When Indiana quarterback Tre Roberson went down with a broken leg in the team's win against Massachusetts, Ball State's focus immediately turned to prepare for backup Cameron Coffman.
The change in quarterback for the Hoosiers won't necessarily change the defensive preparation for Ball State but it does present its issues.
Coffman, a transfer from Arizona Western, made his debut for Indiana after Roberson was injured, which means Ball State has the unique challenge of preparing for a quarterback with limited game experience.
"He played 52 plays [against Massachusetts]," defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said. "So we watch those 52 plays a lot. They scored another three touchdowns when he came in. He controlled the game."
While Roberson is a dual-threat quarterback who has a tendency to run (he was injured while scrambling for a touchdown), Coffman is more of a pocket quarterback that prefers to throw the ball rather than run.
But preparing for a quarterback that can run isn't anything new to Ball State. Playing in the Mid-American Conference where dual-threat quarterbacks are the majority, the Cardinals are used to seeing those types of quarterbacks. The last time Ball State faced a pocket quarterback was Oklahoma's Landry Jones on Oct. 1, 2011.
"You just have to be better in your pass dropping," senior linebacker Travis Freeman said. "When you know the situation and what type of quarterback you're dealing with, you tend to do better at passing situations. We want to be very aggressive in our pass coverage."
Freeman said from the game film that Coffman doesn't appear to want to run, but if he starts running quarterback sweeps and bootlegs Saturday they'll be prepared for it.
And that all comes back to having prepared for the quarterbacks like Eastern Michigan's Alex Gillett and Ohio's Tyler Tettleton in the MAC.
"We have to anticipate [Coffman] wanting to deliever the ball," Freeman said. "If he takes off we have to adjust, but we're used to seeing those quarterbacks that like to run the ball."
But whatever Coffman decides to do with the football Saturday, Ball State's defense will still have the challenge of preparing for a BCS quarterback.
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