RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University football team will play Ball State University on Saturday in Muncie, Indiana at 3 p.m.
 
The game will air live on ESPN3.  ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually.  It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
 
The live radio broadcast is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com.
 
The Cardinals are the second Mid-American Conference (MAC) team the Colonels have faced in the last three seasons. EKU notched a 17-10 win at Miami (Ohio) with a 43-yard touchdown with 4:43 left to play. This marked the first win over a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent in nearly 30 years, since topping Louisville in 1985.
 
Eastern has played well against FBS teams in recent years.  In addition to beating Miami (Ohio) in 2014, the Colonels have lost close games at Indiana (19-13), Louisville (23-13), Kansas State (10-7) and at Kentucky (34-27 OT) last season.  EKU trailed Purdue by just 10 points in the fourth quarter this season.
 
Eastern and Ball State met three times between 1967 and 1970 with the all-time series record 3-0 in favor of the Colonels. Both teams bring new head coaches to the gridiron this season, Mark Elder for EKU and Mike Neu for BSU.  Both have a 1-1 record thus far.
 
Two of Elder's assistants – defensive coordinator Kurt Mattix and co-defensive coordinator Shannon Morrison – return to Muncie, where they had stints as assistant coaches for the Cardinals. Morrison coached the defensive backs from 2013-15, while Mattix was a graduate assistant coach in 2002-03 and returned to coach the tight ends in 2009-10.
 
Eastern is coming off of a 55-14 win against University of Pikeville. After going into the locker room in front 24-14, EKU held Pikeville scoreless through the second half. The defensive unit forced eight turnovers in the game, returning three interceptions for touchdowns in the third quarter.
 
With both Bennie Coney and Maty Mauk out, Tyler Swafford got the start at quarterback against the Bears. True freshman James (LJ) Smith, Jr. also saw action at quarterback for the Colonels.
 
Redshirt senior Jared Sanders leads the Ohio Valley Conference in all-purpose yards (130 yards per game) while posting a total of 100 rushing yards and 160 kickoff return yards. The Hallandale, Florida native also holds the number two spot in the conference with an average of 22.9 yards per kickoff return.
 
Eastern is making its way up the national polls, now sitting 21st in the CollegeSportsMadness Poll, 31st in the FCS Coaches Poll and 32nd in the STATS Poll.
 
BSU has won six consecutive home openers, but is coming into Saturday's contest coming off a 30-20 loss at Indiana University.
 
The Ball State offense, led by true sophomore quarterback Riley Neal, is average 180.5 passing yards and 232.5 rushing yards. Neal has notched 361 passing yards, threw one touchdown pass and rushed for 47 yards so far this season.