2017 Ball State Cardinals football team

The 2017 Ball State Cardinals football team represented Ball State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Mike Neu and played their home games at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 0–8 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division.

2017 Ball State Cardinals football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	West Division
2017 record	2–10 (0–8 MAC)
Head coach	Mike Neu (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Joey Lynch (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	David Elson (1st season)
Home stadium	Scheumann Stadium (Capacity: 22,500)

2017 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Akron xy		6	–	2					7	–	7
Ohio		5	–	3					9	–	4
Miami		4	–	4					5	–	7
Buffalo		4	–	4					6	–	6
Bowling Green		2	–	6					2	–	10
Kent State		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Toledo xy$		7	–	1					11	–	3
Central Michigan		6	–	2					8	–	5
Northern Illinois		6	–	2					8	–	5
Western Michigan		4	–	4					6	–	6
Eastern Michigan		3	–	5					5	–	7
Ball State		0	–	8					2	–	10
Championship: Toledo 45, Akron 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2016 season 4–8, 1–7 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division.

Coaching staff

Name	Title	Years at Ball State	Alma mater
Mike Neu	Head Coach	2	Ball State
Byron Ellis	Chief of Staff	2	Southern Miss
Joey Lynch	Off. Coord./QB Coach	9	Ball State
David Elson	Def. Coord.	1	Butler
Alex Bailey	WR Coach	3	Youngstown State
Johnny Curtis	LB Coach	2	Tulane
Kyle DeVan	OL Coach	2	Oregon State
Patrick Dougherty	TE/ST Coach	4	Ohio Dominican
Chevis Jackson	DB Coach	2	LSU
Kevin Lynch	RB Coach	2	Franklin College
Keith McKenzie	DL Coach	2	Ball State
Ben Armer	S&C Coach	1	Western Michigan
Shawn Chaffee	GA, Defense	1	Wooster
Cory Connolly	GA, Defense	2	Quincy
Doug Ehinger	GA, Offense	2	Albion College
Dean Petzing	GA, Offense	1	St. Lawrence

Source:[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:00 p.m.	at Illinois*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 21–24	42,505
September 9	3:05 p.m.	UAB*	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN3	W 51–31	11,555
September 16	3:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech*	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN3	W 28–13	14,265
September 23	7:00 p.m.	at WKU*	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	STADIUM	L 21–33	17,590
September 30	7:00 p.m.	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN3	L 3–55	18,216
October 7	3:30 p.m.	at Akron	InfoCision Stadium Akron, OH	ESPN3	L 3–31	20,199
October 21	3:00 p.m.	Central Michigan	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN3	L 9–56	15,850
October 26	7:00 p.m.	Toledo	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN3	L 17–58	7,103
November 2	6:00 p.m.	at Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	CBSSN	L 14–56	23,465
November 9	7:00 p.m.	at Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL (Bronze Stalk Trophy)	CBSSN	L 17–63	6,603
November 16	7:00 p.m.	Buffalo	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	CBSSN	L 24–40	5,248
November 21	7:00 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN3	L 7–28	5,374
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Eastern time

Source:[2]

Game summaries

at Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	0	14	0	21
Fighting Illini	6	10	0	8	24

UAB

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	3	14	7	7	31
Cardinals	7	14	17	13	51

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	7	6	0	13
Cardinals	7	14	7	0	28

at WKU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	0	7	7	21
Hilltoppers	7	10	0	16	33

at Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	0	3	0	3
Broncos	14	17	17	7	55

at Akron

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	3	0	0	0	3
Zips	7	10	0	14	31

Central Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	21	7	21	56
Cardinals	3	3	3	0	9

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rockets	3	21	27	7	58
Cardinals	7	3	7	0	17

at Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	7	0	0	14
Eagles	14	21	14	7	56

at Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	0	10	0	17
Huskies	21	14	14	14	63

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	10	13	14	3	40
Cardinals	0	10	7	7	24

Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	14	14	0	0	28
Cardinals	0	0	0	7	7

References

1. 2017 Football Coaching Staff. Ball State Athletics. Accessed April 17, 2017.
2. 2017 Ball State Cardinals football schedule. FBSchedules.com. Accessed April 17, 2017.