Ball State football MAC media day takeaways: QB battle, transfers, training camp focus

MUNCIE, Ind. — The 2023 college football season is fast approaching, and Mid-American Conference teams on Thursday flocked to Fox Theatre in Detroit for Media Day.
Ball State was represented by head coach Mike Neu, senior linebacker Clayton Coll and redshirt sophomore tight end Brady Hunt. The trio shed light on the Cardinals' starting quarterback battle, standout newcomers they added since April's Spring Game and points of emphasis heading into training camp.
While more concrete evaluations will be made once practices begin on Aug. 1, here are the major takeaways from BSU's Media Day showing:
Layne Hatcher named starting QB for Week 1
The QB competition between graduate transfer Layne Hatcher and redshirt sophomore Kiael Kelly has been the talk of the offseason.
Last year, Ball State's offense — led by starting quarterback John Paddock, who transferred to Illinois — ranked ninth in passing efficiency in the MAC during conference play. And with the loss of MAC top rusher Carson Steele, who transferred to UCLA, BSU needs a boost under center if it's to finish above .500.
Both of Paddock's potential replacements garner excitement. Hatcher, a college veteran who's thrown for over 10,000 career yards during stops at Arkansas State and Texas State, brings a similar pocket-passer playstyle to Paddock but with a more proven track record.
Kelly, who played in BSU's final game of 2022 and rushed for 83 yards and threw for 23, is a dual-threat QB who flashed intriguing potential in the Spring Game.
With such contrasting profiles and potential, it made sense for Neu and his staff to keep the starting spot available. Neu, Coll and Hunt all said in Thursday morning interviews with The Star Press that the competition remained open, despite each of them first referencing and going into more detail on Hatcher before mentioning Kelly when asked about the situation.
Neu did, however, initially indicate that Hatcher was currently ahead.
"We'll continue to battle that competition in training camp," Neu said. "I would say heading into to the Kentucky game right now before camp starts, Layne would have the edge."
But when Neu was later interviewed on television, he pivoted and officially declared the starting quarterback for BSU's Week 1 game at Kentucky on Sept. 2.
"(Hacther) will go into our game against Kentucky as the starter. We'll continue the competition here in camp, but it's my job, it's our job, to get both quarterbacks on the field together," Neu said Thursday afternoon. "Perhaps we'll motion Kiael out of the backfield. Maybe we'll have a little shift package involved. But Kiael's too dynamic, so there'll be a package for him as well because he is a really good football player and has got big-play ability."
Neu's comments seemingly contrasted with those made by him, Coll and Hunt earlier in the day. Yet both players sung Hatcher's praises as well, with Coll calling Hatcher "by far one of the hardest-working people I've ever met," and Hunt echoing that sentiment while adding that he and Hatcher have become "comfortable with each other" throughout practice this spring and summer.
Roster additions to inexperienced WR and DB units
With Hatcher under center, Marquez Cooper — the MAC's No. 2 rusher in 2022 — replacing Steele in the backfield and solid groups of returners to the tight end, offensive line and defensive front seven groups, Ball State's biggest uncertainties are in the wide receiver and defensive back units.
Jayshon Jackson and Yo'Heinz Tyler, BSU's starting wideouts in 2022, left for the NFL Draft. All four starting DB's — including NFL signees Nic Jones, Amechi Uzodinma II, Jaquan Amos — are gone as well. Neu said that he and his staff would search for replacements in the transfer portal after the Spring Game, and the Cardinals subsequently brought in several depth pieces.
On offense, Hunt believes there are "some transfer receivers that are gonna take some people by surprise."
Fifth-year Jacksonville State transfer wideout Ahmad Edwards might be the most notable addition. He's now the most experienced pass catcher on BSU's roster, boasting 80 catches, 1,141 yards and 10 touchdowns in his five-year Gamecock career.
His best season came in 2021, when he led the team's receivers with 45 catches for 561 yards and five TD's, and he also caught the game-winning score in the Gamecock's upset 20-17 victory over Florida State.
Neu said the 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound pass catcher will play a "big role."
"Just his football intelligence, extremely smart guy that when you don't have a chance to go through spring, that's the first thing that you hope (for)," Neu said. "He's gonna be able to pick up the offense very quickly here, so very excited about that."
Junior Ty Robinson from Colorado also received praise from Neu, specifically in how strength and conditioning director Ben Armer and Robinson's new teammates glowed about him during summer workouts.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 195-pound wideout lacked production during his two seasons with the Buffaloes — nine catches for 95 yards and one score — but played in 23 games was ranked the No. 122 prospect in the country by ESPN coming out of high school.
Junior JUCO transfer Malcolm Gillie, who did participate in spring practices, was again cited as a likely contributor as well. Hunt said the 6-foot-2-inch, 195-pound receiver has been "standing out" since arriving on campus, and Neu continues to see progression.
In two seasons at Ellsworth Community College, Gillie was a two-time First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Region selection. He played in 17 games overall and caught 38 passes for 525 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, Virginia Military Institute graduate transfer Aljareek Malry was the first newcomer Neu mentioned. In 42 games over four seasons, the 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound safety finished with 233 total tackles, two interceptions, 13.5 tackles for loss, nine passes defensed and one forced fumble.
"You can see his maturity. You can see his experience," Neu said. "He's picked things up quickly, so very excited about him coming in and competing in that safety room."
Old Dominion graduate transfer cornerback Damion Charity and JUCO redshirt sophomore transfer safety AJ Taylor were also new players Neu said have made an impression.
Charity (6-feet-2-inches, 185 pounds), who earned most of his career production in 2021 when he tallied 17 tackles and one pass breakup in 13 games, has progressively improved throughout the summer as he's become more comfortable, according to Neu.
In his lone season at Iowa Western Community College, Taylor (6-feet, 195 pounds) tallied 14 tackles, 1.5 TFL's, two interceptions, four pass breakups and one forced fumble in 12 games.
Training camp points of emphasis
Despite being picked to finish fifth in the MAC's West Division in the head coaches' preseason poll, Neu, Coll and Hunt enter this fall with optimism.
BSU's surefire advantages are in its "dynamic duo" of Hunt and sophomore Tanner Koziol at tight end, an experienced and versatile linebacking trio of Coll, redshirt senior Cole Pearce and Sidney Houston Jr. that Neu dubbed "no question the strength of our football team," and playmakers in the backfield and linemen units.
Yet last season proved that simply having talent doesn't lead to wins. Ball State in 2022 had every opportunity to finish the season strong and make a bowl game. Instead, the team went 1-4 down the stretch and finished on a three-game losing streak.
Neu said red zone execution, two-minute offense and self-inflicted mistakes were the main reasons for the Cardinals' shortcomings. This training camp will emphasize those areas.
"We've got to score touchdowns in the red zone. We can't settle for field goals. We moved the ball last year. We just didn't score enough points," Neu said. "We left a touchdown out there every game or every time we were down the red zone.
"We were in seven one-possession games last year in this conference, lost four those, and that really came down to two-minute football ... We can't blink, we can't stress when we get to those two-minute situations. So we've got to continue to look at great ways to challenge our guys and practice to put them in a stressful situation so it carries over to the game.
"We were minus-six last year in turnover margin, minus-five in the month of November in MACtion. When we're playing meaningful games, we can't beat ourselves, can't shoot ourselves in the foot."
In addition to simply limiting self-caused mistakes, Neu said he and his staff will adjust their approach to red zone schemes. He and Hunt feel there is more diversity with this season's offensive roster, and they hope to utilize that in scoring position.
"Obviously, the two tight ends will be a big part of that because of their size and catch radius. Obviously, what can we do with Marquez down there?" Neu said. "I firmly believe that a lot of it we can fix some of our own problems. We've got to really be good at that and get good at that and get confident with that while we're in training camp."
Hunt also sees the offense being more explosive overall. He said big-play ability was lacking last year and expects this group to be more dynamic with its a pair of elite tight ends, two capable running backs in Cooper and redshirt sophomore Vaughn Pemberton and QB's of complimentary strengths.
"I feel like this year we're gonna be a balanced offense. We've got, obviously, weapons in the run game and the pass game. We're going to be relying on more people this year, so it's going to be a little bit more dynamic and less one-dimensional, which I think can be really good for us," Hunt said. "I feel like we're gonna be more explosive this year, have some bigger plays down the field. We're trying to push that a little bit, having more 30-yard-plus plays and really just shifting the momentum of games."
Coll is confident in his side of the ball as well. He admitted that there are uncertainties in the secondary, but believes junior DB Jordan Riley's experience will help lead that unit.
If the backend of the defense can manage, Coll said the front seven should see several players make an impact.
Chemistry off the field, too, can sometimes help make up for deficiencies between the lines. Neu, as he always tries to do, will make team bonding an emphasis during camp as well.
"One of the big goals we have always during camp is: How close can we become as a team?" Neu said. "A lot of team-building stuff that we do at night just to try to finish every single night before they go to bed making sure that it's all about getting to know each other like the back of your hand, so that you know when you're in those stressful moments in practice, stressful moments in games, you know what that guy next to you is all about. You know you can count on him. He can count on you. That's a big part of what we try to get accomplished in training camp."