MUNCIE – Between 26 incoming freshmen, 18 transfer portal additions and five new coaching hires, the 2024 Ball State football offseason was the most tumultuous in all of Mike Neu’s nine years as head coach.
“Just a little uneasy, just a little uneasy,” Neu said. “It's crazy, but that’s how it is.”
While all five new faces on the coaching staff come on the defensive end due to the departure of former defensive coordinator Tyler Stockton, the offense has also undergone a bit of a revamp despite mostly consisting of familiar faces. First and foremost, former offensive coordinator Kevin Lynch was moved to an assistant head coach/quarterbacks position while Jared Elliott now assumes the role of offensive coordinator while retaining his previous position of tight ends coach.
Despite Ball State football only starting official practices last week, Elliott made a quick mark in his new role by enticing tight end Tanner Koziol to stay at Ball State after he entered the transfer portal and briefly committed to Louisville early in the offseason.
“When you’re coaching guys – whether it’s the tight ends, the receiver group, quarterbacks or O-line – it doesn’t matter to me, it’s all about relationships,” Elliott said. “ … I do think we have a special culture here, and I think sometimes when guys go out and start to explore things and see some of the other places, they’re like, ‘Wow, there’s something pretty special here (at Ball State).”
Elliott said his relationship-based approach to coaching won’t change even if his focus is now on more than just the tight ends room. In fact, he has quickly formed a bond with redshirt freshman quarterback Kadin Semonza.
QB Controversy No More
Perhaps the biggest reason for Ball State’s 4-8 2023 season was the quarterback carousel the Cardinals endured for the first half of the season. Between Semonza, redshirt junior Kiael Kelly and former graduate student Layne Hatcher, Ball State saw three different quarterbacks earn significant playing time under center in the first six games of the year.
Semonza even earned a start against the then-defending National Champion Georgia Bulldogs in Athens. For weeks, the Cardinals coaching staff would not commit to a consistent QB1, until Neu deemed Kelly as the lone starter for the last six games of the season. During that time, Kelly took the Cardinals to a 3-3 record whereas the first half of the season saw Ball State go 1-5.
However, Neu ensured there will be no confusion as to who the Cardinals gunslinger is in 2024, bestowing that title to Semonza. He said the way a then-18-year-old Semonza held his own against formidable Power-5 foes in Kentucky and Georgia last season, Semonza’s commitment in the weight room and the film room is what earned him the QB1 job.
“He’s got all the ability in the world,” Elliott said. “Our football team believes in him; I think he’s a winner, he’s a gamer, he’s hungry and he’s got a competitive edge. He has a desire to be great.”
That leaves Kelly not only out of a starting quarterback position, but out of the offense entirely. During the first six games of 2023, Kelly earned snaps at quarterback, wide receiver and half back, but he has switched to defensive back for his fourth year in the program.
Kelly said he has never played any defensive position at any level, let alone defensive back. While Neu said he currently has no plans to feature Kelly in Ball State’s offense in any capacity, he isn’t ruling it out for the entire season. Yet, he believes Kelly’s 6-foot, 1-inch frame to be fit for the defensive back position.
Kelly just wants to avenge Ball State’s disappointing 2023.
“The goal, alway, is to go bowling. When you fall short of that, we’ve been hungry since the last game,” Kelly said. “I've been itching to get back out there, no matter what my role is now.”
Kelly not only passed for 577 yards and two touchdowns, but he also rushed for 724 yards and seven scores during his 12 appearances at quarterback last season. With that in mind, Semonza knows his speed and agility have to improve if he wants to be an effective starting quarterback for Ball State.
The days of standing dormant in the pocket waiting for an open target every snap are long gone for the 5-foot, 11-inch Semonza.
“I do my best to make sure that I'm not just a pocket passer, but that I can get out of the pocket, can make plays and be explosive,” Semonza said. “Especially with guys my size — I’m an undersized quarterback — I can’t be stuck in the pocket and not be able to get out.”
Ball State’s most versatile receiving corps in years, an array of unproven half backs and an anchor of an offensive line look to ensure Semonza has plenty of options whether he looks to pass or run.
'The GPS Numbers Don't Lie'
When redshirt junior wide receiver Ty Robinson first reported to Ball State football summer camp in 2023, he was all any of the Cardinals could talk about. A transfer from Colorado who is billed at 6-foot, 3-inches and just shy of 200 pounds, Robinson seemed primed to be Ball State’s new primary target.
And things looked promising to back up that claim after Robinson posted 111 yards and one touchdown on just six catches in the first two weeks of the season. However, Robinson sustained an injury in the Cardinals’ matchup against Georgia that sidelined him for the remaining 10 contests.
He described the injury as a bone in his thumb floating around within the digit, requiring a medical procedure where pins would be inserted into the thumb to put everything back in place before taking the pins back out.
Robinson said his thumb didn’t feel fully healthy again until just before spring workouts began for Ball State, and although he said his thumb feels back to full strength now, he still tapes it up before every workout, practice or game just in case.
“I wasn’t able to travel with the guys to the games, so I was just sitting at home watching the games from my computer,” Robinson said. “I was in the training room all day long and all night long, so I’m just super motivated to get back out there. This season means a lot to me.”
Despite only seeing action in the first two games of the season, Robinson was never fully sure who would be throwing to him at any given point in Ball State’s games against Ketucky and Georgia. While he said he was comfortable running routes for all three of the Cardinals’ 2023 gunslingers, he feels more stable with Semonza as the solidified option this season.
And Semonza feels confident under center knowing he not only has Robinson back to full health, but 6-foot, 4-inch junior transfer Justin Bowick on the other side of the field. Not to mention redshirt junior deep threat Qian Magwood waiting in the slot.
“I’m a dog. Flat out, simply put,” Magwood said. “You can run fast, you can run clean routes, but at the end of the day if you don’t have that mindset, my approach is different from anybody’s.”
Both Cardinal players and coaches have already started thinking about how difficult it may become for opposing defenses to cover two starting receivers who have the height of an average tight end. When it comes to that position, the Cardinals feel confident with Koziol as the captain, too.
“We got four or five guys that can flat out run, and the GPS numbers don't lie,” Neu said.
And they may spell disaster for opposing defenses.
“We got got a wide variety of different skill sets; not only body types, but skill sets,” Elliott said. “Now it’s our job, as we figure out who we are as we go through camp, to figure out how to use guys in the best way and highlight their strengths schematically.”
As for Ball State’s ground game, the Cardinals’ half back room shrunk by 1,043 yards when 2023 starter Marquez Cooper left for San Diego State. Those who will have to try to fill his All-MAC void include returners like redshirt juniors Vaughn Pemberton and Charlie Spegal, as well as redshirt freshmen TJ Horton and Christian Davis. Yet the crown jewel of the group may just be Eastern Kentucky transfer Braedon Sloan.
In his last two seasons with the Colonels, Sloan was responsible for 3,248 total yards and 23 touchdowns when taking rushing, receiving and kick returns into account. He rode this momentum into an FCS All-America selection in 2023, an honor he forayed into a transfer to the FBS which landed him at Ball State.
Joining the Cardinals mid-summer, Sloan has made a quick impression internally, with numerous Ball State coaches and players sending high praise his way. With an offensive line in front of him consisting of four returning starters, Sloan may be the answer Ball State is looking for at half back.
Despite an unprecedented 44 new players and formidable non-conference opponents on the horizon such as Miami (FL), James Madison and Vanderbilt, on top of Mid-American Conference contests against four rivals that finished 2023 with winning records, Ball State’s offense feels confident heading into 2024.
“We look at our schedule, and we don't think there’s a game we can't win,” Semonza said. “We’re expecting to go undefeated.”
Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at kyle.smedley@bsu.edu or via X @KyleSmedley_.
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