Game Day Primer: Ball State Cardinals at Indiana Hoosiers
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Indiana hosts Ball State on Saturday at 4pm. Image: IUHoosiers.com
Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
What: Ball State Cardinals at Indiana Hoosiers
When: Saturday, September 10 at 4:00 PM
Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana
How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on ESPNews and you can listen to the radio broadcast on the IU Radio Network.
What’s at Stake: The Ball State Cardinals have won three straight contests against the Indiana Hoosiers and they defeated Kevin Wilson in each of his first two seasons in charge in Bloomington. An IU victory, particularly a dominant one, would validate just how much progress has been made under Kevin Wilson. In addition, this game is certainly one IU fans are counting on as a “W” as the Hoosiers continue their quest to return to a bowl game for the second straight season. Following this contest, the Hoosiers have a bye-week. Those fourteen days between games would be much more enjoyable at 2-0 than they would be at 1-1.
A Few Things to Look For
Building on Success
The first game under defensive coordinator Tom Allen was a rousing success. The Hoosiers held FIU to 331 yards, only surrendered 13 points and scored 16 points of their own while getting three takeaways. That being said, the IU players and coaches were quick to point out, they are far from satisfied. Florida International missed on a couple of big plays (plays that Big Ten opponents likely wouldn’t miss on) and, despite dramatic improvement, the Hoosiers were still only tenth in the conference on defense after one week.
The Ball State Cardinals will test the Hoosiers defense, particularly the front six and the run defense. Their run game was poor in 2015 but it appears new head coach Mike Neu has invigorated the rushing attack. They ran for 325 yards on 52 carries (6.3 yards per carry) in their opening victory with sophomore running back James Gilbert shouldering the bulk of the load (29 carries for 160 yards). Despite missing Ralph Green and playing in the Florida heat, the Hoosiers defensive front locked down the Florida International run game in week one. Green should be playing this Saturday and if the Hoosiers can replicate that performance in week one and continue to get pressure on the opposing quarterback, it may be time to reconsider the d-line as a weak spot on this team.
Finish the Drive
We went into week one keeping an eye on how Indiana would perform in scoring territory, an area they underperformed at in 2015. Unfortunately, the 2016 season began in similar fashion. The Hoosiers had eight “scoring opportunities” (defined as a first down inside the opponent’s 40) and netted a measly 2.3 points per opportunity. The first six scoring opportunities resulted in a ghastly three points total. Thankfully, the final two scoring opportunities resulted in a pair of touchdowns. IU’s offense will need to finish drives much better if they are to accomplish their goals in 2016. Were a couple of things figured out in those final two drives? What changes will the coaching staff for Saturday’s game to turn the finishing woes around? Well, we saw Richard Lagow keep the ball on a pair of read option plays (one run resulting in a solid gain, the next one resulting in a touchdown) so perhaps we can expect a bit more of that in the red zone in week two. Maybe we’ll see the use of big back Clyde Newton or perhaps Tyler Natee (if healthy) to help punch it in. Regardless, this will be something to keep an eye on, because I’m fairly confident the Hoosiers will move the ball and it will just be a matter of whether or not they can finish their drives.
Offensive Balance and Explosive Plays
The Indiana Hoosiers and Ball State Cardinals had nearly identical run/pass distributions in week one. Both teams ran the ball 52 times, while Ball State threw 29 passes and IU threw 28. That’s nearly a two to one run to pass ratio, something I wouldn’t expect to see in very many games for either side this season. Now, both teams were doing what was working and that’s smart coaching but will we see more balance from either side on Saturday?
I expect the Hoosiers to throw it a few more times than they did last Thursday night in Miami. Richard Lagow is only going to get more comfortable as the starting quarterback in this offense and he was pretty efficient. I would still expect to see more running than passing (particularly if IU is successful running, which I expect them to be) but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Lagow throw 30-35 passes, as opposed to only attempting 27. One of the fairly minor issues in the FIU game was a lack of truly explosive plays. IU had a pair of 26-yard gains (Nick Westbrook and Mike Majette), two gains of 28 (Mitchell Paige and Mike Majette) and a gain of 23 from Luke Timian but they were unable to break any long runs or 30+ yard pass plays. The Cardinals had runs of 43 and 46 yards but they lacked any kind of big play in the passing game.
Names to Know
-Sophomore quarterback Riley Neal is a native of Yorktown, Indiana. He threw for 2,276 yards a season ago and had a completion percentage of 58.3% but his week one performance left a lot to be desired. He completed only 15 of 29 passes for 130 yards and he threw a pair of early interceptions. If IU is able to pressure him as they did FIU’s Alex McGough, it could be another long day for Neal but he proved in 2015 that he’s capable of having nice games if given the opportunity.
-James Gilbert is the main running back and offensive weapon to watch out for. However, Darian Green (13 rushes for 93 yards) is a secondary back the Hoosiers will need to keep an eye on.
-KeVonn Mabon is definitely the main receiving threat for the Hoosiers secondary to contend with. Mabon had eight catches for 69 yards in their opener and he had more than 700 receiving yards a season ago. Look for Rashard Fant to draw the assignment of covering Mabon the majority of the time but true freshman A’Shon Riggins was impressive in his debut and he may see some work against Mabon. The only other player with more than one reception last week was Corey Lacanaria (4 catches for 41 yards).
-Defensive lineman Josh Posley and linebacker Sean Wiggins both earned preseason All-MAC first team honors (Athlon). Wiggins had five tackles in their opener while Posley only registered one. Zack Ryan led the Cardinals with nine tackles and a pair of TFLs.