Brian Manzullo

The last time CMU and Ball State met, BSU coach Brady Hoke said his team tried to outsmart itself.

The Cardinals’ last Mid-American Conference loss was 58-38 last season to the Chippewas, thanks in large part to quarterback Dan LeFevour’s 506 total yards and six touchdowns.

“I was disappointed in us as coaches, number one – I don’t think I prepared the team very well,” Hoke said. “I just think we had too many things that we wanted to try and do defensively to some degree. Those little things added up to big things over the course of the game.”

Hoke said the team needs to execute a strategy against LeFevour today. In planning for CMU (8-2 overall, 6-0 Mid-American Conference), Hoke admitted the No. 14 Cardinals (10-0, 6-0 MAC) are not going try to change too much from what has made them successful all season.

“We’ve got a routine that our kids like. Our kids have done a good job in the routine and a good job of preparing every week,” Hoke said. “We’ve been pretty consistent in what we’ve been running all year, and we’re going to run what we run.”

Revenge is not the only motivating factor at work for the Cardinals.

Ball State is 10-0 for the first time in school history. A win tonight and Nov. 25 against WMU would assure the Cardinals their first MAC Championship game in school history.

Also, CMU and WMU are ranked No. 29 and No. 30, respectively, in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week. Consecutive wins over both would put BSU in a position to earn a bid for the first Bowl Championship Series bowl game in conference history.

While Ball State may have the national attention this year, one CMU advantage is the team’s experience in big games.

As two-time defending conference champions, CMU coach Butch Jones said his team has developed the level-headed mentality needed for big game situations.

“Last year, I think we experienced the highs and lows throughout the course of the season,” he said, “where this year, our kids have pretty much just been focused on the task at hand.”

Perhaps in attempting to control his own team’s emotions, Hoke is downplaying the importance of tonight’s game.

“I don’t know if it’s the biggest game or not. It’s a great football game with two very good teams, with very, very good players on their teams and its going to be a lot of fun,” Hoke said. “We’ve just got to go out there and play our best football and execute and have fun doing it.”

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E-mail the author: Justin Berndt