College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Ball State football season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Ball State Football Schedule
– Ball State Cardinals Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017
2020 Record: 7-1 overall, 5-1 in MAC
Head Coach: Mike Neu, 6th year, 22-34
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 46
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 92
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 83
Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– Offense hasn’t been an issue at Ball State over the last few years, and it certainly won’t be a problem in 2021 with ten starters expected back. The Cardinals had a nice balance, didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes, and were solid at keeping the chains moving. However, to tweak and improve …
– The offensive line has to be more consistent. The running game wasn’t anything special and there were was too many sacks and tackles for loss allowed. Four starters are back, there’s decent depth, and around all-star Curtis Blackwell at one tackle, there’s enough experience to be stronger.
The ground attack never really had new Atlanta Falcon Caleb Huntley – he led the team with 437 rushing yards and six scores in just three games – and now there’s a rotation around 240-pound junior Tye Evans and 208-pound senior Will Jones. Those two combined for over 600 yards with over four yards per carry and four scores.
– Drew Plitt settled the quarterback situation, going the distance as the only Cardinal to throw a pass. the veteran hit 66% of his throws for 2,164 yards and 17 touchdowns with six picks. He’s got the guys back all of his top targets returning but third-leading receiver Antwan Davis.
First Team All-MAC performer Justin Hall is a smallish, shifty target who caught 49 passes for 665 yards and four scores, 6-3 Yo’Heinz Tyler led the team with eight touchdown grabs, and Jalen McGaughy is a rising big target who averaged over 34 yards on his five grabs with three scores.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Ball State Football Schedule
NEXT: Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: Defense
Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The defense wasn’t a rock, but it was good enough. It allowed 430 yards and 26 points per game with a mediocre pass rush, not much of a run D, and a rough pass defense that gave up close to 300 yards per outing.
What did it do at a high level? It took the ball away with a whole lot of interceptions to help make up for all the yards given up.
– The linebacking corps is where the stars are. First Team All-MAC big guy Brandon Martin led the team with 90 tackles from his spot in the middle of the group, and 235-pound pass rusher Anthony Ekpe is back on the outside after generating five sacks and seven tackles for loss. With Jaylin Thomas and Christin Albright also back, the Cardinals have four big, veteran, all-star parts.
The front three returns intact with good size and decent depth. This group doesn’t get into the backfield, but it holds up against the run and lets everyone in the linebacking corps clean things up.
– The secondary came up with eight of the ten interceptions and now returns everyone but top corner Antonio Phillips. Bryce Cosby is a good-tackling all-star – making 62 tackles and two picks – and fellow safety Brett Anderson and corner Amechi Uzodinma round out the team’s top five tacklers.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Ball State Football Schedule
NEXT: Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Ball State Cardinals Offensive Player
WR Justin Hall, Sr.
The receiving corps has excellent options – Yo’Heinz Tyler might be the most dangerous target on the right day – but the shifty Hall is the steady playmaker with 257 career catches averaging close to 11 yards per grab with 13 scores. In his fifth year, he’s a true No. 1 target who’ll also be an All-MAC return man again, too.
2. WR Yo’Heinz Tyler, Sr.
3. QB Drew Plitt, Sr.
4. OT Curtis Blackwell, Sr.
5. C Anthony Todd, Sr.
Best Ball State Cardinals Defensive Player
LB Brandon Martin, Sr.
Injured almost all of 2019, the 6-0, 232-pound leader of the D came back strong with a team-high 90 tackles with a sack and 6.5 tackles for loss.
Ball State has a big group of linebackers that all works around the man in the middle – he came up with double-digit stops in six of his first seven regular season games and made nine in the other.
2. LB Christian Albright, Sr.
3. S Bryce Cosby, Sr.
4. LB Jaylin Thomas, Sr.
5. CB Amechi Uzodinma, Sr.
Top Incoming Ball State Cardinals Transfer
WR Chayce Bishop, RFr.
Will he end up working as a corner or a wide receiver? He was thought to be a defensive back at Tennessee, but he’s likely going to be a deep ball threat for the other side. The 5-11, 190-pounder has special speed, and now he’ll try to be a home run hitter in a deep group of receivers.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Ball State Football Schedule
NEXT: Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Ball State Cardinals Biggest Key: Offense
The pass protection has to be better. The veteran O line wasn’t bad at keeping most defenses out of the backfield, and it had a few nice moments for the ground game, but there were a whole slew of issues keeping QB Drew Plitt from getting hit.
Pass protection hasn’t been a plus for the program for a while – 2015 was the last time the Cardinal O line gave up fewer than 20 sacks in a season – and there has to be a tweak.
Last year Ball State allowed 27 sacks – a whopping 3.5 per game – with Miami University coming up with six in the opening win, and everyone else coming up with two or more.
Ball State Cardinals Biggest Key: Defense
The pass defense has to stop getting bombed on. It’s hard to argue too much with a 7-1 team that won a MAC Championship and a bowl game, but the Cardinals were roasted in game after game, allowing 294 yards per game getting dinked and dunked on over and over again.
It’s how this team rolls, though – it gives up lots of yards, but it also comes up with lots of interceptions. That’s playing with fire, though.
There were ten picks, but the D allowed 250 yards or more in seven of the eight games and allowed passing games to hit 65%.
Ball State Cardinals Key Player To A Successful Season
RB Tye Evans, Jr. & Will Jones, Sr.
Thanks to Caleb Huntley, Ball State was able to roll with the running game early on averaging more than four yards per carry in each of the first three games. The Cardinals ran for 304 yards against Eastern Michigan and 201 against Northern Illinois.
Huntley was out for the rest of the way, and Ball State failed to run for more than 185 yards or average more than four yards per carry in any of the last five games.
Evans was effective with a 101-yard day against Toledo, and Jones averaged four yards per pop with two over 70 yards in two of the last three games. Now these two – and the rest of the backs – have to do even more.
Ball State Cardinals Key Game To The 2021 Season
Toledo, Sept. 25
There are tone-setters, and there’s the conference season opener that might determine the West title.
Ball State was able to slip past the Rockets 27-24 for its second straight win in the series, but there were five straight losses before that.
It’s a home game for the Cardinals, and up next in conference play is a road game at Western Michigan to kick off a run of three away dates in the next four. It’s not win-or-else, but … it’s win-or-else.
– Ball State Football Schedule
2020 Ball State Cardinals Fun Stats
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Ball State 78 – Opponents 38
– Fumbles: Opponents 14 (lost 7) – Ball State 6 (from 3)
– Punt Return Average: Opponents 3.9 – Ball State -0.4
NEXT: Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Ball State Cardinals College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Ball State has had better records than 7-1, and it had a few more dominant teams, and it’s been able to win a few conference championships over close to 100 years of playing college football, but …
How can 2020 not be the best season in the program’s history?
The MAC title was Ball State’s first conference championship since 1996 – and 11th overall – but the season had one big distinction to add to the mix.
It was the year Ball State finally won a bowl game.
After seven tries, the Cardinals finally got a bowl trophy in the case and that MAC Championship.
Okay, okay, okay, it might have helped that San Jose State was gutted by COVID for its appearance in the Arizona Bowl, but it showed up, and Ball State rolled.
Now, for head coach Mike Neu, the job is to keep some of this momentum going with 20 starters expected back along with both kickers.
Now, the job is to do this again – or at least come up with back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2012-2013.
Set The Ball State Cardinals Regular Season Win Total At … 8
It’s the MAC, so there’s always another Ball State-like surprise out there lurking, but three of the most dangerous conference games – Toledo, Miami University, Central Michigan and Buffalo – are at home, there can’t and shouldn’t be a problem in most of the road games if the team really is MAC Championship good, and there’s one huge date at Western Michigan.
There will be a loss at Penn State, and there should be a few other misfires along the way, but after building towards this over the last six seasons, now it’s possible Neu has created a program with staying power.
Soon, winning MAC Championships and bowl games might be the norm.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– Ball State Football Schedule
