Penn State Football vs Ball State: Reasons for optimism … and worry
By Nick Kreiser
Penn State Football welcomes the Ball State Cardinals to Beaver Stadium this weekend, and although the Nittany Lions are heavily favored, there is still some cause for some mild concern ahead of this matchup.
There are far more reasons to be optimistic about a Penn State Football win this Saturday than there are reasons to worry about a loss, mainly because the Nittany Lions are just the more talented team.
Penn State Football has stars on both sides of the ball that could have very big games against the Cardinals.
However, there are also some things, such as an underrated opponent and a missing starter on defense, that might give Ball State a chance at an upset. After all, anything can happen in college football … just ask the Washington Huskies who lost to Montana in Week 1.
Here are Penn State Football’s biggest reasons to worry … and be optimistic about Saturday’s matchup against Ball State
Penn State Football Reason to Worry: Overlooking Ball State
This matchup against Ball State is sandwiched at a bad spot in the schedule. It comes following the high of a big-time road win where the Nittany Lions knocked off Wisconsin, and right before the annual White Out where Penn State will take on Auburn.
Penn State Football will need to have moved on from their Week 1 win, and not look ahead to the Auburn matchup.
Additionally, Ball State played on Thursday night in Week 1, as opposed to Saturday, so they will have two extra days of rest and preparation. So, will Ball State have some tricks up their sleeve to try to get a big play and a momentum shift early in the game?
Finally, Ball State is the defending champions of the Mid-American Conference, and they have a lot of players from that team who returned this season. According to Yahoo Sports, Ball State returns 18 starters and has 16 “super-seniors”, which is a sixth year player who is using their extra year of granted eligibility because of the COVID affected season.
So, just because they are a smaller school does not mean they are not a tough opponent, they are still a very good small school. The Cardinals received six votes to be ranked in the top 25 in the preseason AP Poll.
If Penn State comes out with their head on their shoulders, ready to play, and focused only on beating Ball State, they should win this game comfortably.