Week One Match-up to Watch: Indiana's Running Game vs. Ball State's Defensive Line

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Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Indiana vs. Ball State Matchup to Watch: Hoosiers Running Game vs. Ball State’s Defense

There are plenty of matchups to watch when Saturday rolls around at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, but the most important is how the Hoosiers are able to run the ball against the Ball State Cardinals.

Indiana comes in with a loaded backfield led by sophomore Stevie Scott who ran for 1,137 yards on 228 carries last season. Behind Scott is fellow sophomore Ronnie Walker, who had 141 yards on just 32 carries. However, the Hoosiers go deeper than this. True freshman Sampson James, a former four-star recruit, should see action as well and redshirt junior Cole Gest will see his first game action since last season’s opener at Florida International. IU goes four-deep at the position and will have a very veteran offensive line paving the way.
The Hoosiers SHOULD be able to have their way with a small Ball State’s three-man front whose starters average just 267 pounds. Indiana’s projected offensive starters average 326 pounds. An average 59-pound advantage is very significant. Nose tackle Chris Crumb paced the Cardinal defensive linemen with five tackles for loss last year. As a team, Ball State stopped the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage 65 times for a loss of 230 yards.

Last season the Hoosiers rushed for 255 yards and four touchdowns with a 5.8-yard per carry average against the Cardinals. While the Hoosiers can come close to that number, I don’t expect 44 carries from the group. New offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer loves to use play action to jump start the passing game and while the Hoosiers should be able to run at will, just the threat of the running game will set up good play-action for an over-the-top passing game.

It may not be the most outstanding of accomplishments to run all over Ball State, but the Hoosiers will need this running game to dominate once conference play starts and gaining confidence against their non-conference is key to bigger successes down the road.