The Ball State Cardinals are going to have to start from scratch— again.
The Ball State Cardinals are in a state of flux.
Struggling to get the ball moving— literally or figuratively— since their MAC championship run in 2020 has sent the momentum of the program sputter, with losing seasons every year since.
Last year was their true nadir on the offensive side of the ball, with a humiliatingly bad passing offense and a rushing offense duct-taped together in a heave of desperation midway through the season.
Intriguingly, the Cardinals opted to reset at offense this offseason after their late-season turnaround in the 2023 season, hoping to return to their more conventional offense instead of the option-based one they undertook with Kiael Kelly at the controls. (More on that in a moment.)
With Mike Neu’s job security in question and little in the way of any real insight as to how this team will look once it hits the field due to a lack of familiar proven names, the 2024 season is a mystery box for Ball State fans.
We’ll take a look at what’s on the roster and try to project what the lineups could look like and what would prove to be a positive direction.
Quarterbacks
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Departures:
- Layne Hatcher (graduation)
- Kiael Kelly (position change to cornerback)
Arrivals:
- Chase Harrison (transfer from Marshall)
Returnees:
- Aiden Leffler
- Kadin Semonza
- Colin Blazek
The most interesting part of previewing this year’s quarterbacks is that Kiael Kelly, the presumptive starter, entered the transfer portal only to return to Ball State— and agree to a position change.
It’s a change which was such a surprise that Kelly, whose position change was announced last month, was still listed as a quarterback in the initial launch roster of EA Sports College Football 25 due to the timing.
Enter Kadin Semonza, who was one of three quarterbacks to earn a start for the Cardinals in 2023.
Semonza had some rocky but admirable performances against superior competition as a true freshman, with contests against national champion Georgia and SEC foe Kentucky to start the season before having the opportunity to start vs. Georgia Southern and FCS Indiana State. He was redshirted in Week 5, allowing him to maintain freshman status this season.
Semonza finished 50-of-82 passing for 480 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions over those four games, availing himself well despite his age. He’ll have competition in the form of Marshall transfer Chase Harrison, who hasn’t had much run at the FBS level but was a three-star prospect coming out of Centerville [OH] HS, tossing for 8,816 yards and 92 touchdowns over his four-year career. Aidan Leffler, an Indianapolis native who split time between scout team QB and reserve tight end in 2023, returns to the QB room full-time in 2024 and projects to be a key backup with an opportunity at the starter’s spot.
Kiael Kelly was a 50 percent passer in 2023, being more of a threat on the ground than through the air, so if Semonza et al can be a functional 60 percent or so, that would go a long way in helping keep opposing defenses on their feet and accumulating confidence moving forward.
Running backs
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Departures:
- Marquez Cooper (transfer to San Diego State)
- Brayden Evans (unlisted)
- Rico Barfield (unlisted)
- Nathaniel Zachary (unlisted)
Arrivals:
- Kaiden Bond (incoming freshman)
- Ayden Ewing (incoming freshman)
- Braedon Sloan (incoming freshman)
- Jalen Alexander (incoming freshman)
- Maximus Webster (position change from tight end)
Returnees:
- TJ Horton
- Christian Davis
- Brayden Evans
- Cody Mikulich
- Vaughn Pemberton
- Charlie Spegal
The Cardinals are looking at their third starting running back in three years, with 1,000-yard Marquez Cooper using his graduate year to join his former head coach Sean Lewis at San Diego State.
So who’s next at running back? Why, that would project to be Vaughn Pemberton, last year’s second-stringer. Ball State has typically depended on a workhorse back in their offense, so you don’t get to see the backups too often; Pemberton was third on the team in rushing yards with 139 yards and two touchdowns on just 22 carries. It’ll be up to him to claim the spot with a sheer lack of experience elsewhere on the roster.
Charlie Spegal, a former Indiana Hoosier, could also get a look at the starting spot as the only other Cardinal to contribute to last year’s rushing attack with 71 yards and a score.
There’s no denying it’s going to be hard to replace nearly 1,900 yards of lost production between Kelly and Cooper, but the rushing game’s best friend is a strong offensive line, and Ball State has one of the more experienced in the MAC to lean upon. Last year’s rushing attack finished third-best in the MAC, with 171.5 yards per game on average, so if they can stay within the top half of the league after losing all that backfield production, it will be a good sign for a Ball State offense which on paper is currently full of mystery.
Passcatchers (tight ends and receivers)
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Departures:
- WR Dwayne Moorehead (unlisted)
- WR Ahmad Edwards (graduation)
- WR Austin Hill (unlisted)
- TE Maximus Webster (position change to running back)
- TE Cole Munchel (unlisted)
- TE Justin Morris (unlisted)
- TE Brady Hunt (transfer to South Carolina)
Arrivals:
- WR Justin Bowick (transfer from FCS Eastern Illinois)
- WR Jamarion McDougle (JUCO recruit from Butler [KS] CC)
- WR Trey Firestone (transfer from Purdue)
- TE Tyce Ferrell (transfer from FCS Indiana State)
- TE Kameron Anthony (incoming freshman)
- TE Lane King (incoming freshman)
Returnees:
- WR Brody Glenn
- WR Nick Munson
- WR Ty Robinson
- WR Cam Pickett
- WR Malcolm Gillie
- WR Isaiah McDougle
- WR Qian Magwood
- WR Dahya Patel
- WR Eli Hohlt
- WR RJ Mukes III
- WR Nick Presley
- WR Ty Curran
- TE Jeffrey Simmons
- TE Leo Collins
- TE Max Sullivan
- TE Christian Abney
- TE Tanner Koziol
Ball State is an interesting team in the MAC sphere because their offense has typically been driven through their tight ends and running back in an age where spread attacks have generally been more popular.
That makes the loss of Muncie native Brady Hunt to South Carolina a little sad, as the duo of Hunt and Tanner Koziol were the only tight ends in college football to each catch five or more TDs for the same team in 2022. A repeat was ultimately not possible, as Hunt lost the entirety of the 2023 season due to injury, leaving Koziol as the team’s third-leading receiver in yards (295), though he did lead the team in touchdown receptions (three) and was second in receptions (34).
Who will play alongside Koziol is to be determined; Tyce Ferrell (20 receptions, 139 yards and two touchdowns over three seasons at Indiana State) was brought in to provide game-hardened depth, while Christian Abney was the only returning tight end besides Koziol to log statistics as a receiver (three catches for 16 yards).
At the other receiver spots, they’ll have to contend with the loss of second-leading receiver Ahmad Edwards, who graduated after picking up 31 receptions for 354 yards and a touchdown. Thankfully for the Cardinals, they still retain their main receiver in Qian Magwood, who finished with team leads in catches (41) and yards (358) and hauled in one touchdown. Ty Robinson is the only other returning receiver to earn more than 100 yards in last season— despite only playing in two games.
The Cardinals did pick up a few potential contributors in the transfer portal, with former Purdue Boilermaker Trey Firestone and JUCO product Jamarion McDougle (20 rec., 273 yards, five touchdowns in 2023) joining the roster in the spring.
The Ball State passing attack between all three QBs in 2023 was dire, averaging just over 136 yards per game and hauling in nine total touchdowns over 12 games. The hope is that stability at the QB position and leaning on the run game will help open up looks downfield in 2023.
Offensive line
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Departures:
- Brandon Malkow (graduation)
- Luke Wiginton (unlisted)
- Tommy Lorincz (unlisted)
- Corey Stewart (transfer to Purdue)
Arrivals:
- Luke Dalton (transfer from Cincinnati)
- Yaser Al-Awadi (transfer from FCS Western Illinois)
Returnees:
- Ethan Crowe
- Jon Mucciolo
- Damon Kaylor
- Issac Lucas
- Eli Freeman
- Chris Hood
- Jackson Ruess
- Tristian Cook
- Kevin Meeder
- Cole Mosier
- Rob Fogler
- Arkel Anugwom
- Taran Tyo
- Austin Payton
If there’s one position group to have confidence with on the Cardinals, it’s the offensive line. The Cards have four of their five starters back into the fold in 2024, with 117 combined starts between them.
The interior of the line will be the team’s strength, with all three returning starters earning all-MAC honors in 2023. Left guard Jon Mucciolo was named to the second-team, center Ethan Crowe was named to the a first-team and right guard Taran Tyo was named to the third-team for their collective efforts.
They bring with them a wealth of experience. Crowe has been the starter at center for 24 straight contests, while Mucciolo has 38 starts (39 appearances) between Ball State and FCS Sacred Heart and Tyo started all 12 games in his first year as a starter last season.
Right tackle Damon Kaylor has 35 career starts and collected zero penalties while keeping up 94 percent of his pass rushing assignments as well, making the Cards a formidable group indeed.
Their one glaring question is at the left tackle side, as there’s no clear solution. Kevin Meeder does have three starts and experience at right guard and right tackle, but it isn’t a guarantee he’d slide over to left. Outside of Meeder are a plethora of redshirt or true underclassmen with no real experience to speak of— including the intriguing six-foot-eight, 312 lb. transfer product Yaser Al-Awadi, who did not log stats in two years with FCS Western Illinois.
We’ll have to see who emerges from camp battles at the left side of the line, but there’s reason for optimism in the pieces which do return to the lineup.