Tom Allen said he wants his rush defense to be tested, and he won’t need to wait long for his first chance.

Ball State, who IU (1-0) will play at 4 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium, is coming off a 31-21 win over Georgia State that saw the Cardinals rush for 325 yards, their highest total since 2012, and four touchdowns.

Allen said he expects nothing less out of Ball State (1-0) this weekend and is excited to see what his defense can do against a run-first team after beating up on Florida International’s pass-first offense last week.

“That’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Allen said, “and we’ve got to take the next step in my mind of being able to stop a running team from doing what they do best.”

First-year Ball State coach Mike Neu stayed true to his promise of using a running back by committee approach with the three-headed monster of sophomore James Gilbert (29 carries, 160 yards and two touchdowns), junior Darian Green (13 carries, 93 yards and one touchdown) and senior Teddy Williamson (four carries, 28 yards and a touchdown) all getting involved in the offense early.

Green is listed as the starter on the depth chart, but Neu said this week that he’ll split carries based on who has the hot hand and opportunities to expose matchups.

“I’ve said from day one that when I got here I love the running back group overall,” Neu said. “All those guys are going to have an opportunity to get some touches throughout the course of the game because it’s a good group and they practice hard…We’ve got a good running back group. We’ve got to put those guys in position to have success and make sure they get touches.”

Indiana can expect a heavy dose of rushes from those three and even sophomore quarterback Riley Neal, a former IU target, who took four carries for 48 yards to go along with 130 passing yards on 29 attempts against Georgia State.

Neal isn't a dual-threat quarterback by nature, but he took a read option for 46 yards against the Panthers last week to set up a touchdown for Williamson that helped establish Ball State's lead in the second half.

“When you watch them play, they’re really physical up front,” Allen said. “They do a great job of getting off the football. You can tell that’s their identity. That’s what they want. That’s what they went to when things kind of started going the wrong direction (last week). For me, that’s a challenge to our guys.”

Indiana held FIU to just 63 yards on 21 carries in a 21-point win in Miami, but the Golden Panthers weren’t leaning as heavily on the ground attack as the Hoosiers expect the Cardinals to this week.

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Nate Hoff, who had three tackles last week, said the key to slowing down Ball State’s ground game is stopping the ball before the backs get into space. The Hoosiers had just two tackles for loss last week but are going to be looking for more this weekend.

“Penetration is the key to stopping runs,” Hoff said. “It’s harder when you have to make a cut or a move off it, so we have to play downhill.”

Indiana ranked No. 13 in the Big Ten last season in rushing yards allowed per game, giving up 195.7 yards per game. That number isn’t acceptable in Allen’s world, which prioritizes stopping the run first even against teams that rely on rushing attacks.

This week, he’ll get his first crack and fixing it.

“From day one, you want your defense to know you’re going to stop the run,” Allen said. “That’s our No. 1 objective is to stop the run, and our defense is built that way. Even though I believe we’re a multiple system and can adjust to spreads and that style, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to stop the run.”