Arkansas State (7-5) vs. Ball State (10-2)

Jan. 5, 9:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN

One team has been there done that, while the other will be looking for their first bowl win.

Arkansas State will be making its third straight appearance in the GoDaddy Bowl and defensive coordinator John Thompson will be running the team for a second consecutive postseason. Like Hugh Freeze following the 2011 regular season and Gus Malzahn last year, Bryan Harsin left Arkansas State for a more high-profile job after guiding the team to a 7-5 record. The former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator accepted the head coaching job at his former school. Though Arkansas State named North Carolina offensive coordinator Blake Anderson their coach, Thompson will try to lead the Red Wolves to a second straight bowl win. Hiring Anderson makes him Arkansas State’s fifth coach in five seasons. Since 2011, the Red Wolves are 27-11. Prior to that, they finished above .500 once since becoming an FBS school in 1992. Arkansas State started 3-4 then won four straight before losing 34-31 on a two-yard touchdown pass with ten seconds left at Western Kentucky to conclude the regular season. They have allowed an average of 26.7 points per game (65th in the country), while they have allowed 67 points combined during their last two games. The Red Wolves are also 71st in passing defense giving up 234.4 passing yards per game. This may not fare well for them since Ball State is not just one of the best passing teams, but also one of the best scoring teams in the nation. What may help Arkansas State, however, is that they have not turned over the ball more than twice in any game this season and its 13 total turnovers are among the fewest in the country. Senior quarterback Adam Kennedy has been efficient this year throwing the ball and is one of the reasons the turnovers are so low. Kennedy, among the FBS leaders with a 69.3 completion percentage, threw for 2,327 yards and 11 TDs. He’s thrown only two of his six interceptions in the last five games. Kennedy has also run the ball well this year running for 514 yards and four touchdowns, making him the second leading rusher on the 24th ranked rushing offense. Sophomore Michael Gordon is the teams real rusher who had 717 rushing yards, 6.8 per carry, and ten touchdowns. Gordon had his two highest rushing totals of the season over the last three games with 184 yards against Texas State and 132 yards versus Western Kentucky. Arkansas State won 17-13 over then-No.25 Kansas State in last year’s GoDaddy Bowl after falling 38-20 to Northern Illinois the year before. Arkansas State has key wins against Troy (6-6) and at UL Monroe (6-6). They have key losses to Western Kentucky (8-4) and LA-Lafayette (8-4).

Ball State won ten games for the third time in school history, but will be looking for its first ever bowl win. They have their sights set on improving on a 0-7-1 bowl record. After a loss to Central Florida in last season’s Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, Ball State has been outscored 135-60 in its last three bowl games. The Cardinals will look to change their fortunes in bowl games behind its 12th ranked scoring offense (40.1 points per game) and ninth ranked passing offense (333.3 passing yards per game). Senior Keith Wenning is the school’s all-time leader in touchdown passes (91), passing yards (11,187), completions (1,012) and attempts (1,598). He set career highs this season with 3,933 passing yards (9th in the country) and 34 TDs (6th in the country), while only throwing six interceptions. Wenning has two 1,000-yard receivers at his disposal. Junior Willie Snead, who ranks among the FBS leaders with 97 receptions, 1,429 yards receiving and 14 TDs — 10 of which came over the last seven contests. Sophomore Jordan Williams has 68 catches, 1,016 yards and ten touchdowns. Ball State can do more than pass though, they have two 500-yard rushers. Jahwan Edwards has run for 964 yards and 13 TDs, while Horactio Banks has run for 595 yards and seven touchdowns. The Cardinals were on a seven-game winning streak before being exposed in a 48-27 loss to Northern Illinois in Jordan Lynch’s last regular season game. Lynch threw for 345 yards and ran for 123 yards. In a 27-24 win against Kent State, Kent State quarterback Colin Reardon threw for 166 yards and also ran for 71 yards, and in a 34-27 to North Texas they allowed Derek Thompson to throw for 274 yards and 72 yards on the ground on only six carries — both were a season-high in rushing yards for the quarterbacks. This could pose a problem for Ball State’s defense, who will go up against a dual-threat quarterback in Adam Kennedy. Ball State has key wins against Central Michigan (6-6) and Toledo (7-5). Their two losses were to North Texas (8-4) and Northern Illinois (12-1).

Tiago- Arkansas State

Matt- Ball State

Tom- Ball State