Looking Ahead: Ball State

As the dust settles on the BG defeat to UT on Wednesday, we look ahead to next Friday and Ball State.  BG has a couple of extra days to get ready for that one, but then have a normal one-week turnaround to play for the MAC title.

Ball State is having a very disappointing year.  They were huge last year and everyone thought Pete Lembo was going to go elsewhere--in fact, he was highly mentioned for the job Clawson eventually got.  Things just didn't shake out for him, and that left Lembo back in Muncie.  There was some debate on how good Ball State would be...they had big losses, including QB Keith Wenning.  As it turns out, they have had a long year.

The primary issue has been injuries.  This Star-Press article calls the injuries "absurd" and Lembo says they are the worst he has had in his career.  They have mostly hit the defense...and in that case, impacted a dozen players who were expected to be in the rotation.

For different reasons, one thing to watch for is how each team will play when it has nothing to accomplish.  For example, Ball State's season will end Friday.  How much will they bring to the game?

Differently, BG's season will continue regardless of the result.  It will be interesting to see how BG handles injured players in the game.  For example, BG's top two RBs did not play in Toledo.  If they are a close call--say 90%--would BG play them against Ball State, or would they be held back for the Championship game.

Should that be the case, you wonder what we will do.  Obviously, the loss to Toledo has only made the Falcon Nation more ouchy about what has gone down this year.  The one saving grace is that for all the ways people might be disappointed in the year, BG is one game from going back-to-back.  So, my view would be that you don't play anyone who isn't 100%.  We saw in the UT game how much we need Greene and Coppet.

We'll see what Coach does.