Ball State...thoughts And Notes.

FirefightnRick · August 13, 2009

I know Ball State has a new coach and lost some of their top studs from their Defense and quite a bit from their Offense, especially from their Offensive line(4 of the 5), but looking over what they have returning tells me the Cardinals will be tough for sure.

First, their First year coach, Stan Parrish was their OC the past two years and was a Broyles Finalist last year(top assistant award). His DC, Doug Graber, is in his 35th year as a football coach, and this will be his first year back at Ball State. He coached there as an assistant during the Ford administration for one year . He's a very tenured, experienced coach and has a long NFL history to bring to the table. Their OC, Eddie Faulkner was their RB coach last year and is in his first year as OC. Since Parrish has served as the OC the past two years, and since Faulkner is in his first OC job, ever, I'm willing to bet this will be a Dickey/Flanigan situation as, "we know who's the OC, but we also know who's offense it is" kind of thing for them.

Offense: Their offense has a lot of people to replace, as I said, their O line will look to replace 4 starters. But it features top national back MiQuale Lewis who finished 5th in the nation in rushing last year with over 1,700 yards. And as everyone knows, they will have a new starting QB, RSFreshman Kelly Page from Mesquite, Texas. According to one poster on the Ball State fan site he and Riley attended some camps together and know each other so this should be fun to watch them compete. I suspect that Coach Parrish will help Page break in with a good dose of handing off to Lewis this first game, which is where their 4 new starters on the O line will have to step it up. If you'll remember, Coach Dickey did this with Andrew Smith in '02 for his first start against Nichols State, reducing the number of chances for the young QB to make a mistake.

Guess who was the least penalized team last year?.....Ball State.

Defense: From looking over their stat sheet from last year, they have 6 of their top tackle-producing players returning, and 13 total who contributed greatly towards the end of last season in which they finished 12-2. Their top returning D linemen are on the smallish side, not simply by their listings according to their roster but their fans admit to this as well. This is the same for their linebackers as well and I suspect they rely heavily on speed. Considering they have leaders all across their defense returning this should make for a good test between our veteran offensive line and backs and their defense.

Special Teams: This is a very good special teams group. They lost their stud punter Chris Miller to graduation, who averaged over 43.5 yards per punt, but as a team Ball State ranked 17th nationally in net punting. Not sure who will win their punting battle as it's between 2 year letterman Junior Jake Hogue or 2 year letterman Junior Ian McGarvey. McGarvey, however is their stud place kicker. The guy has a consistant leg and set the school record last year with 73 consecutive extra points. He also hit from 47 yards out twice and 46 yards out twice last year on FG's. He finished the year 5 of 6 from 20-29 yards out, 4 of 4 from 30-39 yards out and 6 of 9 from 40 to 49 yards out last year. Hogue and McGarvey both shared kick off duties with Hogue kicking 5 touchbacks and McGarvey with 4. Ball State finished the season last year 5th overall in Punt returns with an average of 15.47 yards per return. They lost their top punt returner B.J. Hill to graduation. I suspect Sophomore WR Jeremy Hill may take over those duties this year. Ball State finished 31st in kickoff returns last year with an average of 22.85 yards per return, and they have their top returner, Torieal Gibson coming back. Gibson finished the '08 season with 603 return yards, an average of 21.5 yards per return and a long return of 66 yards.

The way I see it we will have to play with a marked improvement on Special Teams and Defense to beat this team, but I think they are beatable. It may come down to who is the most disciplined?

Thoughts?

Rick

Edited August 13, 2009 by FirefightnRick

edcollopy · August 13, 2009

great write up rick....appreciate the analysis.

UNT90 · August 13, 2009

I think the game hinges on UNT's defense ability to stop the run. You gotta force the Freshmen QB to beat you. Same thing for us on offense and them on defense. Whoever has the more productive running game and fewest turnovers wins the game. But isn't that usually the case in a football game?

Charlie NT 73 · August 13, 2009

Rick,

Thanks for your very good Ball State analysis.

Vandelay Sports covers the MAC. Vandelay Sports predicts Ball State at 2-6 in conference, 5-7 overall.

Sure wins over NT, Army, New Hamshire to start the season.

http://www.vandelaysports.com/football/mac-preview-2009/

and

http://www.vandelaysports.com/football/mac...w-2009/bsu.html

Ball State HFC Brady Hoke left for San Diego State, Stan Parrish took over.

Ball State lost to Buffalo in the MAC championship, 42-24

Ball State lost to Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl, 45-13.

My thoughts-

I think Brady Hoke rode the coat tails of a couple of good recruiting classes, with veteran OL players, a very good QB, 2 good RB's, and a weaker MAC conference last year. 12-0, and Ball State was the talk of the town. Last years team was good, but, now, many parts of last years team has changed, coaches, and players.

I see the NT season opener at Ball State as a great opportunity. Ball State has strong points and weak points,

just like NT, but, I am going to give the edge to NT. I like our QB, veteran OL, RB's, and WR's. I like our DL and

Nelson/DeLoach, taking advantage of BS's less experienced OL. I like our veteran LB's vs the BS run game.

I see the the Ball State game as a good match up, and the first NT win of the 2009 season.

Harry · August 13, 2009

Good write up Rick. My take is Ball State will run the ball at Akpunku's side early and often. We will have to prove that we are able to stop their run to have a chance at winning this game.

meanrob · August 13, 2009

I think it will come down to red zone opportunities. With a stud RB like they have it's easier to get the ball in the end zone. We gotta score TDs not field goals.

I wouldn't be surprised if the yardage and time of possession will be close between the teams. But we can't turn the ball over and Riley has to make things happen in the red zone.

Yeah, they lost a lot but return some really good players. I'm afraid it will be one of those games we coulda, shoulda, but just weren't ready to win.

H-towngreen · August 13, 2009

Good write up Rick. My take is Ball State will run the ball at Akpunku's side early and often. We will have to prove that we are able to stop their run to have a chance at winning this game.

Thats the thing with Nelson and Deloach. If they are going to try and run every down expect to see someone like John Weber at the D-end spot opposite Cantly. We'd have both ends weighing in at 275+

untlynchka · August 13, 2009

I stated this on the bsu board, but I agree with the comments about the line. We will find out very early about the d-lines ability. If they are unable to get in the backfield, and get man-handled by this line then we are in for another long season. I want to say there is no way it's gonna happen, but I have to temper my excitement until I actually see the players execute.

If our d-line steps up we should be able to run extremely effectively against this d. Their line is smaller and faster and is designed to stop the pass.

CaribbeanGreen · August 13, 2009

Interesting note: Stan Parrish took over from Jim Dickey at Kansas State.... then promptly won two games in three seasons.

He has zero wins in his last 28 games as a head coach. 28!!!! Not saying he's not a good assistant and CERTAINLY not saying BSU won't be a good team this year, but that is astonishing on a number of levels... and another way I do NOT want NT to go down as a trivia answer.