No video on this one...Did a speed read on the Ball State offense and defense from their first game vs Western Illinois. Here are my quick hitting takeaways:
Offense; Standard college spread offense. Will mix in some duo with their inside and outside zone.
QB: Smart player who can diagnose and hit quick game. Some accuracy and/or communication issues with receivers, but overall a solid distributor of the football. This is where I'd expect them to attack PSU on Saturday. Quick passes into soft coverage.
Does not have a good deep ball. Left several short on fades down the sideline. CBs may have a chance in this game to get some plays on the ball in these situations
Will find the open receiver or make the right decision generally. Good pre-snap but can be slow to get to his later progressions. More of a scrambler if it's not there on his first progression.
RBs: Not much to speak of based off of what I saw.
WRs: 11 is the real threat. Quick and aggressive with the ball in his hands after the catch. Will make you pay for playing off. Has the speed to get deep and has a good connection with QB. Some good back shoulder work. Not a high-pointer, but generally good in all phases of the game. Good athlete too. PSU will have to respect him.
Rest of the unit is pretty rank average.
Offensive Line: Good technicians, don't make a lot of mistakes, but are not physically anything outstanding. Work well as a unit on double teams and can get to the 2nd level efficiently. Didn't have time to get into each player individually but the group as a unit is solid. Can be had with stunts and overloads. Could be a big factor in the game if Penn State can get them to 3rd and long.
Defense: Good unit as a whole. Some individually good players as well. Ran some concepts (tite front) that I don't think they can run against Penn State. We'll see how much their gameplan changes from Week 1 to Week 2
D-Line: 0 is the guy to watch. Run a three-down front and he's a tweener/5 technique that is violent and strong. Will push back linemen who aren't ready for his get-off. Rest of the unit is solid, but again, unspectacular.
LBs: Several rangy players that are smart and disciplined in coverage. Overhang defenders look undersized and will be up against it on the edges with Wallace/Walker in the run game. Will have to win with quickness. Lack size in general.
Secondary: Strength of the defense. They work well with the linebackers and run primarily zone coverage. Unit seems to communicate well and don't bust coverage a whole lot.
Secondary runs some complex defenses and have the ability to disguise their coverage pre-snap. Do a lot of Cover 3 from a Cover 4 look with 14 dropping down into the flat as an underneath defender. Not a lot of true robber coverages, but they mix it up. Won't give up big plays in zone easily.
D1 is the best player on the defense. Smart zone corner with great eyes and instincts to play his zone. Will make you pay if you throw a bad ball his way. Shows some ability to bait the QB. Not sure he's the athlete to stay with PSU's WRs in man coverage, but I don't think Ball State will attempt that unless they have to stack the box to stop the run.
D5 is a good slot/SAM player who lines up at several levels of the defense. Safety body type with smarts and quickness. Wouldn't want to put him on Parker Washington in man coverage, but again, he's a good zone defender. Good ability to play around the box and win with quickness.
D14 is who I would target. Some mental mistakes and doesn't have the burst to the football to drop down in coverage when he lines up deep to shallow. D12 is also only okay. Saw him get out-athlete-ed by a western Illinois receiver.
In general, a good football team. They seemed a bit rusty last Saturday with some unforced errors and mental mistakes. Would imagine that gets cleaned up and they play a sound football game. Bottom line is that you're likely going to have to beat this football team because they won't beat themselves. That being said, beating them is entirely do-able.
Offense; Standard college spread offense. Will mix in some duo with their inside and outside zone.
QB: Smart player who can diagnose and hit quick game. Some accuracy and/or communication issues with receivers, but overall a solid distributor of the football. This is where I'd expect them to attack PSU on Saturday. Quick passes into soft coverage.
Does not have a good deep ball. Left several short on fades down the sideline. CBs may have a chance in this game to get some plays on the ball in these situations
Will find the open receiver or make the right decision generally. Good pre-snap but can be slow to get to his later progressions. More of a scrambler if it's not there on his first progression.
RBs: Not much to speak of based off of what I saw.
WRs: 11 is the real threat. Quick and aggressive with the ball in his hands after the catch. Will make you pay for playing off. Has the speed to get deep and has a good connection with QB. Some good back shoulder work. Not a high-pointer, but generally good in all phases of the game. Good athlete too. PSU will have to respect him.
Rest of the unit is pretty rank average.
Offensive Line: Good technicians, don't make a lot of mistakes, but are not physically anything outstanding. Work well as a unit on double teams and can get to the 2nd level efficiently. Didn't have time to get into each player individually but the group as a unit is solid. Can be had with stunts and overloads. Could be a big factor in the game if Penn State can get them to 3rd and long.
Defense: Good unit as a whole. Some individually good players as well. Ran some concepts (tite front) that I don't think they can run against Penn State. We'll see how much their gameplan changes from Week 1 to Week 2
D-Line: 0 is the guy to watch. Run a three-down front and he's a tweener/5 technique that is violent and strong. Will push back linemen who aren't ready for his get-off. Rest of the unit is solid, but again, unspectacular.
LBs: Several rangy players that are smart and disciplined in coverage. Overhang defenders look undersized and will be up against it on the edges with Wallace/Walker in the run game. Will have to win with quickness. Lack size in general.
Secondary: Strength of the defense. They work well with the linebackers and run primarily zone coverage. Unit seems to communicate well and don't bust coverage a whole lot.
Secondary runs some complex defenses and have the ability to disguise their coverage pre-snap. Do a lot of Cover 3 from a Cover 4 look with 14 dropping down into the flat as an underneath defender. Not a lot of true robber coverages, but they mix it up. Won't give up big plays in zone easily.
D1 is the best player on the defense. Smart zone corner with great eyes and instincts to play his zone. Will make you pay if you throw a bad ball his way. Shows some ability to bait the QB. Not sure he's the athlete to stay with PSU's WRs in man coverage, but I don't think Ball State will attempt that unless they have to stack the box to stop the run.
D5 is a good slot/SAM player who lines up at several levels of the defense. Safety body type with smarts and quickness. Wouldn't want to put him on Parker Washington in man coverage, but again, he's a good zone defender. Good ability to play around the box and win with quickness.
D14 is who I would target. Some mental mistakes and doesn't have the burst to the football to drop down in coverage when he lines up deep to shallow. D12 is also only okay. Saw him get out-athlete-ed by a western Illinois receiver.
In general, a good football team. They seemed a bit rusty last Saturday with some unforced errors and mental mistakes. Would imagine that gets cleaned up and they play a sound football game. Bottom line is that you're likely going to have to beat this football team because they won't beat themselves. That being said, beating them is entirely do-able.
