Scouting the opponent: Three questions for Ball State

HEAD COACH: Mike Neu (33-48, eighth year)

2022 RECORD: 5-7, 3-5 in the Mid-American Conference

RETURNING STARTERS: Offense – 4; Defense – 7; Special Teams – 1

PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Layne Hatcher, RB Marquez Cooper (rushed for 1,331 yards and 13 touchdowns last year for Kent State), TE Brady Hunt (caught 46 passes for 498 yards and five touchdowns last year, LT Corey Stewart, DE Tavion Woodward, LB Clayton Coll (110 tackles), LB Cole Pearce (85 tackles, 14 for loss), DE Jack Sape, LB Keionte Newson.

VERSUS GEORGIA: Sept. 9 (Athens)

The transfer portal did Ball State no favors last year as the Cardinals lost both starting quarterback John Paddock and leading rusher Carson Steele.

Steele, who rushed for over 1,500 yards, is now playing for UCLA, while Paddock is playing in the Big Ten at Illinois.

Former Alabama/Arkansas quarterback Layne Hatcher and Kiael Kelly will battle it out for the starting job this fall, while former Kent State running back Marquez Cooper, who Georgia saw last year, is now playing for Ball State.

Cooper is a small back (5-foot-6, 184 pounds), but did rush for 1,331 yards and 13 touchdowns last season.

Three starters return on the offensive line, but the Cardinals lost their two top wide receivers.

This was a huge problem for the Cardinals last year as Ball State gave up an average of 182.3 yards per game, 104th in the FBS.

Linebackers Clayton Coll (110 tackles) and Cole Pearce (85 tackles and a team-high five sacks) did a decent enough job making tackles, but the Cardinals have to do a better job upfront.

Ball State typically operates out of a 3-4 set. That may be fine for the rest of the MAC, but against Georgia and its offensive line that’s going to average WELL over 300 pounds, that could pose a major problem.

Nose tackle John Harris is listed at only 264 pounds.

There’s a concern in the secondary, too, as the Cardinals are having to replace their entire starting secondary from a year ago.

If it wasn’t for the SEC forcing Georgia to cancel the game it had scheduled for this date with Oklahoma, Ball State wouldn’t even be in the discussion.

Although the $1.6 million the Cardinals will receive for playing the game will certainly help their feelings, having to open the season at Kentucky before traveling to Athens to face the two-time defending national championships will certainly be quite the physical test.

Once Ball State gets into the MAC portion of its schedule, the Cardinals should be competitive.

Those first two games, however--that’s going to hurt.