The 2021 Ball State Cardinals football team represented Ball State University during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinals were led by sixth-year head coach

Mike Neu Michael David Neu (born December 29, 1970) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current head football coach of the Ball State Cardinals. He played college football at Ball State for Paul Schudel from 1990 to 1993 and ...

and played their home games at

Scheumann Stadium Scheumann Stadium (officially, the "John B. and June M. Scheumann Stadium"), formerly known as Ball State Stadium, is in Muncie, Indiana. It is primarily used for football, and it is the home field of the Ball State University Cardinals. The ...

in Muncie, Indiana. They competed as members of the West Division of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2020 season 7–1, 5–1 in MAC play to finish in first place in the West Division. They went on to defeat Buffalo in the

MAC Championship Game The MAC Football Championship Game is a football game between the winners of the East and West divisions of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to determine the conference champion. History The game has been played since 1997, when the conferenc ...

. The Cardinals were invited to the

Arizona Bowl The Arizona Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2015 season. The game is held at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, and starting in 2020 has tie-ins with the Mountain West Conference and Mid-Amer ...

, where they defeated

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

for their first bowl game win in program history.

Schedule

Rankings

Game summaries

Western Illinois

At No. 11 Penn State

At Wyoming

Toledo

Army

At Western Michigan

At Eastern Michigan

Miami (Ohio)

At Akron

At Northern Illinois (Bronze Stalk Trophy)

Central Michigan

Buffalo

vs. Georgia State (Camellia Bowl)

References

{{Ball State Cardinals football navbox Ball State Ball State Cardinals football seasons

Ball State Cardinals football The Ball State Cardinals football team is a college football program representing Ball State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football. Mike Neu is the head coach. ...