Ball State, Central Florida to play in Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl tonight

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- After a little over two weeks of preparation, Ball State finally takes on Central Florida in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl at 7:30 p.m. at Tropicana Field.

The team has had to juggle working through finals week, traveling and getting used to a bowl game schedule while preparing for the bowl game.

On top of that, Ball State still had to prepare to play and try to get a win over Central Florida. One of the toughest obstacles in achieving that will be forcing Central Florida into making mistakes.

"In particular, the plus-14 turnover ratio that's the first thing that jumps off the map at me," coach Pete Lembo said. "They do a great job taking care of the football. On the defensive side of the football they do a great job creating turnovers."

The Knights and the Cardinals have nearly identical scoring numbers. Central Florida has a slight edge by averaging 35.2 points per game compared to Ball State's 35.0 points per game.

But from there, Ball State has the advantage in passing and rushing yards per game.

Headed by quarterback Keith Wenning, who the Star Press confirmed will start in tonight's bowl game after missing the season finale against Miami of Ohio, led Ball State's offense to an average of 257.1 passing yards per game. Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles is averaging 222.0 passing yards per game.

The featured offensive player for Central Florida's offense is running back Latavius Murray. The senior has had a productive season for his team, despite missing three of the first four games. At 6-feet-3-inches and 222 pounds, Murray is a tough running back to tackle, which has led to him recording 1,035 rushing yards and 16 total touchdowns on the season.

"He really jumped out to me as a guy that's a real physical, downhill type of runner," Lembo said.

But Ball State has a running back of its own that's been productive. Jahwan Edwards has had a strong sophomore season after becoming the starter during his freshman season. Edwards has rushed for 1,321 yards on the season and 14 touchdowns.

The passing numbers favor Ball State, who not only has thrown for more passing yards, but has a variety of targets for Wenning.

The receivers have been led all season by Willie Snead, who totaled 1,070 receiving yards on 82 receptions and seven touchdowns. Throughout the entire season, Snead has had receiving numbers that were top 25 in the country.

Central Florida is more balanced in its passing game as no wide receiver has more than 41 receptions, but six wide receivers have at least 20 catches.

But the yardage differential is related to the Knights' ability to create turnovers. And those turnovers are turning into points.

"They've been in a lot of close games," Lembo said. "They're losses have been close games, they've had several blow out wins."

Ball State is looking for its first bowl win in program history in eight tries. Central Florida is looking for its second bowl win after winning the 2010 Liberty Bowl over Georgia.