Ball State 2012 Recruiting

Ball State Cardinals 2012 Season ... Head Coach: Pete Lembo

Ball State Cardinals

2011 Record: 6-6

Sep. 3 Indiana W 27-20
Sep. 10 at South Florida L 37-7
Sep. 17 Buffalo W 28-25
Sep. 24 Army W 48-21
Oct. 1 at Oklahoma L 62-6
Oct. 8 Temple L 42-0
Oct. 15 at Ohio W 23-20
Oct. 22 Central Mich W 31-17
Oct. 29 at Western Mich L 45-35
Nov. 5 at Eastern Mich W 33-31
Nov. 15 at No. Illinois L 41-38
Nov. 19 OPEN DATE
Nov. 25 Toledo L 45-28

2010 CFN Prediction: 4-8
2010 Record: 4-8

Sept. 2 SE Missouri St W 27-10
Sept. 11 Liberty L 27-23
Sept. 18 at Purdue L 24-13
Sept. 25 at Iowa L 45-0
Oct. 2 at Central Mich W 31-17
Oct. 9 Western Mich L 45-16
Oct. 16 Eastern Mich L 41-38 OT
Oct. 23 at Toledo L 31-24
Oct. 30 at Kent State L 33-14
Nov. 6 Akron W 37-30 2OT
Nov. 12 at Buffalo W 20-3
Nov. 20 Northern Illinois L 59-21
Nov. 27 OPEN DATE
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 Ball State Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. C Josh Smith
6-4, 260, Scout.com 17th ranked center

2. DT Darnell Smith
6-0, 265, Scout.com 118th ranked defensive tackle.

3. S Selwyn Frazier
6-2, 205, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer

4. DT Aaron Woosley
6-4, 250, Scout.com 127th ranked defensive tackle

5. QB Ozzie Mann
6-3, 225, Scout.com 131st ranked quarterback

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... Here come the defensive linemen. Past coaching staffs worked on several areas, and it started to pay off last year with a strong 6-6 season, but the defensive line needs more help in a hurry. It’s asking too much for the defensive tackles being brought in to play right away, but they need to bulk up the depth soon. The offensive line is getting a nice class of options for the interior.

Team Concerns For 2012: The defensive line loses three starts including both ends and a couple of key backups. Both safeties are gone including veteran playmaker Sean Baker, but most of the back seven returns. The offense is loaded with experience and should be stronger, but the recent recruiting classes have to boost a receiving corps that loses Briggs Orsbon and Toriel Gibson.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: First-year head coach Pete Lembo got no defense whatsoever and his team died down the stretch losing three of the last four, but six wins for Ball State is always a success. Four of the wins were bad, though, including the season opener against Indiana, but there was a quality win over Ohio. Winning close games is what it’s all about, but for good and bad, five of the six victories came by a touchdown or less.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … Receivers. New head man Pete Lembo inherits a team with plenty of promising defenders, and while he isn’t ignoring the defensive side, especially at outside linebacker, the team is cranking up the passing game with several new targets. The best of the lot might be 5-11, 175-pound Willie Snead, but the rest of the class, like the 6-1, Chris Shillings, the 6-5 Trey Gardner, and the 6-3 Jacolby Owens, is literally big.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 95. That Class Was Heavy On ... The secondary. This was a nice class considering the disastrous freefall of last season. There wasn't a need for a lot of young skill players, so the class focused on defense and mostly the defensive backs with four nice corner prospects signed led by Jeffery Garrett, who should probably have taken a longer look at a bigger name school, and the speedy Quintin Cooper. Brian Jones should grow into a good nickel or free safety.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 93. That Class Was Heavy On ... Skill players and linebackers. The defense got three interesting linebackers for the inside, led by Jacob Green, while the outside was addressed with a few players. It’s strength in numbers time for the offense with several running backs and receivers to go along with QB Aaron Mershman. RB Eric Williams is the best prospect of the bunch.

Nov. 25 Toledo 45 … at Ball State 28
(AP) MUNCIE, Ind. -- Terrance Owens threw four touchdown passes, Adonis Thomas ran for 141 yards and a score, and Toledo rolled past Ball State 45-28 Friday in both teams' regular-season finale.

Thomas opened the scoring with a 4-yard run in the first quarter before Owens found Morgan Williams, Bernard Reedy, Cassius McDowell and Eric Page for scores. Owens finished with 267 yards passing, 145 of them to Page, for the Rockets (8-4, 7-1 Mid-American).

Keith Wenning threw for 308 yards and touchdowns to Torieal Gibson and Zane Fakes for the Cardinals (6-6, 4-4), but one of his two interceptions was returned 58 yards for a score by J. Robinson.

Jahwan Edwards and Dwayne Donnigan added rushing touchdowns for Ball State. Despite the win, Toledo missed out on a MAC Championship Game berth when Northern Illinois beat Eastern Michigan. The Rockets will likely play in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Dec. 27 in Detroit.

Nov. 15  at Northern Illinois 41 … Ball State 38

Nov. 5 Ball State 33 … at Eastern Michigan 31

Oct. 29 at Western Michigan 45 … Ball State 35  

Oct. 22 at Ball State 31 … Central Michigan 27
CFN Analysis: All of a sudden, Ball State is a real, live player in the MAC race and controls its own destiny. However, the real tests are coming with a three game road stretch up next against Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Northern Illinois to deal with before the big West battle with Toledo to close things out. The offense might not be explosive, and the defense is last in the MAC in yards allowed and in pass efficiency defense, but the Cardinals have won two in a row thanks to a tremendous day from Keith Wenning, who came up with his best game of the year spreading the ball around well for 325 yards and three scores. Pete Lembo is doing a terrific job with a team that wasn’t expected to do anything.  

Oct. 15 Ball State 23 … at Ohio 20
CFN Analysis: The Cardinals could use a few breaks, and they made their own with a late interception and by doing just enough to force a longer field goal attempt that failed in the final moments. The offense managed to hold on to the ball and kept the defense off the field with third down conversion after third down conversion helped by Jahwan Edwards, who ran for 123 yards and a touchdown and continues to be the key star of the attack that needs players to work around. Defensively, Joshua Howard saved the day with seven tackles and a key pick, while Andrew Puthoff came up with a sack and four tackles for loss finishing with seven tackles. Now at 4-3, bowl eligibility is possible with a few winnable games ahead, but if the Cardinals can’t beat Central Michigan next week, forget about it.  

Oct. 8 Temple 42 … at Ball State 0
CFN Analysis: The Cardinals ran into a buzzsaw. The run defense that’s been such a big problem all season long got ripped to shreds, Keith Wenning couldn’t get the passing game going, and the game got ugly fast and never got better. Over the last two games Ball State has lost 104-6, but Ohio isn’t Oklahoma or Temple. With four road games in the next five, the passing game needs to get revved up again or the great start to the season will quickly be forgotten. 

Oct. 1 at Oklahoma 62 … Ball State 6
CFN Analysis: It would’ve been nice to have something positive to come out of a game with one of the best teams in America, but the defense wasn’t even close to slowing down the OU offense and the Cardinal attack didn’t find anything that worked. To make this even remotely interesting the offense had t be mistake-free, and four turnovers made it a blowout. Keith Wenning was awful completing just 12-of-31 passes for 84 yards and three picks, and the running backs never got a chance to do anything after the game started to get out of hand. Temple is up next at home, and to have a chance the run defense has to be far better up the middle. 

Sept. 24 at Ball State 48 … Army 21
CFN Analysis: The run defense didn’t have a prayer against Army, but the offense was unstoppable with Keith Wenning picking apart the Knights with 24-of-30 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns, and with the running game continues to get a big start out of Jahwan Edwards, who ran 11 times for 64 yards and three scores. The offense converted 10-of-13 third down chances and the defense didn’t allow a completed pass in the stunning blowout, and now it’s time to really and truly think the Cardinals could be the real deal, forgetting about what’s going to happen at Oklahoma next week.  

Sept. 17 at Ball State 28 ... Buffalo 25
CFN Analysis: If nothing else, Ball State football has become fun under Pete Lembo. The team might not be good enough to win the MAC, and it might not have much of an offense, but with the win over Indiana to start the season and the last-second win over Buffalo, the team is finding way to come up with wins in tight situations. Keith Wenning threw for 226 yards and two scores, and the running game was terrific at times with Jahwan Edwards tearing off 112 yards and two scores, and now the offense has to be more consistent. With Army up next, the run defense has to be more disciplined, and there will be plenty of big opportunities for the back seven. Travis Freeman made 12 tackles, and he should make double-digit stops next week.  

Sept. 10 at South Florida 37 … Ball State 7
CFN Analysis: And how did Ball State capitalize on the momentum of the Indiana win? Pffffft. The air went out of the balloon as the Cardinals were blown away by South Florida’s speed and athleticism. The secondary wasn’t close to coming up with a meaningful stop against the pass, and it made B.J. Daniels look like Aaron Rodgers. The pass rush has been solid, and the run defense hasn’t been bad, but the offense was totally outclassed. Buffalo is coming up next week, and the Bulls have to come up with the home win or else the IU victory really won’t mean much. To do that, the passing game that struggled so much against the Bulls have to push the ball down the field to open up a little bit of space for the young runners. 

Sept. 3 Ball State 27 … Indiana 20
CFN Analysis:  Welcome to the Pete Lembo era at Ball State. It’s only one game, and a trip to South Florida next week could make the win over Indiana look like a mirage, but the biggest change under the new coaching staff is a far, far more aggressive defense. The Cardinals didn’t do anything to get into the backfield last year and almost never got to the quarterback. Against Indiana, the Cardinals came up with nine tackles for loss and three sacks, with linebacker Travis Freeman coming up with a terrific day with ten tackles and half a sack. QB Keith Wenning was flawless completing 23-of-29 passes for 173 yards and two scores, while running eight times for 61 yards and a touchdown, as Ball State converted 10-of-14 third down chances.