After facing only four pass attempts in Saturday's victory against Army, Ball State's defense will have to prepare for one of the best offenses in college football.
In three games this season, Oklahoma (3-0) is averaging 521 yards per game and 36 points per game. The biggest strength of Oklahoma's offense is Heisman Trophy candidate junior quarterback Landry Jones. This season, Jones has thrown for 1,022 yards and is completing 72 percent of his passes.
"[Jones] is a great player," Ball State defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said. "The throws he can make, he forces you to cover everything."
From looking at his statistics, Jones will easily be the best quarterback the Cardinals will face all season. But the things that don't appear on the box score is what makes him one of the nation's best quarterbacks.
"He's really smart," Bateman said. "He's pointing protections out. He does things an NFL guy would do. He's very highly thought of and there's a reason. He's not given enough credit for controlling the game and controlling the offense. He's got a very bright future in the NFL."
The easiest way for Ball State to disrupt Jones will be to get pressure on him, which won't be easy. He's been sacked just once but has thrown four interceptions this season, two against then-No. 5 Florida State and two against Missouri Saturday.
Bateman said getting pressure on Jones will be a vital key to slowing down Oklahoma's offense. Winning first down and forcing down-and-distance situations on the Sooners is what Bateman is wanting from his defense.
But Jones has several wide receivers he can throw to, including his favorite target, All-American senior wide receiver Ryan Broyles. He leads the Sooners with 34 receptions, 367 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Only sophomore wide receiver Kenny Stills has recorded a receiving touchdown for Oklahoma and no other receiver has more than seven receptions.
"He knows how to get open and how to attack the corner," Ball State sophomore cornerback Jeffery Garrett said. "I've been watching film on him. He's very smart and very athletic."
Garrett said Broyles' speed makes him a hard receiver to defend, but defending him with good technique is what the cornerbacks plan to do.
Ball State has seen a style of offense similar to Oklahoma's this season when it played Indiana in the season opener on Sept. 3. Current Indiana coach Kevin Wilson was assistant coach at Oklahoma from 2002-10. Besides the personnel situation, the offense the Cardinals saw against the Hoosiers will be similar to what they see against the Sooners.
"We basically used [film of] Oklahoma to prepare for Indiana," Bateman said. "But some of the things we were able to have success with against Indiana might not float against the Sooners."
Ball State will use a variety of schemes in certain defensive situations to try to slow down Oklahoma's offense. Bateman said his team will have to understand Oklahoma is capable of making plays that most teams in the country aren't able to make.
Garrett said the defensive preparations for Oklahoma have also been similar to how Ball State prepared for Indiana in the season opener.
Oklahoma anticipates to have its 77th-consecutive sellout crowd on Saturday at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, but Bateman doesn't expect his defense to be phased by the crowd of over 80,000.
"We've played in two NFL stadiums so far," he said. "They played at Iowa and at Purdue last year. I don't think it's going to be a whole lot different for them. It'll be louder but the good thing is the crowd is usually quieter for their offense."
Garrett echoed that there wouldn't be an intimidation factor in the game.
"We're not scared of anybody," he said. "They've got pads on just like us. We'll play anybody."
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