Oklahoma's football schedule seems to be just a little bit backwards. The Sooners have already played in a top five match-up, they've played against an in-state rival and they've played against a conference foe. The Sooners are already a battle tested squad that's ready to take on the rest of their Big 12 slate...except for the fact that they are taking a break to play Ball State.
While that may be the perception the actuality of it is that Ball State comes at just the right time. After the big match-up against Florida State followed by the revenge match against Missouri, Ball State provides the Sooners with a game that is just enough to be competitive but also allows Oklahoma to take a breath before another huge game comes up the following week against Texas.
Ball State is 3-1 on the season with all three wins coming in home games against Indiana, Buffalo and Army. Their lone road game of the season was a disastrous trip to South Florida where they lost 37-7 to the Bulls
With an average of 27.5 points scored per game the Cardinals rank seventh in the MAC in scoring offense. Quarterback Keith Wenning has thrown seven touchdowns with no interceptions this season and is completing 73% of his passes. The offensive line has done a fairly decent job of protecting him by only allowing Wenning to be sacked four times in for games but three of those came against South Florida.
Ball State has a quartet of receivers with each of them tallying up between 14-16 catches on the season but Willie Snead is the one the Oklahoma defense won't want to lose track of. Averaging 13.8 yards per reception Snead has 207 yards on 15 catches with two touchdowns. He's the primary down field target.
On the ground the tandem of Jahwan Edwards and and Barrington Scott carry the load. Edwards averages 5.2 yards per carry and has crossed the goal line six times on the ground. Scott on the other hand has rushed for 177 total yards and is averaging 3.6 yards per carry.
Ball State averages 156 rushing yards per game which ranks them 6th in the MAC.
On the defensive side of the ball the Cardinals are giving up an average of 25.8 points per game. Against the pass they're near the bottom of the MAC (11th) with opponents averaging 205 yards per game through the air. They're actually a little worse in run defense where opponents are averaging five yards per carry and 207 yards per game. Ball State has given up eight rushing touchdowns on the season.
Junior linebacker Travis Freeman leads the team in tackles with 36. Safety Sean Baker is just behind him with 33 total tackles and sophomore defensive tackle Nathan Ollie leads the team in tackles for loss (6) and sacks (4).