Colgate 2013 rushing offense:
| Rushing attempts: | 499 |
| Average yards per rush: | 4.6 |
| Average yards per game: | 191.4 |
| Rushing touchdowns: | 24 |
Ball State’s new look defensive line won’t be eased into the season by any means.
Saturday’s opponent, Colgate, is a run-heavy team that will test Ball State’s Michael Ayers, Darnell Smith, Keenan Noel and Nick Miles for all four quarters.
Miles is the only returning starter from last season’s defensive line.
“We’ll have to play fast and be relentless,” Miles said. “If you get caught up looking at motion and staring into Colgate’s backfield, that’s when you can really get gassed and we’re trying to prevent that.”
Last season, Colgate was ranked first in the Patriot League with 191.4 rushing yards per game, but lost dual-threat quarterback Gavin McCarney, who rushed for over 600 yards himself.
The Raider offense is predicated around using motion to distract and confuse defenders, and to form unbalanced lines to create mismatches. Once the ball is snapped, it can be handed off to a multitude of weapons, or the quarterback can keep it and look for space to run.
Passing the football is less common. In 2013, Colgate attempted just 23 passes per game, the fewest in the Patriot League and significantly less than every team except Bucknell.
“They’ll get your eyes messed up real quick,” linebacker Ben Ingle said. “It’ll get you out of position. You have to play smart and stick to your assignment, and not let the possibility of the quarterback taking off distract you.”
Colgate’s new quarterback, Jake Melville, showed the ability to run last season. He played in five games, making one start, while compiling 148 rushing yards.
It’ll be up to Ayers and Miles to keep Melville in the pocket, and to not let him get into open space.
Even when Melville isn’t tucking the football, Colgate uses running back Demetrius Russell and fullback Ed Pavalko as weapons out of the backfield. Pavalko was named to the All-Patriot League First Team last year, while Russell was named to the Third Team.
Attempting to defend Colgate’s offense isn’t something new for Ball State head coach Pete Lembo. It may be the first time his Cardinals have played the Raiders, but when he was a head coach for Lehigh, he faced Colgate 10 times.
After seeing the Raiders as much as he has, Lembo knows the danger of bringing a significant amount of defenders close to the line of scrimmage to stop the run, then watching defenses get burned on play action.
He said Colgate doesn’t run complex passing routes, but it’s not necessary if there aren’t defensive backs in the backfield to disrupt them. With the threat of play action, defenders have to be careful not to get caught committing before they’re sure where the ball is going.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to be very technically sound,” Lembo said. “Everybody’s got to be on the same page in terms of their responsibilities.”
Despite a number of new starters on the defensive line, Lembo doesn’t see it being an issue, as most of those players received situational playing time through last season. He said no defensive lineman can play every snap of every game, so new starters like Ayers and Smith were still seeing 20 to 25 snaps each game.
Ball State kicks off its season against Colgate at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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