that not committing so many penalties had become the main focus after the penalty problems of the previous two weeks. Ball State then went to Kent State and was flagged seven times for 60 yards, while the Flashes took 14 for 114. The Cardinals still lost 26-13. But the thing Uremovich said out loud actually changed on the field, which is more than could be said two weeks earlier at Liberty, when he named penalties as the first reason that game got away and said flatly, "The Cardinals can't beat the Cardinals, and that's what happened today."
One clear fix, and not much else. Kent State outgained Ball State 354-210 and held the ball for 35:18 to 24:42, with the Cardinals' 210 yards splitting to 164 passing and 46 rushing. Nobody turned it over. Ball State simply could not stay on the field or move it.
The quarterback question is still open, just from the other end
Keldric Luster was unavailable against Kent State because of an undisclosed injury and dressed only as an emergency option, so Tyler Mizzell made his first start and went 16-of-27 for 164 yards and a touchdown, taking one sack on the play that resulted in a safety. Serviceable. Not a solution.
The frustrating part is that Luster's own résumé had already wobbled before the injury. He was the transfer who won the job out of camp, the newcomer the whole 34-transfer rebuild was supposed to be validated by, and he looked the part against Stony Brook with a 27-of-32, 256-yard, three-touchdown afternoon. Then came Liberty, and he went 10-of-21 for 93 yards, no touchdowns, and not a single completion of 15 yards or more. Four games in, neither quarterback has settled anything, and Uremovich is working through it with the same staff he started the year with. Jeff Knowles is still running the defense, and Craig Harmon is still coaching the quarterbacks. There is no scapegoat coming. Whatever fix arrives has to come from the people already in the building.
Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Toledo comes to Scheumann Stadium for Ball State's home MAC opener, staged alongside a Community Day. The Rockets have won the last four meetings; a Ball State win would be its first over Toledo since 2020. The last one was ugly, 38-9 at the Glass Bowl to close 2025, four touchdown passes from Tucker Gleason, 128 rushing yards from Chip Trayanum, two Kiael Kelly interceptions.
The model gives Ball State a 6.3% chance. That is a real number, and it is small. A win would be a genuine thrill, not something the season is built on.
What actually deserves your attention is whether the discipline holds when the opponent is fast enough to convert one blown assignment into seven points. Kent State could not punish Ball State's mistakes very efficiently. Toledo can. Watch the first quarter for pre-snap penalties and for whether Mizzell gets the offense in and out of the huddle cleanly against a defense that will disguise more than Kent State did.
Watch the pass rush, too. Dru DeShields threw for 189 yards, ran for 76 and accounted for all three Kent State touchdowns. Nathan Voorhis's 12 sacks left last winter and nobody has replaced them. A quarterback with time is how these games get out of hand.
One more thing worth saying plainly. This is a home game, and Ball State needs one. The Kent State loss was Ball State's second consecutive road defeat, though the 13-point margin was a long way from Liberty's 36. Scheumann removes that excuse entirely. If the cleaner, more composed version of this team is real, this is the setting where it should show up.
Full week view at the interactive guide; the forecasting details are at methodology.