With a full year as a starting quarterback under his belt, Keith Wenning is ready to take another step forward and perhaps a few more.
In his first two years in Muncie, Wenning's career path has followed that of a rival player's - former Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish.
Harnish was famously made "Mr. Irrelevant" in April, as the hometown Indianapolis Colts selected him with the final pick of the 2012 NFL Draft. His career at Northern Illinois was nothing close to irrelevant, however.
After throwing 19 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in his first two years, Harnish's production took off in his third year, as he threw for 21 touchdowns against just five picks. He also increased his yards-per-attempt from 7.5 to 8.7.
If Wenning can make a similar jump in production in his junior year, then Ball State could be in for some big things in 2012.
"I thought over the last couple of years [that] he's improved tremendously," Harnish said of Wenning.
Wenning finished his first two years with 33 touchdowns to 25 interceptions, but yards-per-attempt is where Wenning and Harnish really separate. While Harnish averaged 8.1 yards-per-attempt in his career, Wenning has only averaged 6.1.
Wenning also doesn't have the athleticism and running ability that Harnish did in college. Harnish ran for almost 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns in his career, well more than Wenning is on pace to achieve at 358 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Despite the differences, Harnish thinks highly of the Ball State quarterback.
"He came out of nowhere," Harnish said. "I thought last year [that] he played great against us, and fortunately, we just came back in the end and beat them."
"Fortunately" for Harnish was not "fortunately" for Ball State fans last season in the team's game against Northern Illinois on Nov. 15. The Cardinals took a 31-14 lead against the Huskies in the third quarter before Harnish led his team to a 41-38 victory that booted Ball State from MAC Championship contention.
Harnish wasn't the only Mid-American Conference player the Colts selected in this year's draft. Indianapolis drafted Ohio wide receiver LaVon Brazill in the sixth round in April.
Brazill holds Ohio's career and season records for both catches and receiving yards, so he's used to being the go-to-guy. That may be a different case now that he's in the NFL.
"I have to work my way up [the depth chart]," Brazill said. "I knew I would have to fight for positions, so that's what I'm doing - working hard every day, learning from Reggie [Wayne] and Austin Collie, and all of the older guys; Quan Cosby, Jeremy Ross, they're all showing me the ropes, so I'm just looking forward to that."
Both Harnish and Brazill mentioned the speed of the game when discussing the most difficult challenges of the college-to-professional transition.
Although he doesn't know him personally, Harnish has high praise for Wenning this season.
"I think he's a great leader," Harnish said. "I think Ball State might be a surprise team in the MAC this year."
However, Brazill was less kind to Muncie when asked about his predictions for the MAC.
"I don't know about Ball State," Brazill said. "But I know Ohio is going to win the MAC this year. We're [going to] represent."
No matter who wins the MAC this year, Wenning's former MAC rivals certainly have high expectations for him in 2012.
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