Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Ball State game, a real test

The Hoosiers take on Ball State tonight at Memorial Stadium. This game is expected to be close, because both teams have high-powered offenses. Even ESPN's Big Ten blogger picked IU to lose in overtime. The line on this game is IU by 3 points.

I was able to watch Ball State's win over Navy two weeks ago and I saw some potential weaknesses that IU can exploit. Navy rushed for 346 yards rushing, an enormous number. Certainly Kellen Lewis and company should be able to chew up some yards on the ground, which would keep the Ball State offense off the field.

Ball State is a passing team, they ran up 326 yards passing. That could be a problem for IU, which comes into the game with safety Austin Thomas questionable. Cardinals quarterback Nate Davis and receiver Dante Love will get their yards. But the key will be not letting them control the game. The Hoosiers should be able to do that.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. tonight. I'm still expecting an IU win.