Balloon Football officially starts the conference in the American environment this week.
The cardinals (1-3) will host the Ohio Lynx Roux (3-2, 1-0 mac) at the Scheumann stadium on Saturday October 4. Ball State is Seeing his first inactive week From the season, while Ohio opened the conference with a 35-20 home victory against Bowling Green last week.
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Ohio is the reigning champion Mac after winning the conference for the first time since 1968 last season. Shortly after winning the Mac championship, head coach Tim Albin accepted the job of head coach in Charlotte. With the former associate head coach and offensive coordinator Brian Smith now at the helm, the bobcats seem just as dangerous so far and are currently the big favorite to repeat as champions of the conference. They almost defeated Rutgers on the road to open the season, in a fall of 34-31 and beaten the Virginie-Western 17-10 the following week.
“Obviously, this is a big challenge this week, facing the title champions of Mac,” said Ball State coach Mike Uremovich. “They are where we are trying to reach as a program. They still win. They have graduated, they replace them with guys they have developed.”
Ball State has a 15-13 file against Ohio but has not won in the match since 2012. Bobcats have prevailed in the last five meetings, including A victory of 42-21 last year in the final of the season in 2024 of Ball State.
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Here is our screening report, as well as a score prediction, for the Mac opener of Ball State Football against Ohio:
Can Ball State continue its offensive ascent?
Ball State’s offensive found his groove in the last two games after fighting powerfully during his first two games against Purdue and Auburn. The cardinals recorded more than 400 yards in total against New Hampshire and Uconn, and the racing game emerged as a legitimate force. Ball State ran out of 308 yards against New Hampshire and 176 others against Uconn, with an average of 6.6 yards per race for both competitions.
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The busy offensive, on the other hand, still has room for growth. The quarterrier Kiael Kelly is coming out of his best match to date, ending 17 passes out of 24 for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception against Huskies. With experienced receptors like Qian Magwood and Eric Weatherly making big games (the two had explosive catches against Uconn, and Magwood launched a hit in Kelly) and emerging talents like Donovan Hamilton winning more goals, the game of passes should continue to tend.
The most crucial task of the offensive against Ohio? Take care of football. The bobcats lead the Mac and are tied in fifth row of the FBS with seven interceptions, and they withdrew the Bowling Green Drew Pyne’s quarterrier ball three times in their first conference match. Kelly launched an interception in each of the last two ball state games and will have to avoid similar errors against an aggressive Ohio defense that carries the ball.
The wide senior receiver of Ball State Redsirt Qian Magwood (5) aligns the melee line against the New Hampshire during the second half on Saturday September 13, 2025 at the Scheumann stadium.
How will Ball State defense manage Parker Navarro?
The quarter of the Ohio Parker Navarro may be the most dangerous offensive player in the Mac. He won the honors of the second All-Mac team last season after launching 2,423 yards with 13 affected and rushing for 1,054 yards with 18 affected. Until now this season, Navarro has 1,078 yards by the pass and eight affected by the pass with 327 yards on the ground and four scores on the ground.
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Navarro’s double threat capacities were fully exposed in the Ohio Mac opener, in which he was responsible for the four offensive touch of the Bobcats against Bowling Green. Defensively, Ball State has not yet obliged interception this season and has struggled to contain the quarter-back against the New Hampshire, the overthrow of 98 yards and a hit in the Wildcats QB Matt Lezza.
Keep Navarro in the pocket will be the key to the stay of Ball State in this game, and if the cardinals can intercept the starter of the experienced bobcats, they can find themselves in good position to obtain a huge victory.
Can Ball State come back to his ways of running?
The defense of the cardinals had a start to the season from top to bottom. Ball State limited Purdue to only 93 yards in the opening of the season, but then saw Auburn for 224 next week. The New Hampshire only managed 132 yards on the ground and has on average less than four yards per race against the cardinal front, but Uconn ran for 219 yards and three affected while making an average of 5.9 yards per race last week. The fourth quarter was abyssal because Ball State abandoned 32 and 67 yards to the Huskies that run the Cam Edwards balloon.
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The defensive front will be tested again by Ohio. The precipitated attack of the bobcats is currently classifying second in Mac with 1,000 yards during its first five games and an average of five yards per race. The ball carrier Sieh Bangura ranks third in the conference with 414 yards on the ground and made 115 yards in just 18 races (6.4 yards / postponement) against Bowling Green.
Duncan Brune, a second year student in Germany, is a solid back change, and of course, Navarro is still a threat to the field. The cardinals’ front -seven front will have to be at its best – and hopefully, the healthiest – to slow down the precipitated attack on Ohio.
Prediction score for Ball State Football vs Ohio
Ohio 34, Ball State 24: Unfortunately for Uremovich, Ohio is probably the most difficult draw as possible for it to make its Mac head coach debut. Even with their own change of off -season coach, the bobcats return a large part of their experience from the list of conference champions of last season. Ball State’s offensive has shown continuous improvement and could certainly keep things interesting here, but it looks like a game that will come down to the turnover battle.
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So far this season, all signs indicate that Ohio has won this battle. If the cardinals want to start the conference game with a massive upset victory, the defense of Ball State must get their hands on a ball or two and give the team a momentum.
Contact CADE HAMPTON by e-mail to [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ CADEHAMP10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball state football against Ohio: screening report, score prediction
