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Topic: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Topic: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

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Ted Thompson
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Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/20/2019 9:37:18 PM

Use this thread to talk about anything game-related. For away games, we'll have a separate travel thread.

Date: October 26th, 2019 2:00 PM

Opponent: Ball St. (4-3, 3-0 MAC)

Site: Scheumann Stadium

TV: None

Radio: Ohio Radio or TuneIn Radio

Webcast: ESPN+

Ball St. statistics, roster and media guide.

Ball St. Fan Site: OverThePylon

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Ohio69
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/20/2019 11:05:36 PM

Who knew this would be a huge game?

Can somebody hit a pull up jumper for me?.....

rpbobcat
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 7:58:55 AM

According to this morning's paper,we're a 2 point under dog.

bshot44
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 8:54:13 AM

Big game only in the sense that IF Ohio can find a way to win and slow the Cardinal juggernaut ... it would provide some breathing room at the end of the season.

The bigger game this wknd is Miami at Kent. Absolutely need a Kent win here. Would help Ohio immensely.

A Miami win puts them in the drivers seat for MAC East ... even with a loss at Ohio.

Unless ... Ohio can find some defense vs. Ball and WMU (the two games they can afford to lose and still win the East)

Oddly enough ... Ohio's "defense" has been better on the road (24ppg) than it has at home (35ppg). Throw out that Rhode Island game ... and it's nearly 41ppg allowed at home.

Toledo obviously has their issues right now ... but Ball dropped 52 on them.

And they were super competitive in what was a pretty decent out-of-conference schedule:

34-24 L vs Indiana
41-31 L vs. FAU
34-23 L at NC State

And road wins at NIU and EMU aren't too shabby to boot.

If Ohio can pull this off ... I think it gives new hope to actually competing for the elusive MACC.

A loss isn't crippling ...

A Miami win at Kent coupled with an Ohio loss at Ball .... that's worse case scenario this wknd.

OUcats82
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 9:01:32 AM

Well given that the MAC seems to have teams get hot only to lay eggs regularly, it would be great for that to happen this weekend for Ball State. Sadly they say defense travels and I fully expect the Collins' Train Wreck to pull into Muncie right on schedule.

Ohio-The State University

Pataskala
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 11:08:51 AM

On the other hand, bshot, if Kent wins and we lose, we'll need someone to beat Kent in order for us to get back into a tie with them. Frankly, I don't trust anybody in the MAC to beat anybody else these days. But if Fiami wins, we still play them -- at home -- so we would still control our fate.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

bshot44
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 11:44:28 AM

Pataskala wrote:

If that were to happen, we'd still own a tiebreaker vs. Kent.

I think I posted this somewhere else ... but Kent's MAC schedule is back-loaded. They've already had the luxury of beating BG and Akron. A win over Miami would have them at 3-1 in the league .... BUT ... still with games Toledo, UB, Ball and Eastern. Hard to see them going anything better than 2-2 in those games.

That gets them to 5-3.

If Ohio can just take care of business vs. BG, Akron, and Miami ... that gets them to 5-3 at worst. And they'd have tiebreaker over every other East Division team. Basically renders the Ball and WMU games meaningless. A win in either of those games only gives Ohio some breathing room ... but a loss in either isn't crippling.

I just can't really see any team in the East getting to 6-2 .... UNLESS Miami is to beat Kent.

At 3-1, that would leave the Redhawks with Ohio, BG, Akron and Ball. I could see Miami going 3-1 there which would send them to Detroit ... assuming Ohio doesn't beat Ball or WMU and loses to Miami. Miami's win over NIU was unexpected and potentially throws a wrench into Ohio's path to Detroit.

Sweep the East ... it's Ohio's best path to Detroit.

shabamon
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 11:51:37 AM

bshot44 wrote:

The bigger game this wknd is Miami at Kent. Absolutely need a Kent win here. Would help Ohio immensely.

A Miami win puts them in the drivers seat for MAC East ... even with a loss at Ohio.

I'm not following this thinking. Miami beating Kent puts Kent further behind us and then we can put Miami behind us the following week, even if we lose to Ball. Lose to Ball and Kent beats Miami, Kent is alone at the top of the division again and we will need to rely on someone else to beat them. Lose to Ball and Miami wins, Miami will be alone at the top but we could at least still control our own destiny.

OUcats82
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 12:01:28 PM

With 4 losses already absorbed, I kind of think this is a must-win game for the Cats to secure a winning record this year.

With their up and down play I just cannot see a scenario where they run the table in November if loss #5 comes Saturday.

A win here really builds a head of steam IMHO into the Miami game.

Ohio-The State University

bshot44
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 12:09:06 PM

shabamon wrote:

bshot44 wrote:

The bigger game this wknd is Miami at Kent. Absolutely need a Kent win here. Would help Ohio immensely.

A Miami win puts them in the drivers seat for MAC East ... even with a loss at Ohio.

With an Ohio loss to Ball and a Miami win this week, Ohio would only control their own destiny IF Ohio were to win out.

A Miami loss to Kent would give Ohio some much needed breathing room.

As you saw ... Kent will be really hard pressed to go better than 2-2 vs. Toledo, UB, EMU and Ball to get to 5-3.

Miami could win out vs. BG, Akron and Ball .... and only finish 5-3 if they lose at Kent. And in that scenario, they'd lose the tiebreaker to Ohio even if Ohio were to lose to WMU and beat both BG and Akron.

I really do not want to see that WMU game as a must-win. I think they are pretty good ... and will roll into Athens looking to avenge that beatdown Ohio put on them last year.

A Miami win at Kent gives them the luxury of losing at Ohio and still being about to beat BG, Akron and Ball to finish 6-2 and win the MAC East depending on the outcome of the Ohio/WMU game.

Cheer for Kent this week ... it will make Ohio's path to Detroit much more manageable.

Last Edited: 10/21/2019 12:11:35 PM by bshot44

Bobcat1996
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/21/2019 3:05:07 PM

Agree as hope Kent wins this weekend as they face a tougher schedule the rest of the way. Miami has to travel to Kent, Ohio and Ball St.

71 BOBCAT
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 7:56:07 AM

Winning out is the only course of action to end all this conjecture and "WHAT IF's"

GO BOBCATS

Maddog13
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 8:15:08 AM

I saw some of the first half of Ball State's game against Toledo. Toledo having to start a red-shirt quarterback that was clearly not ready for this level of football made a huge difference, and which I think largely explains how Ball State was able to so easily dominate them. In addition, Drew Plitt of Ball State has a nice touch, but his offensive line, though they appeared big, seemed a little slow to me at times (though it is always hard to switch from watching Power 5 teams play to the level of talent seen in the MAC). Ball State certainly has some wide receivers who can catch, and they have a powerful running game led by Caleb Huntley that can put up some big runs and thus help provide a very balanced Offensive attack. Their defense, well, they know how to tackle, but this was against a young quarterback led team that was easy for them to pick on.

I fear that Ohio won't be able to stop Ball State's Offense at all, but this is the MAC; where inconsistency reigns supreme, so, God Knows, how this is going to play out. It appears that this is going to be a high scoring game, if anything, unless the Bobcat defense can plug some holes on defense and, perhaps, out finesse Ball State's front line. The Bobcat Offense does not have the luxury of making mistakes either. If so, I could see this thing getting ugly in a hurry.

shabamon
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 9:32:50 AM

There's no-huddle offense and then there's hurry-up offense. Kent demonstrated a true hurry-up offense and I think it clearly helped them in the first half. Does Ball do anything similar?

I agree, put the over/under on points at 80 on this one. Getting one or both of Cole Baker and Jared Dorsa back will help some. Baker dressed last week but I didn't see him get in the game. Dorsa was not dressed.

Rufusbobcat94
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 2:19:58 PM

shabamon wrote:

I watched a few Ball State games this year and did not see any hurry-up offense from them of the style of Kent State so that is good.

I think BS's offense will nickle and dime us to death with WRs like Riley, #86, on those 8-10 yard outside throws when our corners play 12 yards off the ball. Then when our corners come up in obvious man coverage, BS will take some shots deep, targeting #23 if he is still the starting CB this week.

Ohio has had some of the strangest defensive performances in college football this year with so many games where they look good in one half and self-destruct in the other half.

I agree re Cole Baker, he seems like a key player. I may have been wrong but I think Baker played on at least two drives in the second half against Kent, both drives ended in punts by KS. He also might have been in on the last drive at the end of the 4th where KS scored its final touchdown-not sure.

I think it would be really interesting to see how the defense fared (a score or a punt) with the different combinations of defensive interior lineman and defensive ends. For instance, Baker at DT is probably the best we have so I wonder if we do the best defensively on series Baker plays. Not the easiest thing to do because Ohio subs DT mid-drives but interesting to me.

Last Edited: 10/22/2019 2:27:19 PM by Rufusbobcat94

shabamon
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 3:36:06 PM

Just saw some footage from Kent and Baker was in the game.

Ted Thompson
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 3:42:34 PM

shabamon wrote:

Just saw some footage from Kent and Baker was in the game.

I think he played 10-12 snaps in the 4th quarter. I recall he made one tackle for no or little gain. He makes a difference.

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L.C.
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 4:12:15 PM

On average, teams have gained about 18% more yards against Ohio than their season average, and 29% more points. Unfortunately, by those measures, the two worst defensive games this year were the last two. NIU got 33% more yards and 82% more points than their season average, while Kent got 29% more yards and 80% more points. I'm hoping that the defense can improve back to where they were against Pitt, Marshall, Louisiana and Buffalo. I think that if they can hold Ball State to 550 yards and 45 points, Ohio still has a chance to win.

There is no question that Ohio's offense has been improving. Over the last two games Ohio has averaged 40.5 points a game. I don't think 40 will be enough, but I think the offense is ready to take another step. I'm going to call this game Ohio 47, Ball State 45.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

bshot44
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 8:50:52 PM

L.C. wrote:

It's terrifying you have to point to a game where Ohio's defense couldn't get a 2H stop to save their life and allowed 45 points (Louisiana) and a game where they were a 1H doormat (Marshall) as "improved" defense.

Yikes.

Pataskala
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 9:01:17 PM

We haven't had a complete game -- offense + defense + special teams -- against a 1A opponent all season. We'll need one this week. I'm sure BSU's coaching staff is running videos of last year's 52-14 pasting during practice this week and they'll have a huge chip on their shoulders.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

L.C.
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/22/2019 10:13:40 PM

bshot44 wrote:

L.C. wrote:

If Ball State gets 80% more points than their season average, as NIU and Kent did, Ball Sate would get 64 points. I don't think Ohio could overcome that. They may be able to overcome 45. The last two games were the ones since Cole Baker was hurt. Apparently he is critical to the defense. I hope he will be back to healthy for Ball State.

Last Edited: 10/23/2019 12:19:50 AM by L.C.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

colobobcat66
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/23/2019 8:54:26 AM

I�m very afraid that this week will result in a Louisiana type score. Ball State has a pretty good defense against the run and not all that bad against the pass. There�s too much film on us to not expect offenses to tear us apart. You also can�t expect our offense to score almost every time against a defense with a pulse. I�d like to say that our special teams are also special, but that�s not the case either so far. We�re 2 penalties away from giving up 2 98 yard kickoff returns, and we�ve missed some key FG�s. Do miracles happen? Can the defense and the offense show up for a full game? I sure hope so, but I�m not holding my breath.

ExCat21
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/23/2019 9:59:46 AM

As a former player, I can say with experience playing in the MAC that some teams dont play well against certain teams in the MAC based on scheme. I would have to say our nemeses are CMU and Toledo (except past few years). We naturally dont play down to Ball St. We've always stopped their run game and forced them to pass. However this is one of the best Ball St throwing teams I've seen since Wenning and the one QB who was deaf but took them to the MACC. My concern this game is the WR Yo'Heinz Tyler. If NIU WRs were snagging it....wait til you see him. If we can stop the run and keep a man over the top of Yo'Heinz....I think we win 38 -24. He is 6'3 and 210 lbs and freaky athletic.

Last Edited: 10/23/2019 10:02:15 AM by ExCat21

FanInTheStands
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/24/2019 7:54:57 AM

The weather gods appear to have made a radical change as this week is progressing and they are now calling for rain for Saturday's game. I'm curious as to how this will impact the game strategies of both teams. Guess I need to make sure I pack my Frogg Toggs and poncho and be prepared to sit in a steady rain for this one.

ytownbobcat
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RE: Official Game 8 Thread: Ball St.

Posted: 10/24/2019 8:35:41 AM

ExCat21 wrote:

I am curious about your thoughts about what makes a defense improve over a few weeks late in the season? Kind of like the Bobcats last year. Is it experience?,tweaking the lineup?, schedule includes more opponents from the weak MAC EAST?, change in defensive philosophy?. IN you opinion can we expect to see a second half of the season defensive revival like last year?

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