Northwestern just made the loudest offensive hire in the sport this offseason. Ball State shows up to Evanston as the first real test of whether it actually works.
Bush’s Picks
BALLNU
BALLNU
OverUnder
Best BetNorthwestern
Northwestern brings a Big Ten roster with two proven transfer quarterbacks and a marquee new offensive mind calling plays; Ball State is still working out the kinks of two lower-level transfer arms. That talent and experience gap at the most important position is exactly the kind of edge that shows up on the scoreboard, so back the Wildcats to win outright.
Ball State
+Texas State transfer Keldric Luster upgrades QB talent
+Defense reloaded with Ohio State, Purdue transfers
−Third straight season without more than 4 wins
−Passing offense ranked 130th nationally last year
−QB job still unsettled between two transfers
Northwestern
+Chip Kelly hired as OC in program-defining move
+Closed 2025 with 34-7 bowl win over Central Michigan
+Two proven transfer QBs battling to start
−Braun only 19-19 across three seasons at Northwestern
−Chiles has struggled with decision-making, feel for the game
−Brand-new offensive scheme still being installed
Both programs are leaning on quarterback competitions heading into this one. Northwestern brought in two transfers to fix a stagnant passing game — Michigan State's Aidan Chiles and West Virginia's Nicco Marchiol — and neither job is settled. Ball State countered by importing Texas State's Keldric Luster and Division II arm Tyler Mizzell to try to jolt an offense that finished 130th nationally in passing a year ago.
The bigger story in Evanston is Chip Kelly. David Braun handed his offense to the former Ohio State and NFL playcaller this offseason in what ESPN called a program-defining move, and this early slate is where Wildcats fans start finding out what that actually looks like on Saturdays. Ball State, for its part, rebuilt its defense with power-conference transfers — Ohio State's Diante Griffin and Purdue's Sterling Smith among them — hoping a defense that can get off the field buys its shaky offense time to figure itself out.
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BALL Ball State
NU Northwestern
Neither team enters with much recent momentum to lean on. Northwestern is 19-19 across David Braun's three seasons, a run that includes a lopsided 34-7 bowl win over Central Michigan but also plenty of inconsistency. Ball State just wrapped a third straight season without more than 4 wins under Mike Uremovich, though the transfer haul on both sides of the ball is the clearest sign yet the program wants that streak to end.
Ball State Cardinals
Oct 2?vs Toledo—
Sep 25?@ Kent State—
Sep 19?@ Liberty—
Sep 12?vs Stony Brook—
Sep 5?@ Ohio State—
Northwestern Wildcats
Oct 2?vs Penn State—
Sep 25?@ Indiana—
Sep 19?vs Colorado—
Sep 5?vs South Dakota State—
Recent form.
On paper this is a Big Ten roster against a MAC roster still finding its footing, and that gap usually shows up fastest in the trenches and in explosive plays — areas where Northwestern's transfer additions and Kelly's scheme installation give it a real head start. Ball State's path back is its defense forcing mistakes from a Northwestern offense that's still learning a new playbook in real time.
Ball State Cardinals
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Northwestern Wildcats
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
By the time Friday, October 9 rolls around, both quarterback battles should be resolved and both coaching staffs will have a much clearer picture of their identities. Whoever's throwing it for Northwestern gets a Kelly-designed offense built to create easy completions; whoever wins Ball State's job needs to prove the raw talent alone doesn't sink the same passing game that ranked near the bottom of the country last year.
