Opponent View/Scouting Ball State

Despite sharing a telephone area code, Saturday will mark just the ninth meeting between Purdue and Ball State. The Boilermakers remain undefeated vs BSU, holding an 8-0 record with an average margin of victory of 21.6 points.

Purdue last welcomed Ball State to Ross-Ade Stadium in 2010, a 24-13 Purdue win. Every meeting between the two programs has taken place in West Lafayette.

Mick Tidrow, the voice of Ball State football, breaks down the Cardinals in advance of their trip to Purdue for Saturday’s game, which kicks off at noon ET on BTN.

GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Ball State offense?

Tidrow: From a Ball State offensive perspective, I think you’re going to see a team that uses its athleticism to its strong suits, and a coach who has been very adamant about making sure the best players are on the field. At Butler, for example, he had two quarterbacks he felt like were two of his top four players, so he used both of them, and the stat sheet reflected that.

And here at Ball State, I think there’s still work. He’ still working on what those pieces are. But at the end of the day, from an offensive standpoint, you’re going to see the best players on the field no matter what. And he reiterated that in his opening press conference. He said that in numerous interviews, to where that theme, to me, is really exciting. I can’t wait to see who he feels those best athletes are, no matter what position group they are in. I think the offense is going to be athletic, exciting and explosive.

GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Ball State defense?

Tidrow: A very physical defense, and that’s a word that they have used, not lightly. It has been absolutely the theme of what coach you wants. They practice physical. They practice as a defense to make sure that they’re winning in the fourth quarter in games. And, to me, being physical this early in the season and trying to make sure that you know what that’s going to feel like on game days is important. So, these guys are physical. There’s depth at several positions, and Coach U has said that he wants to be able to use as many guys as possible. So, the defense is very new in terms of faces that are going to play, most likely, just because there’s so many incoming transfers to that defense. But you have leaders like Darin Conley, who represented Ball State at MAC media days up in Detroit, who had a really good season last year as a redshirt freshman on the defensive line who’s taken a big leadership role. But, from a defensive overarching standpoint, definitely a physical group, and one that wants to be able to use its depth to take care of other offenses.

GoldandBlack.com: How do you see this game unfolding?
Tidrow: All of these guys have coached with each other at some stop or another, and they have just been very disciplined. And from the very first practice, this team felt like it knew the playbook. They were walking out there in training camp, they wanted it. It just felt like everything was already coming together.

Expectations, I think it’s gonna be really good game. I’ve never been one to put a score prediction or a record prediction out there. But in terms of what’s going to unfold, I think the excitement is definitely there, because the staff has put things together in a very good way. The offensive and defensive sides and special teams are all different for Ball State fans to be able to see. So, a new flavor of Ball State football is here, and everybody’s excited to see it.