Inside the Chart: Central Connecticut State

'Inside the Chart' is a new weekly column from Ball State radio voice Joel Godett with nuggets, stats and notes from his prep, or charts, for each game. Check it out every game week or weekly during basketball season.

In our business there's an old adage that you'll only ever use about 15% of the preparation you do for a broadcast. So, whatever becomes of the other 85%? Some of it hangs around and gets used at a later date. Some of it vanishes into the ethers never to be seen again. Some of it ends up in a new column I'll write here on BallStateSports.com. By the way, this is that column and below are some things I've got on my chart heading into Thursday's football opener with Central Connecticut State.

ELITE RUSHERS

We'll start where most will start when looking at the Cardinals this season -- the running backs. In a league that saw departures from three of its top four 2017 rushers, the Cardinals should reign at the top of the MAC, maybe even among the top in the nation.

Ball State is one of just seven teams across the FBS boasting a roster with multiple running backs carrying a 1,000 yard season (James Gilbert and Caleb Huntley). The other six schools are Georgia Tech (which runs the option), SMU, Mississippi State, Iowa State, Navy (see Georgia Tech) and Ohio State.

Gilbert's return from injury will deservedly draw a lot of eyes this fall, but somehow Huntley flies a little under the radar. Actually, he flies a lot under the radar. The sophomore was left from Phil Steele's pre-season All-MAC teams (he selects eight backs) despite being the leading returning rusher in the conference when it comes to yards per game. He's second in overall yardage to Central Michigan's Jonathan Ward. Huntley was also left off last year's postseason All-MAC teams, falling short of the top six in the league despite the aforementioned rankings and his stature as the third leading rusher in conference games alone. Full disclosure, I voted for Huntley as MAC Freshman of the Year.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of accolades the BSU running backs rack up this year as they share the carries and subsequently split stats this fall, but that's not really what's important. They legitimately just want to win, and their strength in numbers does that.

"We can run our whole offense with all three of us out there," Gilbert said. "One play I have to block for Caleb and he's running the ball. One play we're going the other way and he blocks for me running the ball. Some plays we open it up for Malik and he … does what he does."

Gilbert will still, however, undoubtedly be the tip of that spear. And if you're wondering if his thumb is completely healed after his injury last season...

"I use the word dangling," Gilbert said. "It was just dangling around. Scary feeling because when I took my glove off and I saw it, I was like 'Dang! That's my thumb!' Never want that to happen again."

The answer is yes. He's good to go.

THEY RUN IT TOO

Ball State isn't the only team Thursday night that will take pride in running the football. CCSU's head coach is a former offensive lineman (he played at Boston University, which dropped its program after more than 100 years in 1997) so clearly he likes to pound the rock. But lets put it in perspective ... Ball State had Caleb Huntley and Malik Dunner last season while cycling through four different quarterbacks. Conventional wisdom would tell you the Cardinals would look to run the football, and they did -- 55% of the time. Central Connecticut touted the school's all-time leading passer last season ... and ran it 61% of the time for 27 touchdowns on the ground.

YOU CAN DO THIS, RIGHT?

On the defensive side, AJ Uzodinma was an intriguing name to crack the two-deep for his first collegiate game this week. The Floridian is listed as a backup corner, which is impressive because last year he wasn't one – a backup … or a corner.

"I didn't play defense at all," Uzodinma said of his days at Orlando's University High School.

Uzodinma was a receiver and hauled in 14 touchdowns in 2017, so he adds great ball skills to a unit that worked hard in that area this offseason. He mentioned good hips and footwork as strengths and feels connected with position coach Chevis Jackson, helping vault him into early playing time.

On that point, the ball skills were a legitimate area of focus for the defense this summer and winter. The Cardinals had only one pick over the final eight games of 2017 and haven't scored a defensive touchdown since 2014. Coordinator David Elson reminded his guys of that fact this fall and changing it is on their minds for sure. For comparison, Central Connecticut picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown in an NCAA record four consecutive games last season. The Blue Devils led the FCS in defensive touchdowns.

SIX DEGREES

Finally, we've all played six degrees of Kevin Bacon, but Thursday we only need one degree of Paul Schudel. The former Ball State head coach spent his final years as a collegiate head coach at Central Connecticut State from 2001 to 2003. His final head job at any level would be for a pro team in France in 2010. I asked him about it on the old Ball State Sports podcast a few years ago and it was indeed quite Nigel Gruff in some ways. We'll have some of that audio for you pregame.

Also of note was Schudel's special teams coordinator in New Britain – a young assistant named Chad Wilt. More than a decade later Wilt would coach the defensive line for Pete Lembo in Muncie and now holds the same position at West Point, where he works with former Cardinal assistants Jay Bateman and Daryl Dixon.

The Blue Devils actually have a pretty rich football coaching tradition, something of a mini-Cradle of Coaches if you will. Among the school's alums are Steve Addazio (Boston College), Dave Campo (Dallas Cowboys fame), Scott Pioli (AGM of the Falcons) and Mike Sherman (former Packers coach). There's also a nice baseball lineage with John Hirshbeck (an all-time great umpire unfortunately known as the guy Roberto Alomar spit on) and former Phillies closer Ricky Bottalico.

As far as a history with the MAC goes, CCSU actually has a surprisingly deep one. The team is 2-2 against current members of the league with both wins coming against Buffalo before the Bulls were an FBS program. In fact, Thursday's game is only Central Connecticut's third meeting with an FBS team. It lost to Syracuse in the opener last season and to Western Michigan in 2007.

If you'd like to play more "Six Degrees," Tim Lester is the current head coach at Western Michigan and a former assistant at Syracuse. He also has a son that plays volleyball at Ball State…..where Sutton Foster is a theatre instructor. Foster had a role in the Angriest Man in Brooklyn with Richard King, who was in The Queens Logic in 1991…..with Kevin Bacon.

The season kicks off Thursday at 7 pm at Scheumann Stadium. If you can't make it to the Scheu, I hope you'll join Rich Spisak, Mick Tidrow and me on 104.1 WLBC starting with the Mutual Bank Countdown to Kickoff at 6 pm.

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Malik Dunner

James Gilbert

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