Every Thursday during football season, we'll be presenting reasons why Northwestern will or won't come away from its Saturday game victorious. It's not so much an argument for or against either result as it is envisioning the scenarios in which the Wildcats come away from the game with a win or a loss.
This week, Ball State comes to Ryan Field. The Cardinals are 2-1, having won their Mid-American Conference opener on the road at Eastern Michigan on Saturday. As power-conference teams around the country have found this season, the MAC has produced a bunch of upsets, meaning NU has to be on its toes this weekend.