NC State football will likely be an angry team against Ball State at 7 p.m. Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Ball State is off to a 1-2 start, with a win over Fordham and losses against Indiana and Florida Atlantic. All those games were at home.
Here is a full scouting report on Ball State.
Five Ball State Players To Watch
Junior running back Caleb Huntley — The 5-10, 226-pounder has returned from injury and is off to a good start. He rushed 210 times for 1,003 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman in 2017, but then got injured six games into his 2018 campaign. Huntley has tallied 231 yards and two touchdowns on 49 carries through three games this year. He is fresh off of running for a season-high 86 yards on 14 carries in the 41-31 loss versus Florida Atlantic last week.
Fifth-year senior right tackle Danny Pinter — Pinter started 11 games and played in 19 contests overall at tight end, but he made the move to the offensive line as a redshirt junior. The 6-4, 300-pounder settled in at right tackle last season, starting all 12 games. He went on to win the Ball State Dave McLain Leadership Award.
Junior quarterback Drew Plitt — Riley Neal was the starting quarterback for Ball State last year, but he got hurt with three games left, giving Plitt a chance to get some seasoning. Neal became a graduate transfer to Vanderbilt, and Plitt became the full-time starter this season. The 6-2, 215-pounder has completed 84 of 119 passes for 1,040 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He erupted for 439 passing yards and six touchdowns against Fordham Sept. 7.
Fifth-year senior inside linebacker Jacob White — The three-year starter was tied for fifth on the team last year with 66 tackles, including 10 against both Kent State and Northern Illinois. He also had nine tackles and a pair of tackles for loss at Notre Dame a year ago. The 6-0, 230-pounder was named third-team All-MAC. He has 29 tackles — 17 of which came against Florida Atlantic last week — and two tackles for loss in three games this season.
Redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Jordan Williams — The 6-4, 231-pounder had a big game against Florida Atlantic with four tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack, and he recovered two fumbles, one of which he returned 60 yards for a touchdown. He has eight tackles in three games in his first year starting for the Cardinals.
What To Watch From Ball State
1. Shaky secondary. Ball State’s two losses had opposing teams throw for more than 300 yards against the Cardinals. Indiana connected on 24 of 41 throws for 326 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Florida Atlantic was even more impressive by going 33-of-41 passing for 366 yards with four touchdowns. In between was a 221-yard passing effort by Fordham.
FAU sophomore quarterback Chris Robison averaged 177.5 passing yards in losses against Central Florida and Ohio State prior to exploding against Ball State. Indiana redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw for 197 yards against Eastern Illinois after his 326-yard performance against the Cardinals (plus 67 rushing yards).
Part of Ball State’s defensive issues is having just three sacks in three games, and opponents have converted 19 of 43 for 44.2 percent on third-down conversions. The Cardinals do have four interceptions and two fumble recoveries on defense.
2. Riley Miller aiming to be volume receiver? Senior wide receiver Riley Miller has been a productive three-year player for the Cardinals. He caught 61 passes for 878 yards (14.4 yards per reception) and seven touchdowns last fall.
NC State had trouble containing West Virginia redshirt freshman wide receiver Sam James, who is one of the more explosive players the Wolfpack will face this season. He had nine receptions for 155 yards and a touchdown, plus rushed for seven yards. Miller might not be as explosive as James, but he has had some big games in his career.
The 6-1, 200-pounder caught 11 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown against Kent State last fall, and also snagged eight passes for 112 yards against Western Kentucky. Miller has 105 career receptions for 1,414 yards and 10 touchdowns in 30 games played.
3. Special teams sometimes uneven. New senior kicker Ryan Rimmler of Germany has gone 2 of 5 on field goals with a long of 30 yards. Junior punter Nathan Snyder is averaging 41.9 yards on 12 punts this season, but has a career 38.8-yard average.
Ball State has only one touchback on 19 kickoffs this season. Junior Justin Hall is averaging 5.0 yards on four punt returns, but fifth-year senior Riley Miller had a 40-yard return. Junior Malik Dunner is an accomplished kick returner, averaging 22.7 yards on seven returns, and has a touchdown to his credit in his career.
Rimmer, whose uncle Craig Wise played football at Guilford College, had been a kickoff specialist the last two and a half years. He had nine touchbacks last year, but never had attempted a field goal until this season. He made a 22-yarder against Indiana and a 30-yarder against Florida Atlantic.
Three Keys To The Game
1. Get passing game showing. All eyes will be on NC State redshirt sophomore quarterback Matthew McKay and the Wolfpack passing attack. His numbers on the season are more than respectable with 715 passing yards, 58.4 completion percentage and three touchdowns with zero interceptions.
The main statistic that needs to get beefed up from the West Virginia loss is 4.3 yards per attempt. That won’t cut it, and it’s four yards less than what he had in the East Carolina game (8.3).
2. Contain Ball State’s rushing attack. The Cardinals’ passing game is getting all the attention, but NC State struggled stopping the run against West Virginia. The Mountaineers couldn’t get anything going in the run game against James Madison and Missouri, but tallied 28 rushing attempts for 173 yards and three touchdowns against the Wolfpack.
Caleb Huntley is a proven college running back and rushed 22 times for 81 yards and a touchdown in the loss against Indiana of the Big Ten. Huntley regained his starting spot after James Gilbert became a graduate transfer to Kansas State, where he has 277 rushing yards and three scores.
3. Clean up the loose ends. NC State had nine penalties against Ball State, a blown assignment in blocking that led to a blocked punt, plus some dropped balls. Succeeding on a fake punt and freshman linebacker Drake Thomas' interception could have made up for it, but the Wolfpack didn’t cash in with touchdowns.
NC State’s margin for error against Ball State should be higher, but for the Wolfpack to take advantage of a down ACC this fall, taking care of business and cleaning up some of these concerns is imperative.
Three Ball State Numbers Of Note
9 Plays of 30 or more yards through three games for the Ball State offense. Eight of the nine plays came through the air, four of which resulted in touchdowns.
11 National ranking for Ball State’s passing yards per game with 348.3.
17 Returning starters — eight offense and nine on defense — which ranks tied for fourth in the country.
——
• Talk about it inside The Wolves’ Den
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker
• Like us on Facebook
