That coaching turnover cuts both ways. Carter inherits a roster that went 5-3 in Big Sky play and made program history simply by qualifying for the FBS jump, but he's never called the shots as a head coach, and Sacramento State has zero prior experience with the physical grind of a 12-game FBS slate. Ball State's rebuild has more continuity by comparison — Uremovich gets a second training camp with his own staff — even after tape rough enough that nobody's fully sold on either program yet.
Home field could end up deciding more than either roster does. Ball State's offense looked like a completely different unit at Scheumann Stadium last year, topping 30 points twice at home while getting run off the field on the road, including a 31-0 no-show in the opener against a Purdue team that finished 2-10. If that split holds up, the Cardinals have a real puncher's chance against a Hornets team still finding out what FBS speed feels like.
Sacramento State's calling card last season was physicality — a Big Sky program that ground out a winning record even while chasing full FCS respect. Whether that identity translates against a MAC front seven, even a shaky one, is the whole question hanging over this debut season, and it's the kind of unknown that makes a first trip through Muncie worth tracking closely for anyone following the Hornets' jump.
Neither side is walking into fall camp with a clean bill of health, and both rosters are still shaking out after some of the heaviest offseason turnover in the sport. Whoever settles in fastest — a first-year head coach learning FBS speed in real time, or a second-year staff trying to climb out of the basement of national scoring — should have the edge on Friday night.