Poor play calling and untimely penalties dash Ball State football’s bowl dreams in loss to Buffalo

When Buffalo senior quarterback C.J. Ogbonna rolled out of the pocket to his right on the second Bulls play of overtime Tuesday night, he threw a low pass to redshirt freshman running back Lamar Sperling on the far right side of the end zone. Sperling was in blanket coverage by Ball State’s team captain, senior Keionte Newson, but had just enough room to seemingly make a catch.

The silver lining for the Cardinals was that Newson also had room to make a play on the ball, and redshirt junior defensive back DD Snyder thought Newson had made a game-winning interception. If Newson had forced the turnover while leading 48-45, it would have moved Ball State to a 4-6 overall record and a 3-3 Mid-American Conference (MAC) mark.

Most importantly, it would have kept the Cardinals’ hopes of making their first bowl appearance since 2021 alive. The initial ruling on the field was a Bulls touchdown, but Snyder, Newson and Ball State’s entire defense was confident in the alternate result.

After a review, the call on the field stood; Ball State lost its second-straight game and officially fell out of bowl contention for the third-straight season. No matter the final score, Snyder hates losing.

It’s safe to say every Division I athlete does. Hell, even fans of Division I programs have low tolerance for losses.

But Tuesday’s negative feeling was much deeper than normal after Ball State’s 51-48 loss to Buffalo (6-4, 4-2 MAC) in New York, especially considering the roller coaster of emotions Snyder went through during the 60 minutes of clock time.

The defensive back played the best game of his collegiate journey Tuesday night, compiling a career-high 10 tackles and collecting two interceptions. The Cardinals’ offense even scored 10 points on those two forced turnovers.

None of that mattered when the final buzzer sounded and Buffalo celebrated clinching bowl eligibility for the third time this decade.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Snyder said. “ … Emotions are high, and it was gut-wrenching when the call stood.”

Yet this was not the play or even the sequence that defined Ball State’s Tuesday night, it was the Cardinals’ final true offensive and defensive drives of the evening.

The red and white led Buffalo 45-31 with 7:08 remaining, but Buffalo cut that lead to eight less than two minutes later. The Bulls’ defense forced a Ball State punt on the following drive before putting together 10 plays for 73 yards in less than 90 seconds to tie the game at 45 apiece with nearly two minutes to go.

The Cardinals’ defensive collapse was defined by three pass interference penalties on the game-tying drive, all committed by starting members of the Ball State secondary.

“We gotta be able to finish the deal,” Cardinals’ head coach Mike Neu said. “ … Some of the self-inflicted wounds that we had there in the fourth quarter were just unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.”

Snyder was not given a penalty all of Tuesday night, but he understands the challenge that comes with balancing blanket coverage and fair play.

“The secondary could do better to avoid those calls, but I didn’t see every pass interference,” Snyder said. “Technique, technique, technique. I wouldn’t agree with every call that was made, but the call was made, and that was really the difference … Without the penalties, it’s definitely a different outcome.”

Ball State’s fate was not sealed when Ogbonna hit graduate student wide receiver JJ Jenkins for a game-tying touchdown late in the fourth, still boasting all three timeouts along with almost two minutes of clock to get into field goal range.

Given sophomore kicker Jackson Courville’s long-range success this season, that likely meant reaching at least the Buffalo 35-yard line to give him a chance.

Once Ball State moved from its own 20-yard line to the Bulls’ 41, there was less than a minute remaining. However, rather than running the ball to eat some clock and secure some potentially safer yardage to get inside the 35-yard line, the Cardinals’ offensive staff decided to call three consecutive pass plays – all of which fell incomplete.

Ultimately, Ball State punted, Buffalo conceded into overtime and the rest is history. Neu said his confidence in offensive coordinator Jared Elliott meant he would make the same decision if presented with a chance to replay the scenario.

“Jared had been doing a good job all night. We felt like that gave us the best chance,” Neu said. “Obviously we wouldn’t call it if we didn’t feel good about it. We had gotten several explosive plays in the passing game all night long.”

The Cardinals had six passes go for 20-plus yards prior to the drive, including a 65-yard touchdown bubble pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Cam Pickett and two 20-plus-yard touchdown passes to junior wide receiver Justin Bowick.

Bowick finished with a game-high 148 receiving yards and two scores, but it was redshirt freshman Kadin Semonza who stood out most for the Ball State offense. The California-native threw for 327 yards on 67.6 percent completion, complimenting his four passing touchdowns and his 53 rushing yards. Despite throwing a second-quarter interception, Semonza put up the best stats of his young college career Tuesday.

He doesn’t care.

“I didn’t do enough tonight, but I feel like I left it all out there,” Semonza said. “I gave it everything I had … I’m not a big stat guy; it’s either you win or you lose.”

Tuesday was only Semonza’s 14th career start, in which time he has been a part of seven one-possession games. While the Cardinals’ record in those games is 2-5, Semonza believes his confidence level is growing when the lights are brightest.

“We fully anticipate going down there and winning the game,” Semonza said. “It didn’t work out like we thought it would – we shot ourselves in the foot, and that can’t happen.

“It stings, it hurts and at the end of the day it’s on us … I feel like I was made for those moments, and it sucks. It’s not always going to go your way.”

Ball State’s offense scored its most points of the season, gained its most total yards of 2024 and saw five different players find the end zone. It still wasn’t enough.

Neu didn’t think Ball State played winning football for the final seven minutes of regulation and all of overtime, and Semonza believes the Cardinals are underperforming up to their potential. The redshirt freshman spoke belief in the Ball State offense’s ability to fire on all cylinders for a full four quarters in the future.

The only problem is that there are just two games remaining in the season, and they come against the MAC’s top two programs. With Bowling Green’s win against Western Michigan (5-5, 4-2 MAC) Tuesday night, the Falcons (6-4, 5-1 MAC) move into the MAC’s first-place spot.

The Ohio Bobcats sit in second place with a 4-1 conference record (6-3 overall). The Cardinals have Bowling Green up next on their docket, and while Neu said missing out on a bowl game hadn’t yet crossed his mind Tuesday night, it may sink in when he goes to address the team Wednesday morning back in Muncie.

“It’s a horrible feeling,” Neu said. “There’s not a whole lot you can say in that situation … It’s not easy.”

When your offense has its best showing of the season, your defense wins the turnover battle and your team still loses, defeats don’t get much harder.

Contact Kyle Smedley via email at kmsmedley213@gmail.com or via X @KyleSmedley_.