← The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
Ohio State schedule preview Week 1: Ball State might have a QB with a little juice
00:38:47
We are going to start Ohio State opponent previews on The Bill and Doug Show, talking to an expert each week from a team on the Buckeyes' schedule.
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- [00:01]
A
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- [00:34]
B
Welcome back to the Bill and Doug Show. We are Fast forwarding to September 5, 2026, the opener for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Ball State Cardinals. They'll be on the field. We will all be there. It's Douglas Maurice and Bill Landis joined by Kate Hampton from the Muny Star Press on your computer, on the Google search, that's thestarpress.com we are here to talk about Ball State. We are starting Bill, our Ohio State opponent. Season preview. We're going to do this once a week from now until like Big Ten media days at the end of July. And we're going to go in order of the Ohio State schedule and they open with Ball State.
- [01:14]
C
They do. No, no pressure on Kate here to be the first one to kick off our series of looking at Ohio State opponents.
- [01:21]
B
Well, it's interesting because I don't you guys missed it because it was right before we came on. But Cade was saying how confident he is in the fact that Ball State's going to beat Ohio State, which frankly we were a little surprised by. But you never know. I mean, it's good. No, he didn't actually say that, but Cade Hampton from the Muncie Star Press, thank you for your time, man.
- [01:40]
A
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys for, for having me on. And I'm excited to talk a little bit of football. It's kind of, it's been a while since I've talked to any football for, for college football. So ready to kind of get back into it?
- [01:52]
B
We, we have not talked football about Ohio State at least like three hours, Bill. Is that right?
- [01:57]
C
Yeah, it's been a while. Yeah. Long time.
- [01:59]
B
Yeah. You can never stop talking football with Ohio State. K. Just so the people know, you are the football writer there for the paper and the website in Muncie. How long have you been doing it? How did you find yourself in Muncie, Indiana?
- [02:12]
A
Yeah, so I actually got My start in sports journalism during my senior year at the University of Alabama, I got an internship with the Tuscaloosa News. Covered a little bit of Alabama gymnastics, baseball, and just kind of whatever else they needed me to do. And that eventually sort of snowballed into getting connected with the job here in Muncie with the Star Press. It was within the same USA Today network of newspapers. So this job had been open for, I think almost a year by the time I took it. And there was certainly a demand for coverage here, especially on the high school side of things. So, yeah, I got here, I believe it was August of 2024 when I moved into Muncie. And so I've covered the last two Ball State football seasons and it's, it's been fun. I've covered a bit of a transitional period from Mike New, who was here for nine years and was fired during my first season on the job. And last year was the debut season for Mike Yurimovich. So some exciting times here here at Ball State. And yeah, really, uh, interested to see what the second year of the year of Achera looks like here.
- [03:15]
B
So two quick questions before we start. Would it be fair to say that you got Mike New fired?
- [03:22]
A
I don't know about that. It's, it's been interesting and you know, funny enough, it's, you know, two seasons I've been here and Ball State has fired two coaches now with Mike Lewis being fired from on the basketball side of things. So maybe, maybe I'm just bad luck for, for some of these Ball State coaches, I guess. I don't know.
- [03:39]
B
It's just a hard hitting journalism man. You got to live up to Cade standards. And the other part of this is, is it true that Nick Saban retired because you were graduating from Alabama and Nick Saban thought to himself, well, if Kate's not here, then why am I doing this?
- [03:52]
A
No comment. Honestly, that was a very interesting time. That was. I did actually have to, you know, kind of go out and interview some, you know, conduct some student interviews, just go out on campus. I was, you know, I was kind of done with my day and done with my classes, just kind of chilling on my couch. And my roommate shows me this tweet that was like, nick Saban's retired. I was like, that's not real. You can't trust what you see on, on X these days. So I was like, you know, didn't buy it at first. And then my boss starts texting me and he's like, I need you to go out and Start interviewing students like, we're on red alert. I was like, oh, I guess it is real. So that was. That was a very interesting time. And. But no, I don't think I had anything to do with that, unfortunately.
- [04:30]
B
What was it like? Was it like someone dropped a bomb in the middle of Alabama's campus? Like, when it's like, Nick Saban's done,
- [04:36]
A
honestly, you would have thought the guy had died. I mean, it was really. It was really kind of. I went to. I went. The first place I went and looked was the statue of him that they have on campus. And there were people leaving flowers and oatmeal cream pies at the. At the foot.
- [04:51]
C
Oh, my goodness.
- [04:52]
A
Like, guys, he's not dead. Like, come on. It was a little dramatic, but I think he was. I think, you know, considering everything he did there, I think it was. It was worth the. The amount of tributes and everything he got.
- [05:02]
B
So I gotta be honest, since he didn't die, if people are leaving cream pies, I'm eating a cream pie free.
- [05:10]
C
Yeah. I want to know what did they do with the oatmeal cream pies? It's some guy, like, who works in the Alabama University employee just got a bunch of oatmeal.
- [05:19]
A
Groundskeeper got a nice free snack. I guess they surely didn't leave all that out there for that long. So, I mean, I don't know. Maybe a squirrel came and got it. I. I didn't take any myself, but, yeah, I probably should have. That might have been smart. I might have gotten judged for it, though, because there were still people, like, crowding around and whatnot. Looked like a dick there. So. I don't know. Can I custom the show?
- [05:40]
B
You could have.
- [05:41]
C
You already have. It's all right.
- [05:43]
A
I should have asked before I said anything.
- [05:44]
B
If it's about Nick Saban, you can. You could. I mean, can you imagine right now if you put that on ebay? Nick Saban memorial cream pie from his statue the day he retired. You'd be getting at least 20 bucks for that. All right, we're not here to talk about Alabama, although it certainly is interesting to talk about Alabama. There's all. Ohio State fans have all kinds of thoughts about Alabama. And by the way, a year from now, when we are previewing Ohio State opponents, we will be previewing Alabama. Cade will just have you back on then. You still follow the Tide?
- [06:13]
A
Definitely not as much as I used to. Definitely not as much as I used to. But I. Yeah, I mean, that'll be. That'll be a Fun time for sure. I have some friends that I grew up with that I still play fantasy football with to this day that are big Ohio State fans. And both my parents also went to Alabama, so I did grow up a pretty big Alabama fan. We, we had our, we had our, our spats over the years. We had our, our meetings, but it's always been, it's always been fun. It's always been a good, you know, pretty respectful sort of rivalry because, you know, it's like that.
- [06:43]
B
So we're looking forward to Alabama, Ohio State. We're also looking forward to Ohio State, ball State on September 5th. And our first question for, for, for you, Cade, is about Mikey Ramovich. He's the former Butler coach. It was his first year at Ball State a year ago, went 4 and 8. What did you think of year one of the Yeremovich era? And like, what are the vibes like coming into year two? This is a guy who, who had been a successful head coach in the past. Like, are people geared up for like, oh yeah, here we go. Your Removich is going to get this thing rolling again.
- [07:17]
A
Yeah, I think, you know, in terms of the first season, there weren't extremely high expectations. They, it's been, I think since 2020 or 2021 since they even got to bowl eligibility, so. And then, yeah, I mean it was a three win roster a year ago and he took that over. And with so much turnover with the transfer portal and players graduating at key positions, I mean it was a definitely kind of a transitional year for sure. And so they improved by one win. I think 4 and 8 was kind of about what was expected of that team with the year one roster for him. But second year, I mean, this offseason they had a pretty active transfer portal season. I think they, they seem to get a lot more of the guys that they really wanted and addressed a lot of the positions where they really needed to get some, some portal talent coming in. So I think, I think it's fair to, fair to expect that they improve a little bit. I think they can certainly make a push for at the very least, six wins and bowl eligibility. I know with the amount of bowls that we're losing these days, six wins might not even guarantee that anymore. But I think, you know, the roster, I think has definitely improved. I think they've gotten a lot of guys who kind of fit the offensive system better, especially on that side of the ball. And I think, yeah, I mean they lost some, some of the Mac games they lost were pretty close losses. I think they can maybe turn some of those around. I think the big thing though is that they need to figure out how to win on the road. They were pretty miserable on the road last year away from Schumann Stadium and that really kind of was kind of the nail in the coffin. They just could not get a single win away from home. So. But I think if they can improve in that regard, I think they can definitely make a push as far as bowl eligibility and maybe even as far as contending for the Mac.
- [09:01]
B
Okay. Well, I mean if you get a win on the road, you might as well start in Ohio Stadium, right? I mean, what a better, what better place to start?
- [09:06]
A
Yeah, yeah, that's definitely a tough environment. I and I can imagine, you know, week one, the Buckeye fans will be excited and yeah, I mean from, from that, I mean from there it's like how much tougher can it really get as far as road environment?
- [09:20]
C
That is true. Yeah. Set the bar high, then it kind of gets easier from there. Yeah. K. Doug reminded us in the notes he prepared for the show that this game between Ohio State and Ball State was announced on March 3, 2020. And then some stuff happened shortly thereafter that I think might have distract. Distracted some people and put the, put the, the college football season that, that year in doubt. So I don't know that this is necessarily one that, that people have been ruminating on for a while. But, but Ball State plays these games, right? They got, they got to go play these big time programs to. We know the economics and how college football works. They've played some good brands. Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State. Played Auburn last year, played Georgia before. What did people think about playing Ohio State for the first time? Do Ball State fans get excited about this or is it just a know what we're getting into kind of thing and we'll get through it and then get on the other side of it?
- [10:10]
A
Yeah, I think, I think it's pretty interesting. I mean obviously like you mentioned with these max schools, they do have to play these games against road games against really, you know, top notch blue blood level opponents and you know, get a nice little million dollar paycheck to come and give those teams a win essentially. But I think with games like this, with like Ohio State as opposed to some of the teams you mentioned in the past like Auburn, Miami, Georgia, the last couple of years I think they played Tennessee and Vanderbilt as well. I think when you play teams like Ohio State and I think they have Northwestern in October this year, there's, there's a little bit More excitement just because of like the locality, the Midwest. Ball State fans are going to travel a little bit more for that. And you know, in the off chance that you, you know, make a push or pull off an upset, it's a lot more exciting to maybe beat some teams that maybe you grew up around fans of. And I know especially like Ohio State fans, they're kind of, kind of like the Alabama fans of the Midwest almost, where it's like, even if you're in Georgia or Mississippi or Tennessee, you're going to find an Alabama fan. It's kind of Ohio State. Whether you're in Michigan or, you know, Illinois or Indiana, there's, there's going to be Ohio State fans there somewhere. So I think it's, I think it's exciting, the prospect of going, you know, not super far and playing a team that's another Midwestern opponent. I mean, even if, you know, it's kind of a David versus Goliath sort of game, I mean, the memories that Ball State would create from, from even making this like a, you know, a two touchdown game would be, would be pretty fantastic for him, I think.
- [11:40]
B
I think just double checking the old Google machine here, 1.9 mil. So what Ohio State is paying for this Ball State game? So that's great. Like, congratulations.
- [11:49]
A
Good job.
- [11:50]
B
That's big.
- [11:51]
C
That's one of the higher ones. That's one of the higher ones I've seen. Yeah, that's.
- [11:54]
A
That sounds about right. I know from the last couple of years I've looked at what they got for. I think it was Miami and Vanderbilt. They played on the road my first year here and I think it was, it was over a million dollars, million and a half somewhere in that range. So almost 2 million. Sounds, sounds about right for, for Ohio State.
- [12:12]
B
So muncie is about 150 miles from Columbus. Like, do you. Is there going to be a caravan we're going to get a whole bunch of Ball State fans show up like that. Like, look, how would you describe sort of like what the fan base thinks of Ball State football? Like, is, is, is Ball State football, Is it bigger than Ball State men's or women's basketball? Like, is there another sport that, that Ball State fans really care about? Like, are the fans kind of juiced up about Ball State football right now or they kind of like not that into it because the coach is still new like that? I don't know. Like, do you think there, there could, this could be like a fun Saturday for Ball State to get in the car and drive two and a half hours.
- [12:53]
A
Yeah, I think, I think really with the coaching, like transition that we're kind of in the midst of a new coaching era and I guess there, there seems a lot of, a lot more hope sort of for that. Okay, this is going to be the coach to kind of get the Cardinals back, get them, you know, trending up in the right direction. Obviously it is early. Obviously the first year wasn't, you know, super exciting. They did, I think the big moment where everybody was like, hey, I think we kind of maybe are on the right track was the Mac opener. They beat Ohio, who was the reigning Mac champions. And that was their first, you know, first Mac game for Mikey Ramovich. And he came out and they, they got a big win there. They kind of came up clutch in the fourth quarter to get that win too. So I think they certainly are on the right track. And there, there, there definitely seems to be a lot more kind of excitement about the football program than there was when I first got here. We'll say. I can't really comment on what the excitement has been like historically because I wasn't really keeping up as much before I got here. But I think, you know, just in terms of this new era kind of getting started, I think there's a lot of buzz and kind of on a similar track with basketball. Obviously Indiana basketball is going to be, you know, huge. No matter what high school, you know, college, wherever you're at, basketball is going to be a big deal, so. And basketball with Chris Kapko the new head coach, also, similar story. Got a pretty loaded transfer portal. Class seems to be trending upwards. So there's a lot, a lot of buzz around they definitely, in the two years that I've been here, it seems that the buzz around Ball State sports in general has increased and I think that's been driven by football and men's basketball, the two kind of big revenue generating sports kind of entering these exciting new eras.
- [14:34]
B
Oh, good. I like it when fans are excited about their teams. That's great.
- [14:38]
C
Yeah, especially Mac teams. It's good to hear that because you never like, we sort of run the periphery of that conversation, but you get a little worried about the state of the Mac with the roster building being the way it is.
- [14:48]
A
And it' it's tough, man. I mean it's, it's not just Ball State, of course, so. But I mean every team in the conference, it's like if you're a first team all Mac player and you still have eligibility, you're playing at a Power 4 school next year or somewhere, you know, somewhere else. So it's like if you, I mean, if you go back and look at the all Mac teams the last couple of seasons, it's like every single player that wasn't a senior that still had eligibility left and got all Mac honors is gone and he sees he's moving on up. So it's like, it's just crazy how, I mean, they're kind of forced to really, really dig deep into the, the FCS, the D2 transfer portal and try and get guys, you know, pull guys from there who are hungry and want to, want to come up and make a difference and show they can make a difference at the D1 level. So it's a lot and it's really hard. I mean, that makes the Mac extremely hard to predict and project who's going to be good because everybody is just completely different from what they were last year.
- [15:42]
B
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- [15:51]
A
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- [16:04]
B
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- [16:08]
A
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- [16:21]
B
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- [17:22]
C
so how, how did Ball State like navigate that Cade? I was looking through some of the transfers out and I saw a couple guys ended up at Power4 Programs. How, how big was the hit in terms of guys Ball State lost and what do you think of, of the group of transfers they were able to bring in this year?
- [17:40]
A
Yeah, I think in terms of losses, I think really they suffered a lot more losses in terms of guys who are graduating and just out of eligibility. I think they had, you know, some of their top, one of their top receivers, their starting quarterback and pretty much every linebacker on the roster was, was graduated. So it was, it was a lot. But in terms of the transfer portal losses, there were certainly some guys. Darren Conley was probably the biggest loss. He was a really good defensive lineman for him and made his way to Washington. Eric McClain was another one at corner who, he went to New Mexico so didn't move up to power four. But still, you know, a big loss there. I'm trying to think of any other guys they had move up to power four and I'm coming up blank here,
- [18:25]
B
but there's a, they lost the like a young tight end to Rutgers, Cam Anthony, who yes, I get losing an all big, an all Mac guy, but it's like a freshman who just got there and Rutgers is coming in and scooping that guy up. That's tough.
- [18:43]
A
Yeah, I mean he, cam definitely, I will say he definitely flashed some, some like good, you know, receiving chops last year and a lot of Ball State's tight ends are very like, you know, blocking sort of archetypes guys. So he was really the, the biggest receiving threat at tight end and he had some pretty, some pretty big moments and I wasn't totally, totally shocked to see him. To see him move up just because of, you know, the measurables and everything. He grades out well athletically, so. And then also on offense, Ty Robinson was another guy that they lost at wide receiver. He, he went to Illinois, which actually is where Mike knew the former head coach is an offensive analyst there at Illinois. So he kind of reunited with him. Yeah, I mean it's, it's definitely, you know, tough when you have to kind of replace guys like that. But also the strategy as far as the portal, they have gotten guys from other, you know, D1 and Power4Schools who maybe weren't necessarily seeing the field as much as they wanted to there. And so guys that were, you know, three or four star recruits out of high school that Started out at the P4 level and have kind of just not really gotten what they wanted there and are now coming to maybe push for a starting job here. So there's kind of a balance there that you have to strike between guys that are, you know, Power four guys who start there and are coming down, or guys who are like D2 or FCS and want to move their way up into the, into the D1 conversation. So they've kind of gotten a good mixture of those. Those guys, I would say, is there.
- [20:14]
C
Doug's gonna ask about the quarterback situation in a second, but aside from the quarterback situation, is there a guy or two among that incoming transfer class that you think has the chance of making the biggest impact at Ball State this year?
- [20:28]
A
I would have to say I mentioned the linebackers. They graduated so many linebackers and they, they really were pretty aggressive about bringing in new ones. They got sincere. Lewis is a red shirt senior from Cincinnati. And then Gavin Forsha is another guy who's a graduate senior out of Tennessee State. He's bounced around a little. He's been couple of schools. But I think if you're looking for an immediate impact transfer portal players, I think the linebackers are the place to start because they just lost so much production there. And it, you know, they. With the experience that they brought in at that position, it seems like those guys are definitely going to be in line to, to get on the field early. But offensively, they also did add quite a few wide receivers and I've really liked what I've seen. C.J. nelson is a transfer from Eastern Illinois, which I believe is the FCS level. Yes.
- [21:20]
B
Yep.
- [21:21]
A
He was one that moved up. And then there was another guy from FAU, Jabari Smith Jr. Who's a little bit smaller, more of like a slot build kind of receiver, but he's been pretty productive at fau and I think those guys can definitely make that receiver.
- [21:39]
B
Okay, Sounds like it's a couple Purdue guys. There's a pit defensive lineman, I think, whose name I kind of recognized.
- [21:46]
A
Yeah, Maverick. Yeah, Maverick Gracio. Yeah, yeah. Defensive end that came in from Pitt. He was one of the, one of the power four guys.
- [21:55]
B
Okay. Okay. And then it does seem like, I don't know, from afar and, and I think, like, obviously at a place like Ball State. Cade. Right. As you said, you've got to get some of the guys coming down who weren't getting the playing time they wanted. And you've got to get some of the guys coming up who were like, hey, I. I'm I want to play FBS ball. Let's go like Ball State to step up for them. It feels like quarterback, right, is a battle of a guy coming each direction. You have Tyler Mizell from Division 2 Concord, or Keldrick Luster, who started his career at SMU and then was at Texas State before he got to Ball State. I don't know if I said their names right, Cade, but, like, you got them both. Professional podcaster Is this. Is it a battle? Is it wide open? And I am intrigued by, like, one up, one down, and you meet at Ball State. May the best man win.
- [22:47]
A
Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, that's a great connection. I mean, it's certainly. I mean, that kind of sporal strategy I've been talking about is pretty well represented in that quarterback battle. And, yeah, I mean, all indications so far throughout spring practice were that it is kind of a pretty. Pretty open competition between the two of them. They're both, uh, pretty, you know, pretty different players. Luster is a much. Kind of a shorter, stockier build. I think he's only, you know, 5 foot 10, but he's, you know, he's built like a tank. He's like £250. And you can really. You can really tell how, you know, kind of stocky and, like, wide set he is when you're right up in front of him talking to him. And he's. He's definitely. He's a great athlete. He can, you know, move. He's much more kind of a willingness to run around with the ball, which is, I know, something that Mike Yurimovich has employed pretty frequently at Butler and last year at Ball State with Kyle Kelly. But, I mean, if you ask me, watching them throughout spring, Tyler Mizell, I think, really just kind of gives this offensive element passing the ball that they really lacked last year. He definitely just is much more aggressive throwing the ball downfield. Seems to just have a very kind of refined sort of throwing motion and everything, and maybe takes a little bit. A little bit of time to, you know, make his reads and figure out where he wants to go with the ball. But he certainly has the. The athletic ability also to kind of move around and be a scrambler. And I wrote about it a little bit in my depth chart projection. But from what I've seen, I think. I think Mazel probably should be the starter for this team. But also, Jeremovich at Butler has, you know, he's not afraid to use two quarterbacks if he has to. So
- [24:25]
B
he.
- [24:25]
A
I think his last year at Butler, they had Pretty much, you know, split reps entirely the. The whole season. So it would not surprise me necessarily to see that happen this year. But I think in terms of what they want to do and the aggressiveness that Bazelle provides through the air, I think. I think he should be the guy.
- [24:44]
B
Okay. Interesting. Interesting. All right, so. And this will be one of those. I'll be curious. Is your Removich the kind of guy who would keep that under wraps like that? Like, we might be coming to Ohio State, Ball State. We're talking about the game, and it's like, who's going to be the starting quarterback? Mikey Removich hasn't said. Or do you think he wants to, like, name the quarterback early in August so it's clear who the ones are through camp?
- [25:07]
A
Yeah, you know, it's hard for me to say that because last year, last year they named Kyle Kelly the quarterback, the starting quarterback at Mac Media Day, which was like, mid July.
- [25:21]
C
Yeah.
- [25:21]
A
But I think last year it was, you know, kind of fairly obvious that Kyle was going to be the starting quarterback. He was. He started, for him, I think it was 2023, and then his story was. Was kind of weird. It was like 2024. They moved him to defensive back and then moved him back to offense at wide receiver, and then they just kind of used him as like a gadget guy on a couple of offensive plays, but nothing really happened there. And then he entered the transfer portal, and Yovich convinced him to come back and brought him back. And then I think at that point when he was convinced to, you know, come back, I think it was kind of clear that he was coming back to be the starting quarterback. And he was. He started every game. Didn't really miss any. Miss any time or anything like that. So I think last year, Kyle, you know, obviously earned the. Earned the right to be the starting quarterback, but also I think it was very big as far as keeping the team together and his, you know, what he provided as far as leadership goes. So this year, it's a little bit hard for me to say, knowing Mike Yurimovich a little bit, though, it wouldn't surprise me if he takes it all the way up until the week before the game and drops the two deep depth chart with. And we. And we don't know it until then. So he definitely does seem like the type of coach who, if he has, like a quarterback battle like this to keep it, you know, keep it under wraps until the actual game. But I mean, hey, that could always change. Someone could really establish himself in In August, and we could hear about it early. So I. I don't really know, but I do know. I do know what I. What I think should be the answer. And. Yeah.
- [26:56]
C
Okay.
- [26:57]
B
Okay. Interesting.
- [27:00]
C
On his toes. It's gonna. Yeah, they're gonna go until they take the field in Ohio Stadium. I would respect it. I remember
- [27:08]
A
Purdue didn't release, like, a two deep depth chart ahead of that week one matchup. So Ball State, in response, you remember, it was just like, yeah, we're not going to do one either. So we didn't get a death chart until week two.
- [27:19]
C
I. State doesn't do one either.
- [27:20]
A
So there we go. Ball State. Yeah. If Ohio State doesn't do one, then we probably won't get one for Ball State until week two again.
- [27:28]
B
Okay, I respect.
- [27:30]
C
I was. Yeah, yeah. I was looking at the roster for Ball State. I think there's 11 guys from Ohio for, like. And I think Ohio State fans maybe care about that if they want to see some familiar names from high school playing. One of them is Deontay Griffin, who is Archie Griffin's grandson, was a walk on at Ohio State for four years and then transferred into Ball State this offseason. I was looking at your depth chart, Kate. I didn't see Deontay's name on there. Is it more than likely that he's just kind of like a backup guy at Ball State, or is there a chance we might actually get to see him play in the shoe when Ball State comes to Ohio Stadium?
- [28:02]
A
You know, it's. It's. It's hard for me to say. My depth chart projection was very, very, very rough. It's not, you know, I wouldn't put a ton of stock that at all, really. But I will say, yeah, Deontay, I mean, in terms of, like, the storyline there, it would not surprise me to. To see him get, you know, a couple of reps. Just. Just in terms of the, you know, kind of emotional aspect of it. And who knows? I mean, he could. He could very well work his way kind of onto the field. It's a lot of that is still kind of up in the air, especially at db, where they rotate, you know, so much at certain positions. So. But yeah, that certainly is a very cool story. Deontay Griffin, a fun fact, actually. My dad, a long time ago met Archie Griffin at some speaking event he was doing. And so he always told me about how he's. He's met three Heisman winners, but two of them were Archie Griffin. And not as. Maybe not as. Fun fact, not as Fun fact that the third one was O.J. simpson, but that's a whole other story.
- [29:01]
C
It's a pretty interesting story, though. That's, that's, that's good banter.
- [29:05]
A
Yeah, he was. Yeah. I mean, long story short, dad was working at a hotel and OJ Happened to be staying there one night and they were like, you know, keep a low profile. This was post trial and everything, so. Oh, wow. Keep it, keep it low profile. But my dad did get to meet him and shook his hand and he always, always talked about it, and it's, it's weird. My dad still doesn't think he did it, but I'm not going to get into that.
- [29:26]
C
I will say, I think if you're going to meet two Heisman Trophy winners, it's hard to find two better ones than the guy who won it twice. And O.J. right.
- [29:33]
A
Yeah, I mean, yeah. I mean, all, you know, off the field activities aside, O.J. i think, is one of the best runners of the football to ever, ever exist. I mean, purely just, I mean, 2,000 yard in the NFL, 2,000 yards in a 14 game regular season. Nobody else ever did that. Like, I mean, yeah, so, yeah, I mean, that's a pretty, that's a pretty good duo to, to meet up with.
- [29:54]
B
And then, I mean, honestly, if you, if you were like, my dad met Chris Wenke, we'd be like, nobody cares.
- [30:01]
C
Right?
- [30:01]
B
These are two good ones.
- [30:03]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [30:07]
A
But, yeah, anyway, no, I think, I think it's a very.
- [30:10]
B
We've talked about Nick Saban and O.J. simpson at length on this Ball State podcast. This is how you make content. Kate is bringing the goods today.
- [30:19]
A
Hey, I'm, I'm happy to be here, man. Happy to be here. But yeah, just back to get back to get back to the topic. I think Deontay, the opportunity to. I think this is his fifth season, his fifth and final season of college football. I think the opportunity to kind of obviously spent the first four years, years there, but to start off his last season returning to kind of the, the family legacy home field, I think, is a pretty cool story there.
- [30:43]
B
Yeah, they got to get him on the field like Landis do. You know, I don't even. Did he play any special team snaps like that? Has Deontay Griffin played a snap in Ohio Stadium? The. The place where his grandfather became a legend? I don't even know.
- [30:55]
C
I'm actually, I'm looking that up right now. I think maybe he played on special teams.
- [31:00]
B
Okay.
- [31:00]
C
Yeah, he played, he played. He played a single special team Snap against Grambling last year and played a couple in 2024. So he has been on the field in the shoe, but okay. Yeah, it'd be sweet if they could get him on there.
- [31:13]
B
Yeah.
- [31:14]
A
Mikey Ramovich. Let's get him some. Let's get deontay some extended time on the field.
- [31:18]
C
Yeah.
- [31:19]
A
In September.
- [31:22]
B
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A
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A
Limited time only.
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B
Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery. Yeah, why don't you throw that out there, Cade? Make that, like, try to make this a. Make a cause for young Mr. Griffin. So. So as we wrap this up, Kate, Ball State won the Mac in 2020, right? Like, that's not that long ago. Mike New had some good years there. But when you think about, like, the state of this conference, everything you said about how difficult it is for Mac teams to keep their best players, but when you think about Toledo or Ohio or the best teams that are in the Mac right now, like, should Ball State be competing at the top of the league? Like, can Ball State compete at the top of the league? Is that not realistic? Like, from a resource standpoint? I mean, your roommate is interesting to me. And it's like, you know, you can't just look at any head coach who had success at, like, a lower level and be like, they're Kurtz Ignati, but, like, this guy, right? I mean, you know, you win it St. Francis early in his career, then he's a Power 4 assistant for a while, then he wins at Butler. It's a little bit like, well, I know how to win. Should Ball State be good? Can Ball State be good? Maybe not just this year, but in the next couple years, could we be looking at a Mac title for Ball State?
- [33:07]
A
Yeah, I mean, like I said earlier, the Mac is just so unpredictable these days. And with. With all the challenges of the constant roster turnover, I think pretty much every team in the Mac had to replace has had to replace half their roster in the last, like, two.
- [33:22]
C
So it's.
- [33:22]
A
It's. It's really crazy, and it makes it so hard to really project who's going to be good, who's going to stay good. And then when you also have a lot of, you know, random coaching changes, it feels like, I think Toledo, Jason Candle is now at UConn. That kind of caught everybody off guard. And then obviously the situation at Ohio with. With their. Another coaching change for them. So it's, It's. It's very. It's very difficult to say, but I think Yurimovic and his staff, I think, definitely have things going in the direction that they want them to be going. I think they have really brought in a lot of the players, guys that really fit their culture, really, players that fit their scheme a lot better, especially on the offensive side of the ball, like I said earlier. So it's tough to say how close they are to. To really competing at the top of the Mac again. And the max schedule isn't, you know, super duper favorable this year. I think they got Toledo again, which. Toledo's kind of had their number the last couple years. And interestingly enough, Miami Ohio is not on there, so they don't have their, Their redbird rivalry this year. And so it's tough to say. And obviously with the Mac losing a team and bringing in another team, it's, you know, but I think, you know, if things keep trending up, if they keep, you know, kind of getting the targets in the portal that they want and they get their, you know, scheme kind of more embedded in. In some of these guys, I think they. I think they're on the right track. I think, like I said earlier, I think six wins is not unattainable this year. I think they can definitely make a push for a bowl game. And I mean, hey, in the Mac, I mean, if you, if you, if you, you know, string together the right games, I mean, anything can happen if you string together the right games early. You know, sometimes, you know, it takes only three or four weeks sometimes for the. The Mac, like, contention picture to really kind of reveal itself. So, I mean, hell, even last year, Ball State, I think there was still like three weeks in the season of Ball State was still technically in contention for it. So it just kind of comes down to what everybody else does and. Yeah, just kind of how. What kind of production they get out of some of these guys they brought in. But I think they feel good about this year's team. I think they feel good about their odds of improvement. And yeah, I mean, we'll. We'll have to wait and see. It's. It's. I'm not going to firmly say they're going to contend for the Mac this year or even the year after that. But I think things are looking up. I will say that things are definitely looking up.
- [35:51]
B
Okay, that's interesting. I will say I am intrigued that. That Tyler Mazel started his career at Wake Forest and then dropped down to Division 2 for a year, had like, five games where he had 300 yards passing, and now is bouncing back up to FBS. Like, this is. This is a guy who was like, a. A recruit out of high school, right? Doesn't quite go his way at Wake Forest for two years, finds a place where he can play and that. So I don't know, Landis, like, maybe this will be a guy that can come in and. And spin it at least a little bit, right? That, like, against the revamped Ohio State defense. I'm curious if. If he comes out and has a couple decent drives, maybe.
- [36:34]
C
Yeah, I'm interested. That, too. I remember, like, when. When Ohio State played Ohio last year and we were talking about, like, Parker Navarro and, like, not. And not that, like, oh, this guy's gonna come in and beat Ohio State. But it's like, he can throw it, he can run. He's a little tricky. Like, could it be mildly interesting? And, like, that game was actually kind of close at halftime. I don't know. I don't know that this one necessarily will be, but, yeah, that's actually. That's like, a really interesting kind of piece of recruiting, too, to go find a guy in D2 who was previously in. In the FBS. So.
- [37:04]
A
Yeah, and yeah, they actually got another guy from the same university from Concord, Jacob Judy on the offensive line, who I believe is a red shirt. Is a red shirt senior or a senior, but I think this is his last year of eligibility. But the fact they got. They got two guys from the same university, and they both committed, like, within 24 hours of each other. Oh, and with the. The D2 portal opens it, like, I think it opens, like, I think they can do it whenever they want, really. So they both, I think, committed to Ball State, like, the day of or the day after Ball State's, like, last game of the season this past year. So they were locked in. They were locked in early. And, like, Ball State went after both of those guys pretty, pretty quickly in the process. So I know Mizell had a very, you know, productive year at Concord the one year he was there. So, hey, maybe they just, you know, interestingly, clearly, they liked what they saw as far as him being able to spin it, and because he. He had that offer and was committed, you know, pretty quickly in the, in the off season process.
- [38:01]
B
Very interesting. All right, he is Kate Hampton. He is from the Muncie Star Press. The star press dot com. Is that right, Cade, where the folks can find your work online?
- [38:14]
A
Yep, that is right. And I'm on Twitter @cadehamp10 with the number 10 replacing the. The T O N in my last name. But that is my Twitter handle and you can, you know, follow me there, keep up with me there. And like I said, I will be hopefully in the shoe on September 5, I believe is the day of that game.
- [38:31]
B
Yeah.
- [38:31]
A
So, yeah, looking forward to it. It'll be obviously been to, been to a lot of games in Bryant Denny Stadium at Alabama, but that'll be one of the, one of the bigger, more beautiful stadiums that I've, that I've seen.
- [38:44]
B
So, yeah, that'll be interesting. I'm actually, I have not been to Brian Denny Stadium. I'll be happy when we get to go try that out. But I'll be curious to see what you think of the shoe, Cade.
- [38:53]
A
Yeah, I'm, I'm very excited for it. I mean, I've seen it in pictures plenty and obviously like in the video game and whatnot. But I always love to, love to kind of feast my eyes on a, on a nice, you know, grand sort of college football cathedral. It's always, always nice to see.
- [39:08]
C
Kate, are you gonna wear this Dan Flash's shirt either wearing in your Twitter profile to Ohio Stadium or what?
- [39:13]
B
I might.
- [39:14]
A
I'm glad you recognized it. I might just have to. Since you asked me about it, I might just have to. It's. I I spent, I spent a lot of my per diem on that shirt.
- [39:23]
C
Yeah, I bet it's pretty great.
- [39:27]
B
All right, he is Kate Hampton. We gotta say Ohio State. And this is what we'll be talking about next week in this spot on the Bill and Doug show, on this YouTube channel and in this podcast feed. We'll be previewing Texas a week from now because the week two game for Ohio State is Texas. Last year they opened with Texas. This year it's week two. Look ahead spot for the Buckeyes trap game. Ball State's trap game. Like, like if you like, hold on to your butts like, you know, if you're not ready, Mikey Removich is gonna come. Don't, don't go looking ahead at Stark because Mikey Removich will get your attention. I would keep doing.
- [40:00]
A
That would be something. That would be something.
- [40:03]
B
Yeah. Something is. I'm not sure that's the phrase that people would be using on our show after Ohio State loses, but. Yeah.
- [40:12]
A
Yeah, probably not.
- [40:14]
C
It's gonna. It's gonna be like a. Like a 40 point spread, I think.
- [40:20]
B
Yeah.
- [40:20]
A
Yeah.
- [40:20]
C
Just based on SP plus, it's going to be like close to 50, I think.
- [40:25]
A
Yeah. Yes. It's not gonna be pretty. It is not gonna be pretty. Yeah.
- [40:29]
C
Yeah.
- [40:30]
B
But we'll. We'll preview one of these opponents every week for the next 12 weeks, and we're gonna rely on great college football journalists like Kate Hampton to help us do that. So, Cade, good luck covering Ball State, everyone. If you want. You know, it's. It's good to be informed about who your teams are playing. So go check out Cade's work on social media. Go check it out@the starpress.com and, and for now, Kade, thanks so much for sharing your time.
- [40:59]
A
All right. Awesome. Yeah. Thank you guys for. For having me on. I had a good time talking with you guys.
- [41:03]
B
Very cool. So thanks to Kate Hampton. On behalf of Bill Landis. I'm Doug Lee Maurice, and that was our first Ohio State opponent. Preview Week 1 against Ball State. We did it here on the Bill and Doug Show. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day. Like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With usaa, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a'@usaa.com bundle restrictions apply now at McDonald's, the sausage McMuffin is only 150, so stop dreaming about breakfast sausage and go get it. Get more value on the under $3 menu.
- [41:47]
A
Limited time only.
- [41:48]
B
Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery.