Ball State preview

[MarkL]

Ball State entered this season often considered a dark horse in the MAC west. Things have not quite worked out that way. We've got BSU before most likely Northern Illinois in the conference title game. A good showing like earlier in the season would go a long way toward turning the ship around for our team before playing the Huskies.
Note, this will be a shorter preview than recent weeks. Partially due to lack of time, partially due to our opponent, and partially due to a bit of a lack of interest over this one. I just want to see BG bounce back and enter the conference title game with momentum.

TL;DR version
BSU has not had a great season. They give up big points to good offenses and have been pretty beat up the last two games. If we have a good effort, we should win nicely. Big if considering the lack of effort last week.

The Series
- Prior to last year, I'm not even sure when the last time is we lost to Ball State. It would be pre-Urban Meyer years
- In 2009, Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes put on a highlight video of a game
- In 2014 with the MAC title game looming, our team coughed up a big early lead and was ineffective the final 50 minutes of the game. It was a bit embarrassing seeing BSU's players still intense on the sideline and our players huddled around the heaters.

Offense
- BSU averages 24.3 ppg. In conference play, they are slightly worse at 22.6 ppg.
... - Get ready for some unimpressive offensive stats.
- QB Riley Neal is only a freshman. His completion percentage and yardage are low at 204 / 351 (58.1%) for 2122 yards. However, he has 15 TDs / 3 interceptions.
... - He is a tall guy at 6-5 217.
... - And he is also part of the rushing attack, with 84 rushes for 400 and 2 TDs.
- The rushing attack revolves around two guys.
... - Sophomore Darian Green has 139 carries for 714 (5.14 average) and 5 TDs. He is a bit of a speedster.
... - Freshman James Gilbert as 136 carries for 542 (3.99 average) and 8 TDs. He is more of a red zone threat.
... - As a team, the rushing accounts for around 2/5 of the yards. So the ground threat isn't exactly like WMU. But still, we have to stuff these guys.
- The receiving corps has one great star and several others you have to keep your eye on.
... - Senior Jordan Williams leads the way with 65 receptions for 874 and 8 TDs.
...... - He is the biggest of the receivers at 6-3 228. And as the only guy with more than 2 TDs, he is the star.
... - Junior KeVonn Mabon has 63 for 691 but only 2 TDs.
...... - He is a similar size to Roger Lewis at 6-1 219.
... - Corey Lacanaria is Ball State's Ryan Burbrink. He has 42 for 355 and 2 TDs.
...... - I say he is like Burbrink because he is 5-8 165. Quick slot guy.
... - Senior Chris Shillings has 22 for 170 but he has not scored a TD. As BG fan, I'd like to keep him out of the end zone, but as a MAC football fan, I'd like to see him score on his senior day.
...... - He is also similar to Roger Lewis at 6-1 205.
... - This receiving corps is definitely not an overly dangerous corps compared to recent ones but still has enough weapons to challenge our defense.
- The offensive line has 4 seniors and a junior. This line as we all may remember dominated our defense last year.
... - The line is not overly big as they are all within a few pounds of 300.
... - Whenever you have such an experienced offensive line, you've got a challenge on your hands.
... - And they've only given up 9 sacks on the season.
- This offense does not exactly have overwhelming stats. But they are not a pushover.

Defense
- BSU gives up an average of 34.7 ppg. In conference play, they give up an average of 33.6, so little difference from overall play.
... - In their last two against WMU and Ohio, they have given up 54 and 48. And earlier against NIU, they gave up 59.
- The two leading tacklers are linebackers.
... - Senior Ben Ingle has 96 total tackles (43 solo). And 5 TFLs and a sack.
... - And junior Sean Wiggins has 90 total tackles (46 solo). And 3.5 TFLs and 2 sacks. Wiggins also has 2 interceptions.
- The leading sacker is sophomore DE Anthony Winbush with 4 sacks.
... - At the opposite end is junior Joshua Posley with 2.5 sacks.
- Tied with Wiggins for interecptions lead is junior corner Tyree Holder with 2.
- This defense does well against mediocre offenses. But as I indicated earlier, good offenses put up great numbers. And, the defense is slumping recently.

Special Teams
- The aforementioned WR Corey Lacanaria (BSU's Burbrink) is the PR. No TDs but he averages 9.6, so he has some big returns.
- Running back Darian Green and receiver KeVonn Mabon are the kick returners. Green averages a hair under 25 and Mabon averages over 27 with a TD.
... - Special teams return D better be ready.
- Punter Kyle Schmidt averages nearly 40 a boot.
- Kicker Morgan Hagee has hit 15 / 20, which makes him one of the conference's better kickers and also means the BSU offense has to settle for FGs more than they would like to.

BSU's season so far
- BSU is 3-8 (2-5)
- They beat VMI early but only by 12. And then they were predictably hammered by Texas A&M.
- Just like everybody else, BSU beat EMU.
- BSU hung tight with Northwestern.
- Then things fell apart. They lost by 2 TDs to UT, gave up 59 in a loss to NIU (did score 41), and hit the low point by losing to a bad Georgia State team.
- They hung tight in a 2 point loss to CMU.
- BSU impressively held UMass to 10 points in a 20-10 win.
- And then things fell apart again. WMU completely hammered BSU 54-7. BSU was physically dominated in every possible way (outpassed 353 to 78, outrushed 358 to 74).
- And then they lost to Ohio 48-31 where they were again physically dominated, giving up 332 rush yards.

Which all leads me to ...
Bowling Green at Ball State
- As of Monday morning, we are 21.5 point favorites. Damn, that seems high.
- The game will be cold. Hopefully not rainy but definitely cold.
- Here's what I think is the most important thing to know. Good offenses have good days against these guys.
... - Northern Illinois - 29/32 passing for 363, 59 rushes for 273 and 6 TDs.
... - Central Michigan - 30/39 passing for 316.
... - Western Michigan - 20/27 passing for 353, 56 rushes for 358 and 4 TDs.
... - Ohio - 56 rushes for 332 and 3 TDs.
... - UT - 48 rushes for 280.
- Here's what I don't know. Will our guys be ready? They were flat against UT, playing their easily worst game of the year. Will our guys be mad and take it out on BSU and set the stage for a great MAC title game?
... - What is encouraging to me is our last TO agaisnt UT with no chance left, Babers sat the whole team down and used this game as a learning lesson. I hope this team doesn't let UT beat them more than once.
- And here's another thing I know. BSU has been steamrolled defensively the last two weeks. BSU looks to be beaten down. With a good effort, we'll beat them.
- I don't have much more to say about this one. I just want to see a rebound from an embarrassment last week.
- What I want out of this game ...
... - A thorough beating of Ball State.
... - A bounceback from last week.
... - A mistake-free game
... - See Matt Johnson and the whole offense get back on track. It seems like after the whistle interception against Western Michigan, Matt has not been the same
... - Lots of momentum going into the matchup with Northern Illinois.
... - No injuries. None for either team.

That's all for the regular season, folks! Thanks for reading these weekly reviews! Two more coming - MAC championship against most likely Northern Illinois and a TBD bowl opponent.

[Falconfreak90]

Great stuff Mark....totally agree about coming out fired up and ready to go. Don't even think of the MACC or it could bite us in the ass.

It will be a good measure on the leadership of the team. This is a game we should win.

GO FALCONS

[lawrence.marshall2]

I have been silently, secretly reading all these this year.

Thanks!

[jpfalcon09]

Thanks for the hard work all season, Mark! Weather is looking decent with kickoff weather in the 40s with no chance of rain.

[Johnnyswoop]

After a long hiatus from this board may I offer.....

BGSU 38
Ball State 17

Passing stats return to form. See everyone Dec 4th. Legacy Boy picked up the tickets yesterday at the Stroh.

[Beaker]

[quote="Falconfreak90"]Great stuff Mark....totally agree about coming out fired up and ready to go. Don't even think of the MACC or it could bite us in the ass.

It will be a good measure on the leadership of the team. This is a game we should win.

Totally agree. On paper, we should have no problem. This will be a test of leadership for sure, for both players and coaches. Let's face it, there's really not much to get our guys excited about this one. BSU remembers what happened last year and I'm sure they would love to end their season with a win over a division champ. If we come out sleepwalking at the start like we did last week, I could see it snowballing to where we end up with a loss when it's over and if that happens, I don't even want to think about next week.

Instead, I hope we have prepared hard and come out focused from the get go and bury them to where they have no thoughts of hanging in it. Getting serious about next week needs to start this week.