KENT, Ohio (Interstat) — Ball State will visit Kent State on Saturday in an NCAA Football Bowl Division game at Dix Stadium. Both teams enter with 1-2 records. The Cardinals are the visiting team, and the Golden Flashes are the home team. The forecast at game time calls for 64 degrees.

Ball State is coming off a 51-15 loss at Liberty in its most recent game. Keldric Luster is the player to watch for the Cardinals. In that game, Luster completed 10 of 21 passes for 93 yards and ran 10 times for 30 yards. Earlier this season at Ohio State, he completed 18 of 33 passes for 89 yards and added nine rushes for 10 yards. TJ Horton also produced for Ball State in the Liberty game, rushing eight times for 79 yards, returning two kicks for 40 yards and scoring two touchdowns. Johnny Thompson Jr. ran seven times for 41 yards, caught one pass for one yard and recorded one tackle.

Before the Liberty loss, Ball State beat Stony Brook 41-17. The Cardinals opened the season with a 56-3 loss at Ohio State. Ball State will look to Luster to guide an offense that has shown flashes despite a difficult early schedule.

Kent State is coming off a 59-3 loss at Ohio State. Dru DeShields is the player to watch for the Golden Flashes. In the most recent game, DeShields passed for 35 yards and rushed twice for 6 yards. Da’Realyst Clark contributed one catch for 14 yards, one kick return for 5 yards and completed one pass for 29 yards. Nolan Good added three rushes for 5 yards.

The Golden Flashes beat Wofford 36-15 before the Ohio State loss. Kent State opened with a 57-0 loss at South Carolina. Kent State will rely on DeShields and Clark as it returns home to Dix Stadium, where the Golden Flashes will try to build momentum against a Ball State team also searching for consistency.

The matchup offers both programs a chance to move above .500 before continuing their schedules. Ball State has upcoming games against Toledo, Northwestern, Bowling Green, Sacramento State, Massachusetts, Buffalo, Ohio and Central Michigan. Kent State is set to face Ohio, Western Michigan, South Florida, Akron, Sacramento State, Bowling Green, Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Michigan. Those games will follow the meeting.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Kent State 30, Ball State 29. Interstat’s ELO system gives Kent State a 53 percent probability to win. Ball State has been installed as the pregame favorite with a spread of +3, and the over/under is 50.5.