International Bowl preview: Ball State vs Rutgers
By JON CAMPBELL | December 14, 2007 | 16 comments
International Bowl
Who: Ball State (7-5) vs. Rutgers (7-5)
When: Jan. 5, 2008
Where: Rogers Center, Toronto, Ontario
Line: Rutgers -10, O/U 59 ½
In the world of college football, one thing is inevitable when you overachieve: other programs are going to start taking a good look at hiring your coach.
Such is the case with both the Ball State Cardinals and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who have been hearing rumors about their coaches leaving ever since the regular season ended. The two 7-5 teams will meet in the second annual International Bowl in Toronto on Jan. 5.
Ball State is playing in its first bowl game in 11 years, one of the goals of the program when head coach Brady Hoke signed on five years ago. For Rutgers, it’s more about consistency. Head coach Greg Schiano has the Scarlet Knights headed to their third straight bowl game, a big step for a program that went a hapless 1-5 in Big East play just three seasons ago.
As of early December, both coaches had denied they were going anywhere and until that changes, their focus will be on the trip north in January.
Rutgers is favored by 10 points and it’s not much of a surprise considering Ball State is 0-3 against teams from BCS conferences this season. However, Ball State managed to cover the spread in two of those games and its most memorable game of the year might just be a 41-40 loss in Lincoln against Nebraska. The Cardinals were underdogs of 24 ½ points in that late September game in which Nebraska needed a late touchdown to pull out the win.
The Huskers couldn’t find a way to slow BSU’s pass-happy offense when Nate Davis threw for 422 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Dante Love reeled in 214 yards and one TD in that game and the Cards showed why they are the No. 21-ranked passing offense in the country.
Love finished the season at No. 8 in the country with 1,226 receiving yards overall, but he might just be facing his toughest test of the campaign in January. Rutgers owns the No. 2 defense against the pass this season, allowing a mere 160.6 yards per game. The Knights have been even stingier over their past three games when they allowed just 150 passing yards per game.
The offense is the real strength of Rutgers though, which ranked 26th in the nation in yards per game with 437.2. The Knights were held to fewer than 20 points just twice all season – in back-to-back losses to Connecticut and West Virginia – and what makes them so hard to defend is their balance.
Running back Ray Rice has been one of the most overlooked players in the nation for the past two seasons. He ranks No. 3 in the country in rushing and has seven more yards and five more touchdowns than Heisman Trophy finalist Darren McFadden.
Rice plows through defenses and can turn on the jets when needed and he helps set up a dangerous passing game led by quarterback Mike Teel. Teel finished second in the Big East with 2,844 yards passing this season and he was helped out by the No. 2 and 3 leading receivers in the Big East, Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood.
What might just give Ball State a chance to compete with Rutgers’ potent attack is a ball-hungry defense that has 18 interceptions this season. Those picks helped the Cardinals finish third in the country in turnover margin behind only Florida Atlantic and Kansas.
Rutgers and Ball State have faced one common opponent this season and both came away with a victory. The Cardinals beat Navy in overtime on Sept. 15, 34-31 while the Scarlet Knights pummeled the Midshipmen the week before 41-24.
