Opponent Preview: Ball State
Blue White Illustrated's magazine editor, Matt Herb, is taking a closer look at Penn State football's schedule this fall. With spring practice now in the rearview mirror, it's a good time to look at where each opponent stands heading into the summer. The Nittany Lions will start their 2021 season with three quality opponents in Wisconsin, Ball State and Auburn, meaning they'll have little time to adjust to Mike Yurcich's new offense. Today, we'll look at the home opener, as Penn State will host 2020 MAC champion Ball State.
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2020 RECORD 7-1, 5-1 Mid-American Conference
COACH Mike Neu (22-34 in five seasons at Ball State; career record: same)
SERIES HISTORY This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
OFFENSE Ball State’s passing game should be strong, with quarterback Drew Plitt and receivers Justin Hall and Yo’Heinz Tyler back. All three won All-MAC notice last year. Plitt has been starting games for Ball State since his redshirt freshman season in 2017 when a series of injuries at QB propelled him to the top of the depth chart late in the year. As a junior two years later, he helped Ball State lead the MAC in scoring and total offense. Last season, Plitt completed 65.6 percent of his attempts for 2,164 yards, with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions. Meanwhile, Hall and Tyler combined to catch 91 passes for 1,272 yards and 12 touchdowns a year ago. Ball State’s top returning rusher is Tye Evans, who had 360 yards and two TDs last season.
DEFENSE The Cardinals are anchored by Brandon Martin, the reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year. A senior inside linebacker, Martin had 90 tackles last season, including 6.5 tackles for loss. Also back is senior outside linebacker Anthony Ekpe, the team leader in TFL (seven) and sacks (five). Ball State gave up a lot of yards last year, ranking ninth in the MAC in total defense (434.4 ypg), but it didn’t give up a ton of points, ranking fourth in scoring defense (25.8 ppg). One of the reasons for that discrepancy is that the Cardinals were among the MAC’s most opportunistic teams, totaling a league-best 10 interceptions, two of which they returned for touchdowns. That kind of good fortune doesn’t always carry over from one season to the next; sometimes the ball just stops bouncing your way. But with 10 starters back, Ball State has reason to feel good about its defensive potential in 2021.
SPECIAL TEAMS The Cardinals must replace field goal kicker Jack Knight, who hit 8 of 12 attempts last season. Sophomore Jacob Lewis figures to get the call. He served primarily as a kickoff specialist in 2020, but he also hit 2 of 3 field goal tries, including a 51-yarder. Punter Nathan Snyder is back after averaging 43.6 yards per attempt, with 11 punts of 50 or more yards.
SCHEDULE Ball State’s first three opponents all finished with losing records last season, but the second of those opponents is Penn State, so the September slate is a bit tougher than the numbers might lead you to believe. Also, Army is set to visit on Oct. 2, so Ball State figures to have its hands full in the nonconference season. And bracketing the game against the Black Knights are conference matchups vs. Toledo and Western Michigan, which combined to go 8-4 a year ago.
GAME OF THE YEAR The Cardinals will end their regular season with a rematch of last year’s MAC title game, as they are set to play host to Buffalo on Nov. 23. Last December, Ball State stunned the 23rd-ranked Bulls, scoring 28 points in the second quarter and coasting to a 38-28 victory to claim the league championship. The Bulls’ program is now under new management, with Maurice Linguist taking over for Kansas-bound Lance Leipold, but there are plenty of people on Linguist’s sideline who will be looking to even that particular score.
OUTLOOK Ball State. Ball State. Ball State. Ball State. Ball State. Ball State. Ball State. Ball State. That’s what James Franklin’s post-Wisconsin tweet is going to look like, and win or lose in Madison, he’ll have every reason to get his team refocused as quickly as possible. The Cardinals return 20 starters from last year’s squad, which defeated two ranked opponents, claimed the program’s first conference title since 1996, won a bowl game for the first time in school history with a 34-13 victory over 19th-ranked San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl and finished the year at No. 23 in the Associated Press poll. Those accomplishments should ensure that Franklin will have his team’s undivided attention as he makes his case that this is not the kind of opponent that Penn State can afford to look past on its way to facing Auburn.
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