Ball State at Western Michigan 10/9/21 - College Football Picks & Predictions

The Ball State Cardinals will hope to bounce back after a sluggish start to the year when they go on the road to Waldo Stadium to take on the Western Michigan Chippewas. Ball State opened the year with a win, but then lost three straight games to Penn State, Wyoming, and at home vs Toledo. They bounced back last week with a 28-16 win at home over Army to improve to 2-3. Western Michigan started the year being trounced by Michigan but has rattled off four straight wins since including a big road win over Pittsburgh, improving to 4-1 last week with a conference win over Buffalo. 

Western Michigan has been a solid offensive unit this season averaging 409 yards and 26.6 points per game. Sophomore Kaleb Eleby has been excellent in the last two seasons, completing 63% of his passes for nearly 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns to 2 interceptions dating back to last season. He’s yet to have a turnover this season.

La’Darius Jefferson has led the rushing attack with 270 yards and seven touchdowns, he’s the more power back while sophomore Sean Tyler is the more speed back averaging 5.6 yards per carry and totaling 362 yards, adding 71 and a touchdown in the passing game. 

Western Michigan has also been a relatively stout defense and comes in allowing just 303.4 yards and 21.6 points per game. They’ve forced eight turnovers and are coming off an exceptional performance where they held Buffalo to just 282 yards, forced a turnover, and were 4/11 on third-downs. 

Ball State came into the season on one of the longest winning streaks in the country but has struggled to get it going in 2021. Ball State has struggled on the offensive end averaging just 19.2 points per game and averaging 308 yards per game. Senior quarterback Drew Plitt has struggled after a promising sophomore and junior season, his completion numbers have dipped to 61.1% and he’s thrown just four touchdowns to three interceptions. 

Freshman Carson Steele has led the backfield but has been bad in the last two games carrying the ball 18 times for just 27 yards. On the year, he’s averaging 4.4 yards per carry for 200 total yards and four touchdowns. Senior Will Jones also figures to be a part of the backfield going forward, he’s totaled 193 yards and two touchdowns. 

Ball State has struggled on the defensive side of the ball allowing 406.2 yards and 29.6 points per game, they’ve been unable to stop the run allowing 194.4 rushing yards per contest. Even in the win over Ball State, the Cardinals lost the time of possession handily and were outgained, but they forced two turnovers and returned the opening kickoff to get the win.