The celebrations at the Fisher Football Training Complex are over. Thursday's 27-10 victory is firmly planted in Ball State's rear-view mirror, and the rose-colored lenses many looked through opening night have been tossed aside.
The reality of Week 2 of the Cardinals' season is another home game against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent, only one much better than Southeast Missouri State. Ball State will host Liberty, which is ranked No. 19 in the FCS coaches' poll.
Liberty is coming off a 52-7 victory against St. Francis (Pa.) and will likely capitalize on the mistakes Ball State made to keep Thursday's first half tied.
"We've got to play better and faster and with more energy than we did Thursday night," coach Stan Parrish said. "We've got to make a significant gain in what we do this week because this is a good test. This is a very much MAC-like football team."
After starting the season 1-0, the Cardinals immediately began striving to be 2-0. Symbolically, Ball State hasn't been able to think about Liberty because the schedule board in the team's meeting room listed only Southeast Missouri State and 11 blank weeks. With opening night in the past, the Flames are at the forefront of the Cardinals' minds.
"It's always good to start 1-0," defensive end Robert Eddins said. "You have to be 1-0 to get to 2-0."
There are plenty of facets of Thursday's game for the Cardinals to focus on this week in practice. Parrish specifically noted Ball State's poor passing performance and said its defense needed to do a better job pressuring the quarterback.
The Cardinals relied heavily on a rushing attack against the Redhawks, taking the pressure off Kelly Page. The sophomore completed 10 of 17 passes for 85 yards in his first collegiate victory.
"We didn't throw it worth a darn," Parrish said. "We've got to get better. They're going to have 10 men on the line of scrimmage."
Parrish singled out a pair of deep throws to tight end David Schneider and wide receiver Otis Brown that would have resulted in touchdowns if Page delivered the ball on target.
"Both the balls were a trajectory problem," he said. "Throw them a little softer, and they're both slam dunk touchdowns."
Parrish was disappointed the Cardinals defense couldn't put more pressure on quarterback Matt Scheible. Safety Sean Baker had Ball State's only sack, and Parrish said linebacker Tony Martin missed an opportunity for a second.
The Redhawks didn't test the Cardinals secondary, and Parrish said he wants to focus on coverage this week. Because Ball State's first-team offense and defense often play against each other in practice, Parrish said he hopes Page and backup Keith Wenning will help prepare the defense for a much tougher quarterback this week. He said Liberty quarterback Mike Brown will be the best Ball State faces this year, so it must be able to pressure him and defend the pass to be successful.
"If you let this guy stand back there, he's going to complete balls," Parrish said. "You've got to get some pressure on him. You've got to get some push. [The pressure's] got to step up, and I think it will."
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