Storm Tracker Podcast - Scouting the Opponent - Ball State

[Music] you are now tuned in to the storm tracker podcast welcome back family to the storm tracker podcast I'm Marcus Benjamin representing for kesc count.com part of the rivals.com Network make sure you subscribe to the website kesc count.com for free use the promo code Miami 30 and also subscribe to this YouTube channel live from KES County and this is our scouting the opponent episode where we kind of dive into Miami's opponent for the week which is Ball State and I've got Kade Hampton joining me from the Star Press he covers Ball State and he's gonna give us some insight on the Cardinals thanks for joining me today Kade hey Marcus thank you for having me awesome so uh first off I just kind of want to talk to you about being a dolphins fan man I saw that you're you're a dolphins fan uh on Twitter um you know I'm a dolphins fan as well um you know just um how did your Phantom of of the fin start yeah so uh my dad growing up as a Alabama fan um he uh really liked this one running back named Tony Nathan and when Tony Nathan got drafted my you know growing up in Alabama my dad didn't really have a nearby NFL team to really get into so he just kind of followed him up to the Dolphins and then I think Marino joined shortly thereafter so he's been he's been a fan ever since he loved watching Marino back in the day I I mean I was never alive for the Marino era but i' I've seen highlights that that dude could sling it and yeah I've been been a loyal fan most of my life and uh haven't really been rewarded with that I don't think I think they last won a playoff game in 2000 and I was born in 2002 so I'm still waiting on that one but I'm excited they're they're a fun team as a you know Alabama Alum I love seeing Tua and wle ball out out there so yeah it'll be it'll be fun it'll be exciting but I my hopes are not high I do still think it's it's the it's I mean I think the Kansas City Chiefs are just inevitable at this point so it's hard hard to get really excited for an AFC team if you're not a Chiefs fan yeah yeah I hear you Kade you you're making me feel a little old uh just just by saying what you're saying um because I I watched Marino and I saw that one playoff win you know so hopefully there's good good things to come I mean they are a fun team to definitely watch of course uh the Miami Hurricanes are a fun team to watch as well and they are going to of course face off against Ball State this Saturday 3:30 kickoff from Hard Rock stadium so just kind of wanted to get some insight from you you about Ball State uh what are your thoughts on the Cardinals so far this season you know with the one game under their belt against Missouri State a win um just what generally your your thoughts on the Cardinals this season yeah so they had kind of the unique uh distinction of being the only team with a week one bye so while everyone else got started kind of Labor Day weekend they were just kind of on the couch it reminds me of that Meme of like Squidward looking out the window with SpongeBob and Patrick that's kind of how Ball State fans I think felt for week one but yeah last week they uh they came out I think a little bit slower than they were uh hoping for um but uh they managed to you know keep their keep their head on straight hit the ground running and control the clock most of the game uh they for most of the second half they had a solid like two- possession lead and Missouri State kept kind of chipping back into that but Ball State you know they did a really good job controlling the game playing they're playing their game not really getting away from their offense things like that so um you know last last two seasons have been pretty disappointing for the Cardinals uh they're still trying to you know get back to you know bowl game contending for the MAC Championship but that hasn't really come together the last two years but I think this year they're you know kind of an underdog they're a little bit slept on they've got a lot of new faces on the team that I think a lot of people aren't really expecting to make a huge impact or you know come together as a unit but they seem to be really uh meshing and uh they want to you know they want to get out there and make a name for themselves this year absolutely uh Missouri State though um you know probably not the toughest opponent uh to have a week two technically for you guys um so I I guess you know just when you when uh Miami Hurricane kind of see my Hurricane fan kind of sees that they're like okay well they didn't really have a test so far um was it the fact that Missouri state was like impressive to you or was it um you know Ball State just just not impressive on the field as far as like the closeness of that game because it was a close game yeah I think um I think Missouri state was a little bit more impressive than a lot of people were expecting because you know they are an FCS school but this is their last year as an FCS school they're making the jump into FBS they'll be Conference USA next year so they're you know they haven't been great they were you know not great last year but they had Bobby patrino there a couple years ago and he was you know he had them in a really solid position so um as far as that game um you know it got started off a little bit shaky uh they threw a RPO pass that got bobbled by a receiver straight into the Missouri uh defense Missouri State defensive backs hands he took that back for a pick six that was their first score and then you know the offense throughout the first half was doing really good controlling the clock long time of possession really long drives I think they held the ball for like 23 minutes or something of the first half but they only managed seven points so it was just you know finishing drives uh they missed a field goal that first half as well so you know you want to see a little more consistency on special teams but you know I think just you know that first game offense a little uh little nervous coming out and they kind of had to get into a Groove and they also um I know we're probably going to get into this a little later but they had two wide receiver injuries as well this week they had a guy get injured in practice and another uh starter getting injured it was like the very first play from scrimmage so I think losing kind of your top two weapons uh limited the offense a little bit as well but um you know they adjusted well second half of the game the other receivers started kind of getting into a Groove especially with the quarterback and um yeah so they they just kind of had to you know shake off a little bit of the rust and by the time they did and got the offense rolling it felt like the defense had gotten a little bit tired because by then Missouri state was scoring with ease in the fourth quarter after not really putting together anything offensively the first three so you know just kind of a it was kind of a timing thing just the offense was playing poorly while the defense kept him in the game and then once the offense started picking it up the defense seemed you know just a little bit tired and was giving up a little more than they should have been gotcha gotcha so now after one game of course they're one and0 uh uh they they face obviously a tough team in in Miami who's rolling right now top 10 team in the country according to the Associated Press uh what What's the feeling around the program you had a chance to uh attend or or or watch the press conference from yesterday from Bost state so what what's the feeling I guess around the program uh before they travel shout to play Miami yeah well I mean in terms of this week it's um you know I don't think anyone's really expecting Ball State to go in there and pull off a massive upset of this Miami team but uh you know I think they're really excited for the opportunity to go and you know face a power five team this this is a group that has a lot of experience facing power five teams they last season started the season at uh I think at Kentucky and at Georgia as well so uh you know they've been in these kind of environments before facing really highly ranked opponents on the road you know going in there and being the underdog so you know like I said I don't think anyone really expecting them to go in and pull off an upset but you know they're a really confident group like I said they you know feel like they're an underdog kind of team and uh they're excited especially on the defensive side of the ball I think they're really excited to go out and you know make a name for themselves and uh just kind of prove that they've got what it takes to hang around and uh you know make a push for another MAC Championship um and you know last week we did see uh you know a Mac team and NIU go in and upset Notre Dameon South Ben so yeah you know as you know as unlikely as it is anything's possible yeah yeah uh that's why we love college football right because you know anything can happen on any given Saturday or Thursday or Friday uh so so give us an idea of the Ball State schemes when it comes to offense defense uh what kind of scheme does Ball State run you know first on offense and then uh uh tell me a little bit about what they run on defense as well yeah so on offense uh they've got a new they've got a new coordinator on both sides of the ball though the off the new offensive coordinator is Jared Elliot and he was a co-offensive coordinator last year who just got kind of promoted to fulltime offensive coordinator so um Kevin Lynch who was the other cooc last year he's the he's still on staff as the assistant head coach in QB's coach so not really a huge change in the offensive philosophy just a little bit of a different change in exactly who's calling it but um they run you know a lot of a lot of different you know multiple offensive schemes they run you know mix in a healthy amount of rpos in there was something I noticed in the last game um they you know uh take a lot of quick throws uh with you know they got a young kind of relatively inexperienced quarterback uh and Kaden Simona he's he's shown a lot of promise but you know he's a red shirt freshman he only started three games last year and has the one start under his belt this year so um they're pretty pretty run heavy I I don't want to say well run heavy is a bit strong maybe run Reliant they like to stick to the ground game they've got a good transfer running back and Braden Sloan and um yeah so on the defensive side they run a three4 and um they have also have a new coordinator on that side of the ball and Jeff nolles who has Mac experience he coached NIU to one of the best defenses in the Mac I think back in 2017 and he spent the last two years at Butler and that FCS and they've had one of the best defenses in that division as well so um as far as defense yeah you know 3 four and they have a a pretty unique position I've never seen before on their depth chart called the sniper which is a sort of like a nickel defensive back but is uh you know really heavy in run support and got getting down kind of in the shallow uh you know zone areas and uh uh George Udo is a transfer from Cincinnati I believe who played he he plays the sniper position and he he made some pretty big impact plays against Missouri State he forced a fumble on a kickoff return so really solid guy in that spot there uh the defense is really kind of a new look defense they out of the 11 starters only one of them was a full-time starter last year Keon news at the linebacker spot so really new look group that's still you know meshing together but they you know for most of the game on Saturday they looked really good in shutting down Missouri State's offense okay very nice very nice uh sniper sometimes it's called the star position sometimes called the striker position yeah definitely kind of a Nuance I guess you could say in college football as far as defenses are concerned uh good stuff as far as the scheme now let's talk about some players and some Playmakers like some who are the players that Miami should be concerned with on offense uh first um you know as far as you talked about Simona as well uh give me you know idea of what his game is like and and you know some of the other Playmakers on offense yeah so as far as Simon goes like I said he only had you know the three career starts last year and it was against teams like Kentucky and Georgia and then uh he has the one start this year but um so there's not really a whole lot of film out there on him in terms of playing at the college level but um you know he's a uh you know really you know consistent clear-headed kind of uh kind of kid um he gets the ball out fast he's got a you know nice kind of quick release uh really you know he was reading the field well I felt like he was uh making really good reads on his rpos um getting it to the right guy making the right decision there and then another thing that he's kind of talked about is wanting to use his Mobility a little bit more I think he's a little bit faster than you would think looking at him you know because he's you know a shorter kind of guy but um you know he he showed some Mobility uh the other day against Missouri state ran in the first touchdown down from 15 yards out so I think that's something he kind of wants to add to his game he looks pretty good throwing on the run too so just using his Mobility on like design rollouts things of that nature so uh yeah but you know that inexperience also is something that the that Miami and other teams probably could exploit but um coach new really likes uh Simona he's really confident in him as the qb1 and um you know I think he's really excited to develop him over the next couple of years and then as far as uh skill positions go uh Braden Sloan who I mentioned earlier is uh looking really nice at running back Ball State kind of has a history of uh using their one running back pretty heavily with Carson steel a couple years ago who's with the Chiefs now and then Marcos Cooper last year who had a really great season so Sloan's really good he uh was an FCS All-American last year uh had 1600 plus allpurpose yards and 13 touchdowns so for Eastern Kentucky so he looks really good uh receivers um there's some pretty pretty significant injuries at the receiver position Justin Bock uh was a transfer receiver he suffered a injury in practice this week and then uh Ty Robinson was uh transferred from Colorado who uh he went down on the very first play from Skirmish with what looked like a shoulder injury and he missed allive last year as well so that was really tough for him to go down on his pretty much his very first play but if those two can't go which I'm kind of in I I mean we haven't heard too much on that but from the look of it it doesn't seem like either of them are going to be able to go on Saturday uh Kian magwood out of the slot was their leading receiver last year and then cam picket and Malcolm Gilly are two other names to watch at receiver and they all bring a little bit more speed to the field and you know bock and Robinson are 6'4 63 they're much more kind of size Reliant receivers so um it was I think that was another factor in the offense last week was having to like adjust to different play styles with the re receivers so but they've got a good group there and then at tight end they have a really big uh Tanner cozy all he led the team in touchdowns last year six foot seven really great Red Zone Target there and a pretty solid Blocker in the Run game as well um offens of line they've got a really experienced group they had uh 117 combined starts between them which I guess is 122 now because they all started another game but sure um they're uh you know really experienced strong group probably the strongest unit on this team I know coach new really likes having that level of experience there um I think it's actually the 12th most experienced offensive line in like all of FBS so that's yeah that's a big strength of theirs uh Ethan Crow at the center position is really solid on those inside runs um and then flipping over to the defensive side of the ball like I mentioned earlier uh Keon news at uh the inside linebacker position is kind of the star of the the show he's leadership role he's flying all over the field pass coverage run you know run defense he's he's all over the place um and then around him are just 10 brand new starters on this team um I mentioned George Udo at the sniper position uh he was a transfer in um and then miles Norwood the number one corner was a transfer from Iowa State he had a really good game against Missouri State as well so he's uh he's another guy to watch um um DD Snyder at the safety position is another transfer from Illinois so uh they did a good job you know getting guys who have played at the power five levels and come in made an impact and uh you know earned their starting job and are you know still they're all still kind of meshing together on the defense learning to play together developing some chemistry but um I think they're you know they want to I think this defense was the more slept on unit than the offense coming into the season because of that factor of them having not really played together and being a relatively new group and I think you know that group especially wants to prove a lot of that wrong wants to you know get that noise out of there and you know show like Hey we're you're you know we're a unit we're a team we can you know get out there and play some tough ball yeah absolutely Kade Hampton joining me from the Star Press uh he covers Ball State um I wanted to ask about K Kelly hopefully I didn't butcher that first name um but he it's K Kyle okay thank you for that Kyle Kelly I mean he's a guy who played quarterback for the Cardinals last year but from what I read I saw that he is now a part of that defense so um you know just kind of give me an update on him and just that transition that's it's kind of an odd one I guess you could say yeah K Kyle's really a really interesting storyline with this team because like you mentioned last year after uh Simona they decided to give him a red shirt uh after those three starts they decided to red shirt him let him rest and you know let him sit and learn and then they put Kyle Kelly in at QB for the rest of that season and um he's you know he's an excellent athlete he's extremely fast uh he's got good ball Vision he you know put up a really good rushing numbers but the passing offense last year was just really you know limited and not really I don't think really considered a threat by offenses and you know Kyle can you know he can throw the ball it's not that he's like a bad you know thrower it just I don't think teams really viewed it as much of a threat as him running the ball gotcha and um so did he play back last week what what was that sorry did he play at defensive back last week um honestly not that I noticed I didn't really see him come in at defensive back uh he might have gotten a few snaps in on special teams or you know here and there in the nickel or something like that but I personally I didn't notice him come in on defense but there are still a few offensive Play packages with him involved uh they ran a couple of plays with like a direct snap to him and had him run and none of them really worked I think they tried it about two or three times and uh none of them really worked I think the defense was kind of keyed in on like oh hey Kyle Kelly's coming on the field they're probably going to run it with him and then he did and they just kind of crashed in on it so it it kind of reminded me like when that year Justin field spent at Georgia when Kirby Smart was like oh we have this guy I want to use him and so he would like put him in and then everyone's like oh Justin Fields is in he's probably run it and then they would run it and nothing happened so Goa um yeah as far as you know Kyle he's he's a you know tremendously talented athletic player um and I think they are still you know they are planning on using him in some offensive packages and as a backup defensive back but I think uh you want to kind of want to see them get a little more creative with the Kyle Kelly packages because sure what we saw against Missouri State they just kind of threw him out there and let him run and the def you know kind of knew it was coming so you kind of you know maybe would want to see him used as a decoy or something or run run like a design bubble screen or something instead of just like a QB Zone run with them but you know there you know there's a lot of time for them to figure out how they want to use him and what they want him to do and uh you know he's you know too athletic and talented to really keep off the field um but yeah he's uh you know he he could make an impact in in in the game it just is yet to be seen exactly how absolutely all right U before we get into just you know a score prediction here I did want to ask did you get a chance to see Alabama I know that you're an Alabama Alum so I'm pretty sure you're following Alabama and their season uh did you get a chance to see Alabama versus USF last Saturday yeah I uh I did I managed to um actually I got out of the Ball State game it was about 6:45 and the Alabama game was set to kick at seven so I just kind of scooted to the closest uh sports bar Pub kind of thing and had him turn it on the TV there so I'm not really used to going into a sports bar and they don't have SEC football on anywhere so that was kind of a bit of a bit of a culture shock for me it was kind of funny but um bet yeah the uh I mean USF they they gave Alabama headaches last year and they they sure did it again I think I think that Bulls team is a lot better than people think when they see you know Alabama schedule there's a non-conference group of five team they see that they're like oh Alabama's just goingon to go throttle them but that USF team is you know really talented the front seven is really athletic and smart and well coached and you know both sides of the ball they're offensive scheme is really good their defensive scheme really had Alabama's offensive line in a blender uh with the stunts and the disguise Blitz packages and um it it reminded me a lot of kind of a Brian Flores uh defense from watching the Dolphins you know couple we ago just them showing like a zero Blitz and then they back you know three of those guys off and they're sending five but you have no idea which five are coming and where they're coming from so sure you know with the offensive line of Alabama being a little inexperienced playing together I think USF really took advantage of that got I was never I was never worried too concerned that Alabama was going to lose I always thought they would eventually pull away which they did but I am kind of you know concerned that USF might have given the rest of the country the recipe on how to limit B's offense which is just Blitz like Blitz him like that that seemed to really you know affect the offensive line and affect milroe and his whole uh process and everything so yeah that's that's kind of my biggest concern with Alabama coming away from that game is that the film they just put out everyone's gonna be like oh we just have to Blitz these guys right right yeah I asked about it because Miami's next opponent is actually USF um so just kind of wanted to get an idea ahead ahead of time obviously you know I'll do this episode again next week uh for with a USF guy um but just kind of want to get an idea of like why they kept it so close with Alabama and you know knowing that you're a tide fan um you know I figured you'd have some insight which you did um thanks for that and um so now back to this game a Miami versus Ball State I I put a prediction out um you know I I preview every game of the season on uh KES count.com and I you know this was just kind of based on what I learned from the team in preseason so uh I I can't say that that I watched the the ball state Missouri State game so that's why we of course had you on Kade um So based on what I saw I think uh this is going to be uh not a close contest just because it's you know Miami's just got a ton of talent um just at the skill position and the offensive line and the defensive line and and Martin chrisal did also praise the offensive line just as you did uh of ball States um just with their experience and and you know the cohesion that they have on the offens offensive line I think will give Miami some problems but Miami's depth on the defensive line is where I think they can kind of maybe overcome uh that experience in that you know uh you know cohesion that uh the the Cardinals have so for me I I think this is like a maybe a 44-3 44-10 type of game uh what say you on the prediction um of the score when uh the game ends Saturday evening yeah no I was I was thinking something in that you know you know mid to high 40s to you know maybe six 10 seven you know lowc scoring kind of neighborhood because you know like yeah with the ball State Defense being you know a new unit still learning to play together playing against a guy like cam Ward the way he's playing as your second game as a unit is a really tough challenge there yeah and you know especially you know at home for the Hurricanes it's you know kind of a recipe for them to just you know let cam cook a little bit so uh I think you know Miami will continue to you know drop you know big numbers put up big offensive points and Ball State I think you know with the offense being limited by the receiver injuries um Simona I think will you know he's I think he's a little better than people would expect for a red shirt freshman quarterback he seemed to just kind of be you know have a natural you know feel for the game um so I think you know the offense you know could find its way into the end zone once or twice maybe later in the game but yeah I'm not really expecting a super competitive one I think that 44 to1 prediction sounds uh you know about right which I think I think the spread is I think Miami's favored by like 34 and a half uh okay on the line so Ball State would 44 to 10 would get Ball State to you know to cover that so yeah for any betters listening out there I'm pretty sure there are plenty of them um yeah I didn't even look at the spread and and you know I made that predic before the season started so uh maybe I should take a job in Vegas as well and start creating betting lines um but yeah that that's that's kind of how I see this game playing out cam ward has just been on an absolute heater uh for the start of the Season he he he has been you know really impressive if you ask me he's probably you know the number one or number two guy for the Heisman right now I think that yeah that Boise State running back Ashton GNT is just cold he is insanely good I would probably throw him up there a little group of five love but cam Ward is he's on a tear right now he's playing like you know like the best quarterback in the country yeah yeah I you know I've been watching it firsthand I've seen him in since spring I've seen him a little bit in Far Camp as well um and there's just so much hype surrounding him and the fact that he is living up to the hype and exceeding expectations says a lot about him his athleticism his prowess of the quarterback and just uh the way he just kind of leads the team has been quite impressive so I expect that to continue on Saturday against Ball State Kate Hampton joining me uh again from the Star Press uh thank you for joining me today and giving us some great Insight on this scouting the opponent episode here on the storm tracker podcast yeah Marcus thank you very much for having me I uh I appreciate the you know the guest spot and I'm look I'm looking forward to the to the game this week and I'm I'm also really looking forward to see just how the Hurricanes you know finish this season in general I think you know my my preseason ACC pick was Virginia Tech as like my sleeper pick so that that has not worked out they lost to Lost to Vandy already so that right I'm you know Nashville native I know I know how Vandy is that that was not pretty for them but yeah I think I think Miami look you know they look really good like I me CAM Ward is playing like he's the best in the best in the country and I I think college football as a whole is just better when the U is is really good so I'm you know I'm happy that they're back and I'm I'm really excited to see where their season ends up that's good to hear from aama fan that you're happy that Miami is uh well I don't even want to say Miami's back because that's kind of almost like a bad phrase down here like no one to say mi's back especially at just two and0 yeah no I yeah not to not to you know overhype it a little too much but I I do think that looked really good and you know as a dolphins fan I've always kind of had a little bit of a soft spot for the hurricanes and just you know Miami South Florida Sports in general and was nice seeing the you know nice seeing the Panthers win the cup even though I'm a pres I like I I just like seeing you know South Florida do well in sports because I like that you know that good Juju flow in for Dolphins season yeah yeah absolutely hopefully that that ju guu does flow throughout from the Panthers to the hurricanes and to the Dolphins this season uh thanks again Kade for uh for joining me today um that's going to wrap it up for the storm tracker podcast scouting the opponent make sure you subscribe to the website kesc county.com for free use the promo code miami3 also follow this podcast on all platforms and make sure you also subscribe to this YouTube channel live from KES County until the next episode