Ball State has struggled to be competitive lately in the MAC, and this year the prognosticators again aren’t very high on the Cardinals.
They have endured six consecutive losing seasons since the Cardinals went 7-1 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season that included a 38-28 win over Buffalo in the MAC championship game and a 34-19 win over San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl.
Second-year coach Mike Uremovich, following a 4-8 season, will look to make the Cardinals competitive after suffering their five MAC defeats by an average of 24.2 points.
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Ball State Season Preview
The No. 1 priority will be to put some zip into an offense that averaged just 15.8 points per game, good for 130th nationally. There is also work to do on a defense that allowed 29.8 points per game.
Key Players To Replace
Quarterback Kiael Kelly enjoyed a solid senior season, completing 56.4% of his passes for 1,583 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He was also the Cardinals’ leading rusher with 600 yards and five scores.
Receiver Qian Magwood had 19 receptions for 320 yards and a TD in his redshirt senior season. Tight end Kameron Anthony, who had seven receptions for 117 yards and two scores while making 10 starts as a sophomore, transferred to Rutgers. Defensive end Nathan Voorhis recorded 17 tackles for loss, including 12 sacks en route to earning first-team All-MAC honors in his lone season at Ball State. Voorhis signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets.
Linebacker Alfred Chea led Ball State with 58 tackles in his lone season with the Cardinals after transferring from UConn.
The Quarterback Situation
Two transfers are the main candidates to start at quarterback for Ball State.
Tyler Mizzell passed for 2,889 yards and 26 touchdowns for Division II Concord University last season. Keldric Luster played two games last season for Texas State, attempting just three passes. Could both of them see time? It’s not out of the question.
Key Returning Players
Redshirt sophomore receiver Donovan Hamilton had 20 receptions for 244 yards last season.
Interior lineman Cole Mosier made 11 appearances with 10 starts last year. Tristan Cook started all 12 games at right tackle last year. Left tackle Chris Hood started all 12 games in 2025 and has made 20 starts in his career.
Running back TJ Horton rushed for 180 yards but is expected to have a much bigger role. He also finished fifth in the MAC with an average of 24.5 yards per kickoff return and scored a touchdown.
EDGE/outside linebacker Justin Thomas appeared in all 12 games last year as a reserve and had seven tackles. He is expected to have a much greater role this year.
Cornerback Willizhuan Yates appeared in 10 games, making seven starts. He had 34 tackles, one interception and seven pass breakups.
Safety DJ Fields appeared in 11 games with eight starts. He had 34 tackles and two pass breakups.
Long snapper Caden Britton made every snap on field goal tries, PATs and punts throughout the 2025 season.
Key Newcomers
Jabari Smith Jr., who caught 32 passes for 462 yards and six touchdowns in two seasons at Florida Atlantic, is expected to be a contributor at wide receiver for the Cardinals.
Receiver CJ Nelson caught 21 passes for 379 yards and three scores last year for Eastern Illinois.
Last season, Jacob Jeudy started 11 games at right tackle for Concord University while playing with Mizzell. Cincear Lewis, who spent his previous four seasons at Cincinnati, is expected to start at linebacker. Another expected key linebacker contributor is Gavin Forsha, who was limited to one game last year at Tennessee State due to injury.
Defensive end Austin Stief was a first-team all-conference selection as a junior last year for Division II Davenport University in Michigan.
Ball State’s 2026 Schedule
- 9/5 at Ohio State
- 9/12 vs. Stony Brook
- 9/19 at Liberty
- 9/26 at Kent State
- 10/3 vs. Toledo
- 10/10 at Northwestern
- 10/17 at Bowling Green
- 10/24 vs. Sacramento State
- 11/4 at UMass
- 11/11 vs. Buffalo
- 11/17 at Ohio
- 11/28 vs. Central Michigan
Bold indicates MAC contests
Ball State’s MAC Title Betting Odds
Ball State’s college football betting odds to win the conference are +9000, via BetMGM. The Cardinals are 12th in the MAC when it comes to those odds.
Ball State’s Betting Odds & Over/Under Win Total
- Ball State’s win total Over/Under is 3.5
- The Under is at -105
- The Over is at -125
Ball State Season Prediction
I like the Cardinals to go over 3.5 wins.
To do that, I think Ball State will need to earn three MAC wins, the same as last year while going 1-3 in non-conference games.
This is a very difficult non-conference schedule. Ball State opens at Ohio State (yikes). The other tough non-conference games include road contests at Liberty, which is expected to seriously contend in Conference USA, and Northwestern. Even though Northwestern is far from a power, this is a Big Ten school which has hired Chip Kelly as its offensive coordinator.
The one non-conference game that Ball State could be favored in is at home against FCS Stony Brook.
As for the conference slate, Ball State doesn’t face two serious contenders – Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio).
It still won’t be easy to churn out three wins, but there is a lot of experience on this team.
A major key will be the play of the offensive line. There is a lot of experience returning, but the Cardinals quarterbacks were sacked 49 times a year ago, the most in the MAC.
The line must show significant improvement for Cardinals to do the same.
The other key is the performance that Ball State receives at quarterback. It seems possible that both contenders, Mizzell and Luster, might see action and they will have to be productive and good leaders.
