College Football Predictions – Ball St Cardinals 2019 College Football Preview
2018 Recap
Record – 4-8
ATS – 5-7
The Cardinals sputtered to their 5th consecutive losing season and lost four of their final five contests to end the year. There were a couple of bright spots. They hung tough with Notre Dame and lost a close game by a score of 24-16 as 35-point underdogs (!) in a 77,002 STAR MEGALOCKS BOOKIE SLAUGHTERHOUSE DOG OF THE WEEK winner. The other game of note was an OT upset of Western Michigan (W 42-41) in the penultimate contest of 2018.
Can Ball St threaten for a bowl bid in 2019? Let’s dig in and find out, yo.
2019 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
West Division – #5
MAC – #9
Ball St Cardinals 2019 Outlook
OFFENSE
It will be strange to watch the Cardinals without QB Riley Neal under center but he has moved on and transferred to the SEC (Vanderbilt). Speaking of transfers, Ball St also loses last year’s #1 rusher in James Gilbert who is off to show his stuff at Kansas St.
Drew Plitt steps into the starting role, and while he was a bit inconsistent a season ago (55%, 6-8 TD to INT), he did lead the upset win over the Broncos late in the year. Plitt has one of the best receiving corps in the MAC to work with including 2nd Team MAC selection Riley Miller (878, 7 TD) and Justin Hall (69 receptions LY). It’s not clear what the Cardinals have at RB and we are skeptical of the talent on the depth chart. Thankfully, the offensive line returns all five starters and over 100 career starts.
Ball St posted 24.2 PPG LY (#8 MAC) and we forecast a move forward in 2019.
DEFENSE
Ball St hasn’t allowed fewer than 30 PPG since HC Mike Neu arrived on the scene (32.4 LY) but things look promising for the coming season. Nine starters and ten of the top-eleven tacklers return to the stop unit AND they are CHOCK FULL of upperclassmen. As one could imagine, they bring back almost all of their PENETRATION production (sacks, TFL) and have their entire starting LB corps back for duty. The Cardinals were #7 in the MAC in pass efficiency D a season ago (13-12 TD to INT) and should take a step forward in 2019.
We worry about their ability to stop the run (240 YPG, #11 MAC LY) but they should improve on this side of the ball.
SPECIAL TEAMS
RUH ROH.
The return game was abysmal last season and they need to find a new PK. Punter Patrick LeCorre only booked a 35-yard net in 2018.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The Cardinals have their work cut out for them. Their out-of-conference action is nasty (Indiana, Florida Atlantic, NC State) and they draw the Bobcats and Redhawks from the MAC East.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing noted as we approach post time.
Season Win Total
Over 4 -130
Under 4 +110
MEGALOCKS says:
Taking a pass. The Cardinals are much improved but that schedule is challenging.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Ball St and Northern Illinois have done battle for the Bronze Stalk Trophy since the 2008 season. The trophy depicts several cornstalks in recognition of all the MAIZE in their respective home states. The Huskies have won every match-up since 2009.
The Cardinals are an impossible 0-7 in bowl games.
MEGALOCKS ATS Outlook: Positive
The Cardinals have a decent-looking squad this year BUT they may struggle to find the winners’ circle on enough occasions to get to a bowl game. Both sides of the ball are poised for improvement. Maybe they can SHOCK THE WORLD and pull an upset or two?
Ball St has only banked one winning season ATS since 2013 but they might be FLYING (get it?) under the radar. We have a slightly positive outlook on their point-spread-covering prospects, and maybe, just maybe, they can get back to their 2016 form when they went 5-0 ATS as road dogs.
Want more Ball St football ?
WEBSITE
http://ballstatesports.com/index.aspx?path=football
FORUM
http://overthepylon.boards.net/board/2/bsu-football
NEWS
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/2050/ball-state-cardinals
http://www.ballstatedaily.com/section/sports
http://bleacherreport.com/ball-state-football
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/ball-st-cardinals
TWITTER
Hashtag – #TrueCardinal
Accounts to follow