THE OFFICIAL ARMY-BALL STATE PREDICTION THREAD

[akaTheRifleman]

Okay, I am going to give this one more try.

Army 28
Ball State 24

 

[Big_DNY]

Jeff Monken's comments about the number of 5 star players Yale has on its roster has turned my thinking around. You listen to him talk and you would think that Yale has more talent than Oregon, Alabama, and Florida St. combined. If Army can hang with the FBS All Star team otherwise known as Yale then Ball St. should offer no obstacle.

Army 54
Ball St. 3

 

[usma80]

Army 30
Ball State 21

 

[ccsblackknights]

Both teams need a win big time, but we will come through in front of the home town crowd at Michie.

Army 28
Ball State 21

 

[pregirlsgrad]

I hate to say this, but I don't think we are going to beat Ball State on Saturday - I hope I am wrong but here is why - Ball State beat us 40-14 last year - Ball State has beaten us three times in a row - Ball State won 10 games last year and went to a bowl game for the second year in a row - Ball State has a winning percentage of over 80% in their non-conference games for the last 15 years or so - And - Ball State had last week off to rest, recuperate, and prepare for Army while we played another game and suffered more injuries - It is true from reading some other posts, that we are probably a couple of plays from being 3 and 1 instead of 1 and 3 - It is also true that we are just a couple of minutes from being 0 and 4 instead of 1 and 3 - Buffalo was scoring at will in the 4th quarter driving up and down the field and we could not stop them - 2 more minutes and we would have lost that game - I was at the Wake Forest game and have watched every other game and play on TV - I am not saying this to be negative - Just to be realistic - This is how I see it - Army football has obviously dropped to a very low point and we have been there for a number of years - I hoped Bobby Ross was the answer but he ended up being too old and tired to turn things around - I hoped Rich Ellerson was going to be the man because of his great family ties, but he turned out to be over his head and not the right personality for the job - We now have Jeff Monken and we are damned lucky to have him - I was afraid it was going to be hard to get a really good coach to come to Army and tackle the challenge that West Point represents and it took guts to take on that challenge - I am going to give Coach Monken two full years to get our program headed in the right direction - He did it at Navy and he can do it here - We need to take a deep breath - Not expect too much too soon and support him and the team as hard as we can for what is realistically going to take some time to turn around - We need to forget about season totals and look at every game as a one game season in itself and be happy with every victory we can achieve - If we beat Ball State Saturday it will be a huge win - But if we don't, it is not the end of the world - The right man is now in charge and he and his staff will get Army back to our winning tradition - It can not happen overnight - GO ARMY! BEAT BALL STATE and BEAT NAVY!!!

 

[OldGrunt2]

Extremely well stated!!!! Let's give the coaching staff a chance!!!

 

[OntheHudson87]

Army 25
Ball State 30

 

[justafan74]

It is going to rain- which will be an equalizer- and although I always predict Army will win, I don't think we will
nevertheless I just can say what my mind knows- so I will go with my heart

Army 24
Ball State 21

 

[NJFAN]

Sunshine or rain, it's Army 28 & Ball State 21

 

[Warrior-D]

This is the game when it truly all starts. We will see the character of this team finally come around. Both offense, defense and the coaching staff put forth a B+ performance and we now see what Army football under can and should look like.

Army 30
Ball State 21

 

[goodknight65]

Originally posted by pregirlsgrad:

I hate to say this, but I don't think we are going to beat Ball State on Saturday - I hope I am wrong but here is why - Ball State beat us 40-14 last year - Ball State has beaten us three times in a row - Ball State won 10 games last year and went to a bowl game for the second year in a row - Ball State has a winning percentage of over 80% in their non-conference games for the last 15 years or so...

The Ball State team we face this year is certainly no pushover, but it's not the same quality as the team we faced the past three years. Their previous quarterback, Wenning is now playing on the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens, and the new QB is not nearly as good. They also lost three of their top 4 receivers including Willie Snead who left school early to turn pro. On defense they lost Jon Newsome, who started at Ohio State transferred to BSU, and was drafted 5th by the Colts this season. This is a rebuilding year from them, which is why they're 1-3 this season with a 1-1 record against FCS level teams.

I don't know where you came up with that 80% wins against non-conference teams in the past 15 years. I checked Mcubed and here are the stats for those years:

1999: Overall 0-11; 0-3 against FBS non-conference
2000: Overall 5-6; 1-2 against non-conference FBS; 0-1 against FCS
2001: Overall 5-6; 0-2 against non-conference FBS; 0-1 against FCS
2002: Overall 6-6; 1-3 against non-confernce FBS; 1-0 against FCS
2003: Overall 4-8; 0-3 against non-conference FBS; 1-0 against FCS
2004: Overall 2-9; 0-3 against non-conference FBS
2005: Overall 4-7; 0-3 against non-conference FBS;
2006: Overall 5-7; 0-3 against non-conference FBS; 0-1 against FCS
2007: Overall 7-6: 1-4 against non-conference FBS including a loss to Rutgers in bowl game
2008: Overall 12-2; 2-1 against non-conference FBS including a loss to Tulsa in bowl game, 1-0 against FCS
2009: Overall 2-10; 0-3 against non-conference FBS; 0-1 against FCS
2010: Overall 4-8; 0-2 against non-conference FBS; 1-1 against FCS
2011: Overall 6-6; 2-2 against non-conference FBS
2012: Overall 9-4; 3-2 against non-conference FBS including loss to UCF in bowl game
2013: Overall 10-3; 2-2 against non-conference FBS including loss to Ark St in bowl game; 1-0 against FCS

Last 15 years= 4 winning seasons and two 6-6 seasons with a record against non-conference FBS the past 15 years is 12-40 (23%) and a ecord against FCS teams of 4-5.

The past 4 years with Lembo as HC and Wenning at QB have been the exception rather than the rule.



This post was edited on 10/3 1:48 PM by goodknight65

 

[pregirlsgrad]

Thought I read the stat about their winning percentage on the Ball State football website - I will go back and see what I was mistaken about - I certainly hope your prognosis for the game is much better than mine - I am always hopeful

 

[Boomerang87]

Army 21
Ball State 24

 

[DoubleDown4]

Vegas line ...Army -1.5 ..will take Army minus the points on this game...GO BLACK KNIGHTS

 

[LastofftheArea78]

For the first time, no prediction.

 

[akaTheRifleman]

Originally posted by Warrior-D:
This is the game when it truly all starts. We will see the character of this team finally come around. Both offense, defense and the coaching staff put forth a B+ performance and we now see what Army football under can and should look like.

Army 30
Ball State 21

THE WINNER!

 

[usma80]

akatherifleman was closest to the score of the Ball State game.