Ball State Beats Sacramento State 34-17 for Fifth Straight Homecoming Win

Homecoming crowds come for the reunions and the tailgates. The 12,518 who packed Scheumann Stadium on Saturday also got a quarterback who would not stop throwing the ball deep, and a defense that took the game away in the final half-minute before halftime.

Ball State beat Sacramento State 34-17 in Muncie on Oct. 24, the Cardinals' second win in as many weeks. It was the largest home crowd since 15,318 showed up for homecoming in 2024, and they went home happy. Ball State improved to 3-5. Sacramento State fell to 1-7 and 0-5 in the MAC.

The win carried some history with it. According to the Ball State recap (opens in a new tab), it was the Cardinals' fifth straight homecoming victory and their sixth in seven homecoming games since 2019. It was also the first time since homecoming 2022 against Connecticut that Ball State won back-to-back games played a traditional week apart.

A slow start, then a shootout of long balls

For a while, it looked like a long afternoon for the home team. Sacramento State took the opening punch. Grant Meadors finished a nine-play, 47-yard drive with a 47-yard field goal with 2:36 left in the first quarter, and the Hornets led 3-0 after one.

Then the second quarter turned into a home run derby.

Keldric Luster got Ball State going at the 8:45 mark. The Cardinals moved 83 yards in six plays, and the last 65 came on one throw, a touchdown pass to Isaiah Thacker. Brody Boehm's kick made it 7-3.

Sacramento State answered almost immediately. Jackson Sharman found Jace Wilson for a 65-yard touchdown of his own, capping a five-play, 78-yard drive with 6:19 left in the half. Meadors added the kick, and the Hornets were back on top at 10-7.

They held that lead for less than a minute. Ball State needed only two plays to go 57 yards, and Luster hit Jamarion McDougle for a 55-yard score at the 5:25 mark. Ball State led 13-10.

Three long touchdown passes in a little more than three minutes of game clock. Somebody was going to blink.

The turning point: a strip sack before the break

It was the Sacramento State offense that blinked, and it did so at the worst possible time.

With just over 30 seconds left in the half, Kaleb Stewart got home on a sack and knocked the ball loose. Ben Marsh fell on it. Three plays later, TJ Horton plunged in from a yard out with 15 seconds remaining, and Boehm's kick sent Ball State into the locker room up 20-10.

That sequence changed the shape of the game. Instead of a three-point game at the half, the Hornets were down two scores and getting the ball with the knowledge that every mistake was going to cost them.

Ball State stretched it out right away. The Cardinals opened the third quarter with a five-play, 45-yard drive, and Luster finished it himself with a 6-yard touchdown run at the 12:04 mark. That made it 27-10.

Sacramento State's best answer

To their credit, the Hornets did not fold. Sharman led his longest drive of the day in the third quarter, an 11-play, 81-yard march that ate 5:47 off the clock. He capped it with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Coleman with 6:13 left in the period, and the lead was back to 27-17.

Ball State gave Sacramento State a few openings, too. The Cardinals threw two interceptions, including one in the red zone in the third quarter, which kept a game that could have gotten out of hand within reach a little longer.

The Hornets could not take advantage. Their offense was held scoreless in the fourth quarter, and Ball State closed the door with a nine-play, 73-yard drive that took 4:33. Horton finished it with a 6-yard run with 9:40 to play, and the final margin was set at 34-17.

The stars

Luster was the show. He completed 14 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns, both of them from 55 yards or longer, and he added 68 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. That made 302 yards of total offense, his second straight game over 300 total yards. According to Ball State, he is the first Cardinal to do that since quarterback John Paddock in 2022.

Horton did his damage close to the goal line. He ran nine times for 33 yards, and two of those carries went for touchdowns. It was his second straight week with two rushing touchdowns, and the second score gave him a conference-leading nine rushing touchdowns on the season.

Jalen Bonds handled the grinding work. He led the team with 77 rushing yards on 17 carries, giving the offense a steady ground game to lean on between the big throws. Thacker led the receivers with 65 yards, including that long touchdown.

On defense, Colorado State transfer Chris Jackson made the most of his first start. He shared the team lead with five tackles, alongside Mikeah Webster and Ameir Glenn. Stewart and Marsh made the play of the day together, and the unit finished with three sacks, three pass breakups and four tackles for loss.

For Sacramento State, Sharman threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson caught passes for 89 yards, most of them on his long score, and Isaiah Ene led the Hornets with 57 rushing yards.

Stats that matter

Ball State outgained Sacramento State 417 to 266, and the difference showed up in the big plays. Two Cardinals touchdowns covered 55 yards or more, and a pair of long drives in the second half, one of 45 yards and one of 73, did the rest.

Ball State did not play a clean game. The Cardinals gave the ball away twice through the air, one of them in the red zone. But their biggest defensive play came at the perfect moment. The strip sack at the end of the first half turned directly into seven points and a two-score lead that Sacramento State never erased.

What it means and what's next

A month ago, Ball State was in a hole. The Cardinals lost 26-13 at Kent State, 39-24 to Toledo and 45-14 at Northwestern. Then they went to Bowling Green and won 32-31 in overtime for their first road win since 2024, and now they have backed that up with a comfortable win at home.

That is real progress for a program in Mike Uremovich's second season. Ball State's preview of its next game also noted that the defense has made strides against the run over the past two games, and a team that was searching for answers in September looks a lot more settled heading into November.

Next up is a bye week, and then a Wednesday night trip to UMass on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. for some midweek MACtion. The Minutemen are a tricky opponent. They won four straight with quarterback William Watson III, then lost four straight after he was injured, and Watson is expected back.

The last word

Uremovich is not buying the idea that UMass is a team in a slump.

"We're not playing the team that's lost four games in a row," he said, according to the Ball State preview (opens in a new tab) of the UMass game. "We're playing the team that's won four games in a row, and they'll be ready."

Luster, for his part, sounds ready for the spotlight.

"It's probably going to be one of the only few games on TV throughout the week, and you know a lot of people will be watching from home on TV," he said. "So, I feel like the stage is set. So why not go execute?"

If he keeps throwing it like he did on homecoming, a lot of those people at home are going to see some long touchdowns.

Sources: Ball State Athletics game recap (opens in a new tab), box score (opens in a new tab) and UMass game preview. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Bobby Ellis/Ball State University.