# 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.

## 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:

## Schedule

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

## 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 |