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>> 2020 RECORD 7-1, 5-1 Mid-American Conference COACH Mike Neu (22-34 in ve seasons at Ball State; career record: same) SERIES HISTORY This will be the rst 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 scor- ing and total o8ense. 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 in- side 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 (ve). 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, rank- ing 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, total- ing 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 eld goal kicker Jack Knight, who hit 8 of 12 attempts last season. Sophomore Jacob Lewis gures to get the call. He served primarily as a kicko8 specialist in 2020, but he also hit 2 of 3 eld goal tries, including a 51-yarder. Punter Nathan Snyder is back aBer aver- aging 43.6 yards per attempt, with 11 punts of 50 or more yards. SCHEDULE Ball State's rst three oppo- nents all nished with losing records last season, but the second of those oppo- nents 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 gures to have its hands full in the nonconfer- ence 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 Bu8alo 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 champi- onship. The Bulls' program is now under new management, with Maurice Lin- guist 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 re- focused as quickly as possible. The Car- dinals return 20 starters from last year's squad, which defeated two ranked oppo- nents, claimed the program's rst confer- ence title since 1996, won a bowl game for the rst time in school history with a 34-13 victory over 19th-ranked San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl and nished the year at No. 23 in the Associated Press poll. Those accomplishments should en- sure that Franklin will have his team's un- divided attention as he makes his case that this is not the kind of opponent that Penn State can a8ord to look past on its way to facing Auburn. –M.H. TOP RETURNEES PASSING Drew Plitt 164 of 250 | 2,164 yds. | 17 TD | 6 int. RUSHING Tye Evans 80 att. | 360 yds. | 2 TD RECEIVING Justin Hall 49 rec. | 665 yds. | 4 TD TACKLING Brandon Martin 46 solo | 44 asst. | 90 total SACKS Anthony Ekpe 5 sacks | 35 yds. WEEK 2 BALL STATE 3 : 3 0 P . M . | S E P T . 1 1 | B E A V E R S T A D I U M | U N I V E R S I T Y P A R K , P A . unlikely-to-be-repeated circumstances under which the season was played. We won't have to wait long to start getting answers to that question, though, as PSU and Wisconsin are set to face each other in one of this year's best opening day matchups. The Badgers have gone 31-6 at Camp Randall under Chryst, so you have to like their chances of suc- cessfully navigating a challenging home slate. And if they can do that, the road schedule – Illinois, Purdue, Rutgers, Minnesota – is favorable, making an- other Big Ten Championship Game ap- pearance entirely realistic. –M.H.

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