Tennessee football vs. Ball State: 10 keys to the game

1. What wins out? Vols’ secondary issues or Ball State’s inexperience at QB?

We all know about Tennessee football’s issues in the secondary. The Vols already had a below average pass defense last year, and in a preview of what this year would look like without Alontae Taylor, who opted out of the Music City Bowl, that pass defense was historically bad against the Purdue Boilermakers. They now enter this year with even more questions.

Ball State could be a team that exploits that. What helps the Vols is that the Cardinals lose one of their top playmakers in Justin Hall. However, their leading receiver, Jayshon Jenkins, is back, and Yo’Heinz Tyler had nearly 500 yards on the other side. Together, these two could be dangerous to a secondary like UT’s.

The real factor becomes the quarterback. As we know, Ball State is replacing Drew Plitt. John Paddock has been named their signal-caller, and we really have no idea what to make of him. He gained experience in garbage time last year, but that doesn’t mean anything.

As a result, what wins out? Will Tennessee football’s secondary shut down Ball State because of Paddock’s inexperience, or will Paddock torch them given the weapons he has who returned to the program? That will be the biggest factor in determining if this is a close game or not.