As last winter approached West Lafayette and Muncie Indiana, two proud programs made leadership changes with their eyes on a bountiful fall harvest for 2025 and beyond.
On December 4, 2024, Ball State hired head coach Mike Uremovich while on December 8, 2024, Purdue announced new head coach Barry Odom.
With months of grueling planning and work behind them and their teams and fall approaching, both finally get a first look at the crops’ progress based upon the seeds they planted.
And with decades of
combined experience on the fields of fall among the new leaders, you can’t help but be optimistic that the yield will be satisfying, at least in the long term.
That said, let’s get into some details about what we might see as we look upon the field this Saturday.
Game notes
- Time and date: Saturday August 30, 2025 at noon Eastern time
- Location: Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana
- TV network options: The game will be aired on Big Ten Network (BTN); a valid subscription is required for viewing. Coverage crew includes Jason Ross Jr. (play-by-play), Anthony Herron (analyst), and Dannie Rogers (sideline reporter)
- Radio options: The Purdue call for 96.5 FM WAZY is Tim Newton (play-by-play), Mark Hermann, (analyst), with Kelly Kitchel (sidelines). Ball State tabs Mich Tidrown (play-by-play), Chris Radican (analyst), and Mark Foerster for WLBC Radio 104.1 FM and (for Pre & Post game on) WMUN Radio 1340 AM/92.5 FM.
- Gambling considerations: DraftKings: Purdue are 18.5 point favorites, with and over/under of 50.5
- All-Time Series: Purdue is 8-0 all-time vs. Ball State.
- Last Time: Purdue 24, Ball State 13 on September 18, 2010.
About the Purdue Boilermakers
Head coach Barry Odom comes from a defensive background, where he played linebacker in college and largely coached defensive units or was the defensive coordinator until his recent breakout success as head coach of the UNLV Rebels. Under Odom’s guidance, UNLV achieved the most successful back-to-back seasons in program history, winning double digit games for the first time in a single season while going bowling twice in a row for the first time.
While every team sounds like a champion during Media Day, it is easy to see why Odom was successful at UNLV based upon the Q&A he did with Big Ten Network about plans for Purdue. In broad brushstrokes, he clearly laid out key aspects of what the Boilermakers were going to do and how they would do it in assembling the team and coaching the players.
How that might look in Week 1 in terms of the specific players and plays is much more cloudy. While both sides were reportedly taking notes from schemes opponents used at their last stops, as well as scouting portal players, there are too many moving parts to lock down what really might happen prior to kickoff.
For instance, more than half of the roster of both squads are new program players, with Purdue signing over 50 transfer portal players.
Further clouding things is that Purdue declined to release a two-deep prior to this game. To paraphrase coach Odom, the depth chart is still a work in progress until later this week. Ball State followed suit by not releasing its two-deep.
That is not to say we don’t know some things. For instance, offensively, QB Ryan Browne has been named the starter, appearing in nine games over the past two seasons with just south of 100 career passing attempts and over 600 yards passing and a 4:4 TD:INT ratio.
One of the few returning players who is also an all-time program standout is Boonville, Indiana native RB Devin Mockobee. The Boilermaker back currently sits ninth all-time in program history with 2,466 yards rushing. Figure Mockobee to be involved through the air too, as he is a reliable target with 68 career catches for over 600 yards.
Most of the top offensive line prospects involve lower-classman transfers from big name programs like Georgia, Notre Dame, and Auburn. One experienced name to keep an eye on in this one is guard Jalen St. John, an UNLV transfer with multiple years experience.
Some names at wideout to keep an eye on start with explosive Georgia transfer Nitro Tuggle. Charles Ross brings experience to the unit, appearing with his fourth college team in Purdue, having started 17 games with 70 catches for 904 yards and four TDs.
Defensively, DE Trey Smith is one of the few returners to look out for as he appeared in eight games last year.
The linebackers and secondary are transfers but if they can get them on the same page, I think they can do some things as they are experienced players. CB Tony Grimes has 29 starts under his belt while safeties Tahj Ra-El and Crew Wakley have 36 appearances and16 starts respectively.
About the Ball State Cardinals
Head coach Mike Uremovich and Purdue’s Odom are living parallel lives in a few key respects.
Uremovich transferred to his current job after a highly successful run at Butler (FCS), where the head coach spearheaded the Bulldogs’ return to relevance with a 23-11 record in three years and a high FCS ranking of 23rd.
At Butler, Uremovich’s offense was prolific, offensively scoring 35 points per game in 2024. They did it by running the ball a lot through their top two quarterbacks, who ran for a combined 1,278 yards and an astonishing 21 touchdowns.
BSU’s head coach has a lot on his plate right now, integrating new players into the system and culture which he has also been working to establish for the last nine months. Like Odom, Uremovich brings multiple coaches or players with him to Ball State which should help ease the transition.
Notably, paraphrasing coach Uremovich at a recent press conference, every year is different based upon personnel, but I think it is fair to see how starting QB Kiael Kelly skillset would work nicely in a system like 2024 Butler.
Kelly has worn multiple hats with BSU, offensively and defensively, one of which was starting QB in the second half of 2023. During that stretch, Kelly showcased his athletic ability while establishing himself as one of the league’s premiere running QBs, finishing with 724 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in part-time duty.
Having a couple of established wideouts in the passing game and interesting newcomers should help Kelly shake off the rust of not playing QB last year. The leader and sole returning player from the 2020 roster, WR Qian Magwood should be ready to carry the torch with a career 64 catches, 565 yards, and five TDs.
Joining Magwood is returning wideout Ty Robinson. The six-foot-four Aurora, Colorado product missed both most of last year with an injury but should be ready to make a splash in 2025 given his talent and four years of college experience— two years with the Colorado Buffalos and two at Ball State.
Bucknell transfer WR Eric Weatherly has the arrow pointing up after starting 19 games with Bucknell (FCS) with impressive career numbers including 117 catches for 1,468 yards and 15 scores. Weatherly may be a major weapon for his new school as he did it all for the Bucknell, returning kicks, punts, and scoring a rushing touchdown.
There is not a lot of game experience on the offensive line heading into the season, but the Cardinals have multiple players with several years in a system and a nice anchor at the LT in Chris Hood, who started eight games last year.
Jeff Knowles returns as the defensive coordinator for his second season, reuniting with coach Uremovich once more to coach a squad. There is not much to say about the 2024 defense or really needs to be said except noting it struggled in large stretches and has an eye towards improvement in 2025.
Should BSU feature the rushing attack and possess and move the ball for field position, this complementary football could also help defensive progress.
Defensively, BSU’s 2025 front seven base defense consists of three down linemen, three linebackers and a SNIPER, kind of a hybrid safety/linebacker.
The impact of the SNIPER position this year will be something to watch with the resources devoted to it. BSU appointed former Butler DB coach Jalen Moss as a dedicated SNIPER coach to develop these key players, so we will see how it goes.
The middle of the defense with project starters looks promising. Nose tackle Darin Conley appeared in most games last year. Standout middle linebacker Joey Stemler returns with 15 starts under his belt and could start on many MAC squads.
Joining Stemler at linebacker is Jack Beebe, who appeared in most games last year and should be ready to step into a prominent role.
Safety Michael Gravely Jr. joins BSU as his fourth college team including time at Michigan State, appearing in six games for the Western Michigan Broncos last year.
Final Thoughts
Anticipation runs high for fans of both teams as we get our first look at a new era of football and both squads will play hard to win.
But even if the fields are not full of crops as far as the eye can see on first look, there was a lot to manage to get to this point so patience and progress over the long haul seems like the realistic play.
Particularly true for Ball State in this one as they work through not only all the offseason changes but face a Big Ten roster in the first test.
