Considering nearly every major contributor on Ball State University's football team will return for 2008, it's probably fair to say the team will be among the Mid-American Conference favorites.
However, a high-profile transfer has all of a sudden clouded the picture.
University of Notre Dame quarterback, Demetrius Jones was last seen running away from defenders and fumbling the ball anywhere there was spare ground in a catastrophically bad decision by the team's coach, Charlie Weis, to install a one-week-only spread option offense in the Irish's season opener against Georgia Tech. That resulted in a 33-3 demolition by the Yellow Jackets and Jones's demotion behind hotshot freshman Jimmy Clausen.
However, now he may fill Ball State fans' nightmares for the next year after transferring to Northern Illinois University overnight last week. By transferring in September, Jones can use this season as the NCAA-mandated season he has to sit out and be eligible to play for the Huskies during the 2008 season.
Jones claims he transferred to NIU because Notre Dame's coaching staff misled him into believing he won the starting job on his own merit, only to find out in a press conference two weeks ago that offseason elbow surgery was the reason Clausen hadn't been No. 1 from the start.
You may wonder why Jones, after finding out he had been misled, took 10 full days before skipping out on the Irish team bus to Ann Arbor to play Michigan. Instead he enrolled at NIU without telling anyone, least of all his former coach, teammates or parents. These are not exactly the actions of someone who was angry about a perceived wrong. However, it's irrelevant why Jones left Notre Dame to MAC fans, who now have to worry about an immensely talented dual-threat quarterback playing for a conference rival, no matter the reason.
Ball State, as the presumptive MAC favorites for 2008, especially if they continue playing like the offense did against Navy last Saturday, has the most to worry about. After all, their Achilles heel has been, for some time, defending mobile quarterbacks. And they haven't faced one nearly as talented as Jones recently.
Jones was ranked by most recruiting services as the No. 2 mobile quarterback in the recruiting class of 2006. You might know the guy who was ranked ahead of him. If you don't, you can always recognize University of Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow by his 2006 championship ring.
That's the kind of talent Cardinal fans are dealing with. For a team that struggled containing Eastern Michigan's backup quarterback, Tyler Jones, and Indiana's then-third string quarterback, Kellen Lewis, in the first two games of the 2006 season, that could spell big trouble.
Will Jones be as poisonous to Cardinals' hopes as Huskies running back Garrett Wolfe was in two dominating performances in Muncie? At least in theory, it would seem impossible. However, if you watch college football, you know how lethal West Virginia's quarterback, Pat White, is. It's that sort of offense that the Huskies will likely run if and when Jones takes over as their quarterback.
It's not to be worried about yet. But bad news is brewing for the rest of the MAC.
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