Ball State defensive coordinator Jay Bateman isn’t looking at Western Michigan University’s 0-7 record as he and his defense prepare for the upcoming game Saturday.
Instead, he’s looking at the best way to go after the Broncos’ offense — forcing them to turn the ball over.
Fortunately for Ball State, Western Michigan turns the ball over quite a bit.
“They turn the ball over a lot,” Bateman said. “They’ve had some bad decisions throwing the ball and some bad luck.”
Western Michigan is tied for 121st in Football Bowl Subdivision with a turnover margin of -12, tied with Western Kentucky University. The only team in FBS with a worse turnover margin is Southern Mississippi University, with a margin of -13.
Western Kentucky is 4-3 on the season, while Southern Miss is 0-5.
The Broncos have thrown 15 interceptions this season, 10 by senior Tyler Van Tubbergen and five by freshman Zach Terrell. The inconsistent play at quarterback has led to head coach P.J. Fleck having to rotate Van Tubbergen and Terrell.
Terrell got the start and played the entire game in a 33-0 loss to Buffalo in Western Michigan’s most recent game, but Ball State is preparing as if the more experienced quarterback will get the start Saturday.
“[Van Tubbergen] gives them a little bit more of a chance,” Bateman said. “But it’s not like if Terrell is out there we’ll be like ‘yes.’”
The two Broncos quarterbacks have similar skill sets as pocket quarterbacks, which makes preparing for both of them easier. Last season, former quarterback Alex Carder was injured leading up to Ball State’s game against Western Michigan.
But no matter who’s at quarterback for Western Michigan, the focus will still be to create turnovers, an area Ball State has improved greatly on this season.
The Cardinals had only 14 takeaways all of last season. Through seven games this season, the team is tied for third in FBS with 18 takeaways. Only Tulane University and Middle Tennessee State University’s 20 takeaways are better.
“Our focus point has been turnovers,” cornerback Jeff Garrett said. “It’s the biggest thing we talk about and we try to get better at that each game.”
Bateman said his defense spends more time in practices on how to cause turnovers, especially ripping the ball away from the ball carrier. The results have been productive thus far, and Bateman said that causing turnovers is contagious.
“It’s like a competition almost,” Bateman said. “One guy will go ‘you got two interceptions, now I’m going to go get one.’”
Even against the winless Western Michigan team, the focus and preparation is as if the opponent was undefeated.
“We treat it like any other game,” Garrett said. “They’re 0-7, but that doesn’t matter. They’re coming into this game to win just like we are.”
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