Ball State’s record does not scare Joe Harasymiak, but the tape does.
The Cardinals played Ohio State and Northwestern in non-conference play and hung with a Liberty team that has only lost once all season. Throw those games out, Harasymiak said, and a different team shows up.
“They’re better than us statistically for the overall part and record wise in our league,” the UMass head coach said. “So this is a very good team. They’re rolling right now. They’ve won two in a row.”
That combination has Harasymiak’s full attention as the Minutemen (4-4, 1-3 MAC) host Ball State (3-5, 2-2 MAC) in the MACtion opener Wednesday night at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The Cardinals have won two straight for the first time under head coach Mike Uremovich, and a third straight win would be their first such win streak since 2022 and their first three-game MAC win streak since their conference title season of 2020.
QB Luster Creates The Second Play
It starts with the scheme. Uremovich’s background is offense, and Harasymiak said the Cardinals are built to stress a defense before the ball is even snapped.
“They do a lot of things pre-snap to challenge you, and they always put their players in a, I believe, a numbers advantage from the standpoint of their scheme,” Harasymiak said.
Then there is Luster, who has produced more than 300 yards of total offense in two straight games. He threw for 234 yards and ran for 68 more against Sacramento State, with touchdown passes of 65 and 55 yards before halftime. Ball State has topped 360 yards of offense in four straight games and averages 395.5 yards over that stretch.
“He’s dynamic,” Harasymiak said. “He can move, he can throw it, I’m really, really impressed with his ability to throw the ball kind of in different ways.
“He can throw it up over the top. He can throw it on their line. He’s got great touch when he needs to, and he creates the second play.”
Luster’s ability to do just that helped them beat Bowling Green.
“How they won the Bowling Green game was he created two second plays, the last play of the game, the two-point play,” Harasymiak said. “He escaped the pocket, created and threw accurate passes.”
Luster has plenty of help with Harasymiak pointing to the running backs and wide receiver Jamarion McDougle.
“I think their running backs are explosive,” Harasymiak said. “Their wide outs, especially #10 (McDougle), can go. And then their o-line is doing a great job.”
A D-Line That Creates Havoc
The season numbers say Ball State’s defense can be had. Harasymiak does not want to hear about that and instead is concentrating on the Cardinals’ performance against MAC opponents.
“I don’t pay attention to the overall statistics of out-of-conference,” Harasymiak said. “I just look at the in-conference and they’re playing very, very well. They’re tackling better.”
Early in the season, the Cardinals missed critical tackles that turned into explosive plays. That has tightened up over the last month, and it starts up front.
“Their D-line is what I think about in terms of they can create havoc easily to me,” Harasymiak said.
The proof came against a Big Ten team.
“They had a goal line stand essentially against Northwestern, a Big 10 team,” Harasymiak said. “They had another short yard stop in that game.”
The field-position game travels too.
Against Sacramento State, Ball State’s defense and special teams held the Hornets to an average starting position at their own 20-yard line. Sacramento State never started a drive beyond its own 25, crossed midfield three times and ran for 54 yards.
Punter Cole Stumbaugh put all four of his punts inside the 20 and averaged 51.8 yards. Harasymiak said the Cardinals’ special teams will challenge UMass schematically, and UMass special teams coordinator Joe Castellitto knows Ball State’s coordinator from their time together on the UConn staff.
The UMass Side
The Minutemen come off their bye week as healthy as they have been since September.
“As far as the injuries go, I think we should be in a really, really good spot,” Harasymiak said.
That starts with quarterback Pop Watson, who returned at UConn after missing two games and has had the bye week to get his legs back under him. Harasymiak said a healthy Watson changes what the offense can ask of him.
“If you use him as a superhero, he’s got all his superpowers,” Harasymiak said.
Safety DD Snyder knows the opponent a little better than most. He spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Ball State and played 17 games for the Cardinals before transferring to UMass.
Ball State is not overlooking any of it. Uremovich framed the matchup around the version of UMass that opened the season 4-0 with Watson healthy.
“We’re not playing the team that’s lost four games in a row,” Uremovich said. “We’re playing the team that’s won four games in a row, and they’ll be ready.”
The Stakes
Both teams are fighting for bowl eligibility with four games to play. UMass needs two wins from Ball State, a trip to Toledo, a home date with Akron and the finale at Bowling Green to reach six. Ball State needs three.
Harasymiak has kept the message smaller than that.
“The only thing that matters is Ball State,” Harasymiak said.
“They’re fighting for their MAC life, their bowl eligibility life, kind of like we are. It should be a really awesome game.”
Kickoff is Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on ESPNU.
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