Ball State football: Will Cardinals finally break through, get back to bowl?

Expect Ball State to field MAC’s top offense again

Ball State football had the MAC’s top offense, scoring nearly 35 points with 463 yards per game in 2019. Expect similar numbers from the Cardinals as they have one of the league’s top quarterbacks and one of its best rushing attacks as well.

The leader of the offense will once again be quarterback Drew Plitt, who threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns with only seven interceptions. Plitt is now a senior and should only improve after such successful junior season.

The rushing attack will once again be spearheaded by Caleb Huntley, who was a second-team All-MAC selection at running back after rushing for 1,275 yards and 12 touchdowns last season while averaging over five yards per carry.

One question that the offense will have to answer about the running game is how to replace backup tailback Walter Fletcher who rushed for over 700 yards in backup role last year. It will be important to find a clear-cut No. 2 back in case of injury for Huntley, who will be shouldering the load on the offense.

The only slight concern that this offense may have is replacing some of the top receiving weapons for this offense. Leading receiver Justin Hall is back after accounting for over 600 yards last year, but gone is Riley Miller and he was a  reliable option for the offense and that kind of leadership is not easily replaced. Antwan Davis is back and so is Yo’Heinz Tyler.

This is an experienced group, but some of these guys don’t have a lot of starting experience, so there could be some growing pains.

The offensive line should be a solid unit once again with three starters back and the two new comers being fifth-year seniors. This unit helped pave the way for Huntley to have a great year last year and they should have another great season.

This has the potential to be one of the best offenses in the group of five and will make the Cardinals contenders in the conference.