Stopping Lew Nichols, feeding the TEs: 5 things to watch in Ball State football vs. Central Michigan

MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State football (2-3, 1-1 MAC) rallied from 21 points down to earn its first Mid-American Conference victory over reigning conference champion Northern Illinois last week.

Redshirt freshman tight end Brady Hunt called it a "season-changing type of win" during Ball State's weekly press conference. A loss would've painted a grim picture on the remainder of the Cardinals' season.

Now, Ball State gets another test traveling to Central Michigan (1-4, 0-1 MAC) for their first road conference game of the season. The two will kick off from Mount Pleasant at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8 (ESPN+).

Will Ball State be able to continue its climb in the conference standings and bring its record to .500 or will it have to win four of its final six games to reach bowl eligibility for the third straight season?

Madness in Muncie: Ball State's 2OT win over Northern Illinois was as unlikely as it was necessary

Here are five things to watch:

Putting together four full quarters

At times this season, Ball State has looked unstoppable. Other times, it can't get out of its own way.

Its come from behind win over Northern Illinois highlighted that. In the first half, Ball State looked well on its way to starting the season 1-4 and 0-2 in league play. In the second half, its offense and defense complimented one another to pull out the miraculous win.

"When you can win when you really only played two good quarters of football, that’s, I don’t know if that’s a good sign or a bad sign," Hunt said, "but I think we still have yet to have a game where we’re clicking on all phases. Once that happens, I think we’re gonna be a really special team."

There hasn't been a game yet this season where Ball State was "clicking" for four quarters. Ball State's issue in two of its losses against Western Michigan and Georgia Southern was holding on to second half leads.

Central Michigan has had the opposite issue, getting down in the first half and trying to dig itself out of a hole. The Chippewas trailed 31-3 at halftime against Toledo last week. They also trailed 44-15 and 31-10 at halftime in eventual two possession losses to Oklahoma State and South Alabama, respectively.

Stopping Lew Nichols III

At least two scout team running backs were wearing No. 7 during Ball State's practice Tuesday. Heading into the game, it's clear what Ball State's focus is defensively.

No. 7 is the number Central Michigan running back Lew Nichols III, the NCAA's leader with 1,848 rushing yards in 2021, wears. Last season, he ran for 219 yards and three touchdowns in a dominant win for the Chippewas in Muncie.

Nichols has been relatively quiet this season, rushing for 357 yards on 102 carries (3.5 yards per carry) with five touchdowns. Nearly half of those yards came in a 166-yard effort against Bucknell. Ball State will try to avoid being the second team this season to allow Nichols to go over 100 yards.

"You really don’t slow Lew Nichols down," defensive coordinator Tyler Stockton said. "I mean, he’s gonna get his carries, he’s going to run hard and he’s one of the better running backs in our conference. ... The biggest thing is stressing 11 hats to the football and you’re never out of the fight. That’s going to be a major thing for our guys just like last week when things weren’t going our way. He might get a big run, but go ahead and pursue him and you never know what your pursuit might lead to later on in that drive.”

Keep feeding the tight ends

How about the two young tight ends?

In the preseason, there was optimism on what Hunt and freshman Tanner Koziol could bring to Ball State's offense. The two have added a new dimension to Ball State's offense this season.

Combined, Hunt and Koziol have 35 catches, 423 receiving yards and seven touchdowns this season. Quarterback John Paddock, who is ninth in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 1,538 passing yards, has benefitted off the rapid rise of the two young tight ends.

'Just a kid from Muncie': How Brady Hunt went from Ball State's scout team to a starter in a year

Only two other programs in the FBS have a tight end pairs pairs with more receiving yards than Hunt and Koziol: Georgia's Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington have combined for 508 yards and Utah's Dalton Kincaid and Brant Kuithe have combined for 463.

Koziol's spectacular grabs were no doubt a difference-maker for Ball State late against Northern Illinois. Hunt's 30-yard reception late in the second quarter was the Cardinals' only points in the first half.

Cleaning up the big plays on defense

This continues to be the Achilles' heel of Ball State's defense.

Northern Illinois' running back Harrison Waylee broke free for two long touchdown runs of 52 and 68 yards against Ball State. This season, Ball State has given up six touchdown plays of 20-plus yards. Five of those have been for 40 or more yards.

Ball State's going to need to clean up some of those big plays, especially against a Central Michigan offense which averages 415.4 yards per game and has scored four of its 19 touchdowns from 20 or more yards this season.

"The margin for error on defense is just so small like that," said linebacker Cole Pearce, talking about NIU's two long touchdown runs. "I mean, we were in the right play, we were all on the same page in the coverage and whatnot but two people were just in the same gap. It’s the small things like that and coach Neu and coach Stock, they always talk about really tuning in on the details."

Winning the battle up front

The battle at the line of scrimmage may very well decide this game.

Ball State is tied for first in the country with 2.8 tackles for loss allowed per game. Central Michigan is tied for 12th securing 7.6 tackles for loss per game.

Something's got to give.

If Ball State's offensive line can give sophomore running back Carson Steele (501 rushing yards, five TDs) some room up front to work, it'll be a much easier day for the offense, which averages 445.4 yards per game, to function. If not, and Central Michigan defenders Thomas Incoom (six TFL), John Wesley Whiteside (six TFL) and Michael Heldman (4.5 TFL), among others, are allowed into the backfield, the Cardinals could be in for a long day in Mount Pleasant.

Robby General covers Ball State and East Central Indiana high school sports for The Star Press. Contact him via email at rgeneral@gannett.com or on Twitter @rgeneraljr.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State Cardinals vs. Central Michigan Chippewas 2022 football preview