Ball State (0-1) heads to Alabama this week, taking on a tough Auburn Tigers (1-0) under the primetime lights.
The Cardinals, under first-year head coach Mike Uremovich, try to move on from a shutout loss to Purdue by taking what they learned from the experience and hoping to apply some of those lessons against an even stronger team in the Tigers. At the very least, they hope to avoid being shut out for a second-straight contest.
Auburn, meanwhile, looked electric in their first game of the season,
taking care of business on the road against the Big XII’s Baylor Bears— thanks in part to the dual-threat transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold. They’ll open their home campaign for the 2025 season against the rag-tag bunch from Muncie and give the home fans something to be happy about.
We take a look at both squads, how they fared last week, and where they are heading into this week.
Game notes
- Time and date: Saturday, September 6, 2025, 7:30 p.m. Eastern time
- Location: Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama
- TV network options: The game is set to be broadcast nationally on ESPNU; a valid subscription is required for viewing.
- Radio options: Mick Tidrow (play-by-play) and Chris Radican (color) will provide the Ball State call for WMUN-AM 1340.
- All-Time Series: Auburn leads the series 3-0, with a 54-30 victory the last time the two teams played on Sept. 26, 2009.
About the Cardinals
Head coach Mike Uremovich’s debut last week was a 31-0 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers on the road. Watching that game and subsequent press conferences, we learned a lot about the state of the squad and how they are moving forward.
One of the main takeaways from Uremovich’s press availability this week is that Ball State needs to focus on itself and not so much the opponent, working to correct its fundamentals in all phases:
“We went through (the Purdue game film) on Sunday and it was a 21-play cut up that I went through with the team and said, you know, these are 21 times Purdue didn’t beat Ball State, but Ball State beat Ball State.”
Another area the coach identified as invaluable is the offense needs to try to stay more on schedule after a lot of third downs last week. Against Purdue, Ball State averaged seven yards to convert per attempt. Staying on schedule is something to keep an eye on as we move towards conference play and more evenly matched rosters.
Offensively, we learned or confirmed some things about the state of affairs. The team is going to focus an offense centered around a running quarterback.
The Cards did utilize the spread some with three wideouts against Purdue, but used a lot more two tight end and two receiver formations where, contrary to recent BSU squads, the tight ends were much more inline versus flexed and focused on run blocking.
QB Kiael Kelly and company did what they could last week without much of a passing game owing partly to a Purdue team that got a lot of pressure from a four-or-five-man rush with a lot of players in coverage.
Also, as the coach pointed out, converting third-and-seven with regularity is tough sledding.
Credit Kelly’s decision making for not compounding the situation with bad decisions or turnovers by forcing throws.
Moving towards conference play, Ball State will obviously need to continue to work to get the wideouts involved because they have a lot of talent there among WRs Qian Magwood, Ty Robinson, Eric Weatherly, and Elijah Jackson. Even without much of a passing game, BSU was able to muster 60-yard and 48 yard drives while the game still mattered based upon a physical running game, which is promising.
Defensively, Uremovich praised his front seven last week for their effective run defense and the stats indicate it was well-deserved; Purdue mustered only 3.1 yards per rush with under 100 combined yards.
Players like defensive end Nathan Voorhis and linebacker Joey Stemler were key to the success there, among others.
Pass defense is a work-in-progress. BSU gave up some huge chunks in the passing game early but did settle in some as the game went on. The head coach pointed to a compound issue needing resolution; for instance, sometimes the deal was coverage breakdown or technique while other times defensive backs were asked to cover for too long.
We’ll see how the group fares against Auburn.
About the Auburn Tigers
Tigers fans have to feel great about their squad after Week 1, as Auburn systematically dispatched a quality Baylor Bears program on the road.
Head coach Hugh Freeze described the offense’s success as just taking what the defense gave them. With Baylor in a lot of two-deep safety looks, Auburn went to the ground game, rolling up over 300 yards rushing and almost six yards per carry.
Part of what BSU will be dealing with is an athletic quarterback in Auburn’s Jackson Arnold, who rolled up 108 yards on the ground and added two passing scores.
The Cardinals defense will also have to contend with the likes of running backs Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb, who combined for 32 carries, 158 yards, and two scores.
There was good cause for the Bears to be protecting over the top, as Auburn features one of the premiere wideouts in the SEC in six-foot-three, 200 pound Cam Coleman. The sophomore had only one catch for 23 yards last week so I expect the Tigers to continue to try to get the dynamic playmaker involved early and often if possible.
Defensively, Auburn shined last week in run defense, holding the Bears to 2.7 yards per rush on 24 attempts.
The Bears did throw for over 400 yards last week but it took almost 50 attempts to get there.
Final Thoughts
This game is a tough assignment for any MAC school but, just as we saw last week, BSU will battle hard for four quarters in any event.
Let’s see what the Cards can do to build on their strengths last week in the rushing offense and defense and continue to improve in all three phases so they put their best foot forward and don’t beat themselves.
