| The Ball State Cardinals were the buzz of the | | | | news when star TE Madaris Grant was denied a |
| college football world two years ago when they | | | | 6th season of eligibility by the NCAA after |
| threatened for a BCS invitation from a non BCS | | | | suffering a season ending injury in the first game |
| conference. Their dreams faded with a loss in the | | | | last year. This is a huge blow to the offense. The |
| MAC championship game to Buffalo and head | | | | offensive line could end up being one of the best |
| coach Brady Hoke decided to head out west to | | | | in the conference when all is said and done. They |
| take the San Diego State position. With only 10 | | | | return all five starters and have a ton of |
| returning starters, the Cards finished 2-10 last | | | | experience up front. |
| season under Stan Parrish. There is a new outlook | | | | The defensive side of the ball had seven starters |
| this year and plenty of experience to go around | | | | back last year, but struggled at times also. |
| with 19 returning starters. | | | | Opponents averaged over 28 points/game and |
| Replacing a record breaking quarterback is never | | | | nearly 400 yards of total offense. Their pass |
| easy, but it seemed nearly impossible at times | | | | defense took a turn for the worse and the |
| last year for Ball State. Parrish gave the keys to | | | | defensive front struggled to put pressure on |
| redshirt freshman Kelly Page, who ended up | | | | opposing quarterbacks. DE Robert Eddins was the |
| starting seven games before an injury kept him | | | | exception, however, as he collected nearly half of |
| out of action. He was unimpressive for most of | | | | the total sacks by the team with 7 of his own. |
| the year, throwing for just over 1000 yards and | | | | His 13.5 tackles for loss were also a team high |
| 7 touchdowns with 9 interceptions. Young | | | | and he was selected to the 1st team |
| quarterbacks tend to go through growing pains in | | | | all-conference. DT Rene Perry is the other |
| their first full year and Page was no exception. | | | | returning starter in the trenches, but defensive |
| Aaron Mershman will get serious consideration for | | | | coordinator Jay Hood will have to work in two |
| the starting job at quarterback this year and the | | | | new players. The top two tacklers from last |
| coaching staff is very high on this kid. Running the | | | | year's team are back at linebacker. Davyd Jones |
| ball was more of a priority in 09' as the Cards | | | | made 100 tackles including 7.5 behind the line of |
| actually had experience in this area. MiQuale Lewis | | | | scrimmage. Sophomore Travis Freeman made an |
| played a large role in the 2008 season and | | | | impact as a true freshman with 93 stops and |
| followed that up with 871 yards and five | | | | could be a four year starter for the Cards in the |
| touchdowns last year. Those numbers were good | | | | middle. Improving the secondary has to be a |
| enough to make the 2nd team All MAC. Lewis will | | | | major priority for the coaching staff. Adding |
| once again be the featured back for Ball State. | | | | Michigan transfer Artis Chambers to the mix |
| The receiving core looks to be strong with seven | | | | should assist in doing just that. He will take over |
| of their top eight returning. Briggs Orsbon had a | | | | at the strong safety position for Alex Knipp. |
| team high 51 receptions, but averaged only 9 | | | | Second year corner Jason Pinkston will move into |
| yards/catch. Torieal Gibson and Daniel Ifft provide | | | | a starting spot at corner after he intercepted |
| depth on the outside also. The team received bad | | | | three passes in limited duty as a freshman. |
