Opening line--IU-14 over BSU-- I think that's too much and
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I watched Ball State making some nice plays at times up there yesterday.
No one is confusing them with National Championship contenders but they're the type of team that can beat you (even when they shouldn't) if you don't take them seriously and aren't at the top of your game...
No one is confusing them with National Championship contenders but they're the type of team that can beat you (even when they shouldn't) if you don't take them seriously and aren't at the top of your game...
We've played terribly against them the last three or four games.
The last time we played them, two years ago, we won by 10 and were up 30-0 at halftime. What happened in 2008 and 2011 is meaningless. Entirely different teams.
This board overvalues every team we ever play.
Ball State's football players will hear all week about how close they came against Notre Dame.
IU will crush them. Take the over.
IU will crush them. Take the over.
Watching my taped replay of Ball State vs ND right now.
ND is clearly faster overall but the BSU defense has gotten pressure on the ND qb multiple times and have even totally handled ND's Offensive Line on multiple occasions...
Ball States 3-4 defense looks much, much better than the last time we played them.
Their punter is solid, their kicker is hot and cold with about a 48 yard range, about 40 with accuracy...
The Ball State Offensive Line is an enigma... at times they didn't protect at all and at others they looked solid plus... Let's hope we see the first version and not the second... Joss (LG?) is apparently out against us with a 1st half knee Injury... They seemed to have filled his slot adequately...
QB is above average, with a decent arm.
They use 3 different RBs, all capable of gnashing a D that gets out of their "fits" (Lane responsibilities)... the 2nd team running backs looked better to me than the 1st teamer, surprisingly.
Receivers are MAC level, either smallish and speedy or taller and slower but good route runners.
Schematics on both sides of the ball look really, really solid. They probably have a couple of tricks up their sleeves on both sides of the ball for us.
Any team that "overlooks" Ball State this fall will lose to them. In my opinion, they're 150% better than they were last year...
We can beat them but I'd be amazed if it were any type of walkover...
This game is Ball States version of the Bucket game when they play us... They'll be taking it seriously, so we sure better...
Historically, Big Ten teams that don't take MAC teams seriously end up with an L...
ND is clearly faster overall but the BSU defense has gotten pressure on the ND qb multiple times and have even totally handled ND's Offensive Line on multiple occasions...
Ball States 3-4 defense looks much, much better than the last time we played them.
Their punter is solid, their kicker is hot and cold with about a 48 yard range, about 40 with accuracy...
The Ball State Offensive Line is an enigma... at times they didn't protect at all and at others they looked solid plus... Let's hope we see the first version and not the second... Joss (LG?) is apparently out against us with a 1st half knee Injury... They seemed to have filled his slot adequately...
QB is above average, with a decent arm.
They use 3 different RBs, all capable of gnashing a D that gets out of their "fits" (Lane responsibilities)... the 2nd team running backs looked better to me than the 1st teamer, surprisingly.
Receivers are MAC level, either smallish and speedy or taller and slower but good route runners.
Schematics on both sides of the ball look really, really solid. They probably have a couple of tricks up their sleeves on both sides of the ball for us.
Any team that "overlooks" Ball State this fall will lose to them. In my opinion, they're 150% better than they were last year...
We can beat them but I'd be amazed if it were any type of walkover...
This game is Ball States version of the Bucket game when they play us... They'll be taking it seriously, so we sure better...
Historically, Big Ten teams that don't take MAC teams seriously end up with an L...
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I watched the ND game yesterday and honestly, ND looked shitty. Ball State certainly played hardnosed and hung around, but ND looked cruddy.
Indiana just pushed around a 3-4 defense in Virginia. Having just rewatched the game, Indiana's oline crushed the Cavaliers' front line. Ball State will be amped, but I'm sure Debord plans to wear them down with our big offensive line coupled with hammering them with a 6-2, 240lb manchild.
Beat the piss out of Muncie!!
Indiana just pushed around a 3-4 defense in Virginia. Having just rewatched the game, Indiana's oline crushed the Cavaliers' front line. Ball State will be amped, but I'm sure Debord plans to wear them down with our big offensive line coupled with hammering them with a 6-2, 240lb manchild.
Beat the piss out of Muncie!!
Well Ball State had a little something to do with making ND look bad...
Wow...
You do this every season...oh well...to each their own reality...I got mine...vbg
Forgot to add:
Ball States uniforms looked pathetic. It looked like they had taken elements of uniforms from about 4 different teams and threw it all together when they designed it...
So.....;We already have them beat before we even step on the field in the "looking like a real football team" department... Now all we have to to is go out and play like one...
Ball States uniforms looked pathetic. It looked like they had taken elements of uniforms from about 4 different teams and threw it all together when they designed it...
So.....;We already have them beat before we even step on the field in the "looking like a real football team" department... Now all we have to to is go out and play like one...
Really surprised at how dismissive some posters are of Ball State. They just played in an extremely hostile environment against the #8 team in the country and gave them all they could handle. And it was no fluke. Ball State controlled the clock, they ran 97 plays to ND's 72, and they totally disrupted ND's QB Wimbush with sacks and picks.
After that experience, do you think they're intimidated by us? Neither do I. I'm with 76-1. If we don't play very well, we will lose to this team.
After that experience, do you think they're intimidated by us? Neither do I. I'm with 76-1. If we don't play very well, we will lose to this team.
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Pretty sure that's the mentality that pu took into their game against E MI.
Think of the Ball State game as the Bucket Game Light... That's how they're approaching it (without the Light part)...
Notre Dame (ranked #8 by the AP {latest}) was a 34.5 point favorite at Kickoff against Ball State. The final margin was 8 points (24-16) but the game looked tighter than the final score to me.
We overlook them at our own peril..
We overlook them at our own peril..
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Lines are simply established to balance the betting. If too much comes in on the BSU side, the line will come down.
BSU looked solid against ND and they can beat IU with some breaks or a lack of preparedness.
I really liked ther grind it out RBs. Neal is a 6'6" Indiana kid that can hurt you. He threw two picks at ND however.
BSU looked solid against ND and they can beat IU with some breaks or a lack of preparedness.
I really liked ther grind it out RBs. Neal is a 6'6" Indiana kid that can hurt you. He threw two picks at ND however.
Those guys would have done alot more damage last year had they stayed healthy. I love how during the ND game the announcers said Neal and Miller have been playing together for 6 years. Those guys have been at it since they were little kids.
I expect a hard fought game. Ball State was damn impressive last Saturday!
I expect a hard fought game. Ball State was damn impressive last Saturday!
I'm not sure that we know what kind of team we have yet. FIU was probably a better gauge than the Noah Bowl, and from that game my sense is that we have the makings of a pretty good IU football team . . . but it feels like we're coached to do just enough to beat the other team by playing just above the other team's level.
I wasn't impressed by UVA. Might be that Bronco Mendenhall's pronouncement that UVA has only 27 ACC caliber players on this year's team swayed me a good bit . . . for example, UVA had a surprising passing game - when it showed up it was surprising, and when it showed up it surprisingly had IU's defense on its heels a good bit.
Their run offense consisted pretty much of their QB finding a hole to run to and then through . . . he was a bit of a handful until we verified our conclusion that the UVA passing game was at best a surprise when it worked. Their RBs would have fit square in the middle of IU's stable . . . .
Defensively, it seemed to me that they sold out to stop Ramsey in the belief that IU didn't have an RB that could beat them. Well . . . the biggest problem I had with IU's game all night was the insistence on calling something other than Stevie Scott into the gut of UVA's defense. I guess I'm too Pavlovian . . . but if the other guys haven't stopped a running play in umpteen attempts, why not stick with it? Which tells me the OL was pretty good Saturday night . . . .
Other than that I don't think the Noah Bowl tells us much. And the FIU game might.
Ball State will tell us more about ourselves . . . the MSU game will tell us more about the BiG and our place in it.
I'm going to the game this weekend and it will be my first ever IU football game. I actually think this could be a closer game than the opening spread. I saw a little of the Ball State vs. ND game and Ball State looked better than I expected but also agree ND isn't the same team they have been in prior years.
I was impressed with Stevie Scott this past weekend. If the O-line holds up it looks like he could have a pretty good season running the ball. I now the conditions stunk but Ramsey just has a weird passing motion. Looks like he pushes the ball more than throws it. Looking forward to seeing this team in person. Will be my first ever Big 10 football game to see in person.
I was impressed with Stevie Scott this past weekend. If the O-line holds up it looks like he could have a pretty good season running the ball. I now the conditions stunk but Ramsey just has a weird passing motion. Looks like he pushes the ball more than throws it. Looking forward to seeing this team in person. Will be my first ever Big 10 football game to see in person.
It’s interesting to note that the announcers for the IU - Virginia game said that “IU had recruited” the Virginia QB and that “he was wanting to show that IU made the wrong choice.” Not sure whether that meant he wanted to come here and we pursued Dawkins instead? Found that a bit odd.
Yeah, I noticed that too, against UVA anyway; to me he looked like he was shot-putting the ball.
In my experience that happens when the QB can't get a good grip on the ball to curl the ball and spin it in a normal over-handed throwing motion. That's likely why so many of Ramsey's passes received "wounded duck" and other derisive comments from the UVA radio announcers. They weren't wrong, but it would also be wrong to judge Ramsey's arm based on just that game.
What is interesting to me is the degree of success Ramsey had with that throwing motion in the 2nd half of the game, which I attribute to (a) Ramsey placing a catchable ball in space where IU's receivers could catch it, and (b) IU's receivers making adjustments to the ball as thrown to make the catch. IIRC, UVA didn't intercept any of those "jump ball" kinds of throws.
It didn't happen every time Ramsey threw it, but the receivers were successful just enough for IU to maintain possession until we could pin UVA down on their end of the field, which was enough of a field position game to walk away with a win.
Yeah, I didn't quite get that line of thinking either. I'm not sure which of those guys would have been the better QB prospect . . . I wouldn't have minded either of those switching to RB to see what they could make of themselves there.
UVA's QB might make a pretty good QB yet, but he's got some work to do with his arm to get there. Will we see him again next year?
Well, I saw them play their second game last year, when they still had Neal, and they were horrible, so I was ultra confident of IU winning this game. However, the combination of BSU playing up at ND, and us fiddle-farting around and almost losing a home game against an inferior opponent who we physically dominated definitely has me concerned. I'm coming over to the dark side now. Over the years we've had such a difficult time sustaining our play against inferior but competent teams. That was the one aspect of the FIU game that was so satisfying......then it's back to "hold on" in the Virginia game.
The way I see it there are 3 possibilities: 1. We go out and take care of business right from the start, keep our foot on the gas, and walk away with a solid 14 point win. This seems like the least likely outcome. 2. We overlook BSU and they jump to a 10 point HT lead. We come back and it's a one possession game one way or the other at the end; or 3. We show up ready to play. have a 10 point half-time lead, then don't show up out of the locker room and have to try to hold on at the end, eg. Virginia.
Eastern Michigan destroyed BSU last year. Not sure BSU can get that much better in 1 year. They were horrible last year. Riley Neal is good though. ND OL and QB still suspect. You don't replace 2 Top 10 NFL picks on the OL and not take a step back.
I don't want to downplay what BSU did Saturday at all but I think ND was not very good either. Trap game for them for sure.
Give BSU credit, though. They were really schemed well on defense and exposed Wimbush's propensity to try to do things he is not going to be able to do at this level. The Cardinals also had a great plan for bringing pressure from different places. Terrific job by Coach Ellson.
Offensively it was tough sledding for BSU. Neal didn't have much time to throw and I think ND got really impatient and out of position vs. the run. Still, I never thought at any point BSU could score enough to win that game.
I don't think this Ball State team is as talented as the teams that beat us in the past 10 years, especially on the O-line and at receiver. But I do agree that you overlook them at your peril. I'm guessing their performance last Saturday will keep our guys from writing this off as an easy W.
I was actually impressed with Virginia's overall team speed. They jumped a lot of routes because of the weather. Our OL should dominate some teams. Virginia beat some good teams last year.
I think what we have seen over the last decade or so, is that both UM and ND tend to be overrated, and since they play early in the year, neither has been exposed and the winner of the UM-ND game gets an unnecessary bump in the rankings. I think both ND and UM are probably marginal top 25 teams, but ND "validated" their high ranking by beating an overrated UM.
I don't think that BSU will be a push-over, but will be somewhere between UVA and FIU in terms of quality. Those are games we won and were clearly the better team in, but didn't cruise in.
Ball State is good and we will have to play well to win. I highly doubt Tom Allen would allow anyone to over look any team. That being said ND didn't look good in that game. I have had so many ND fans today tell me that Ball State is very good. Now I believe they are. But it just seems that ND fans are bending over backwards to make themselves or their team look better by saying this. I saw the game and didn't think either team played well.
My view is you have to respect any team that goes into South Bend and gives the Top 10 Irish a run for their money.
ND is now 23rd in the Sagarin Ratings. But that only takes into account the numbers and doesn't factor in the heart, which is love for ND by voters.
If I can get Ball State +14, I may have to apply for a home equity loan then hope that IU wins the game by either 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,111,12, or 13 points.
And this Ball State team is quite a bit better than that 2016 team...
That's my feeling too... I know Ball State is treating this as one of their special games (sorta of like we view the Bucket Game)... If our guys don't bring the same type of focus and intensity we could be in for an ugly afternoon...
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