Ball State Cardinals Return To GoDaddy Bowl

MOBILE, AL. (Dec. 8, 2013) – The GoDaddy Bowl announced today that Ball State University (10-2, 7-1) with the Mid-American Conference has accepted an invitation to play in the 2014 GoDaddy Bowl game against the Sun Belt Conference co-champion, Arkansas State University. The 15th annual GoDaddy Bowl game will be played on Sun., Jan. 5, 2014, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and televised nationally at 8:00 pm on ESPN.

Ball State celebrated a 55-14 home victory over Miami University to earn its 10th win of the year on Saturday, November 29th. For only the third time in the Cardinals’ 89-year history of football, Ball State has tallied at least 10 victories in a season.

Ball State’s record breaking quarterback, Keith Wenning owns the school career records for touchdown passes, passing yards, pass completions and pass attempts. Wenning continued to break school records with 300-yard passing games and three games of 400 or more yards passing to name a few. Wenning is also the first quarterback in Ball State history to pass for 10,000 or more yards in a career. Wenning is considered one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s NFL draft.

Defensively, the Cardinals are led by Ben Ingle with 105 tackles this season. They are seventh in the nation in turnovers gained and first in the country in fumbles recovered.

“We’re pleased that Ball State has accepted our invitation to return to Mobile for the bowl game. Ball State has been challenging their opponents on both sides of the ball and we think this match-up will be another exciting one for Mobile, the universities and the fans”, said GoDaddy Bowl President, Jerry Silverstein.

The NCAA’s highest-scoring bowl game was played in the then-GMAC Bowl in 2001, with Marshall overcoming a 30-point halftime deficit to beat East Carolina 64-61 in double overtime. Offense has always been a key factor in previous GoDaddy Bowl games.

Teams are slated to arrive in Mobile on Wednesday, January 1. As usual, the GoDaddy Bowl will feature a week of activities before the game itself. The GoDaddy Bowl Mayor’s Luncheon will feature guest speaker NFL 3-time MVP Brett Favre on Friday, January 3, and the Greer’s – AL.com/Press-Register Mardi Gras Parade, AL.com/Press-Register Pep Rally, Spectronics Fireworks Show and AL.com/Press-Register Street Party all held on Saturday, January 4.