College football fans could have a new folk hero Saturday afternoon.
Ball State redshirt junior quarterback Keldric Luster, standing at 5-foot-10 and 250 pounds according to his school biography, will have the first chance to take down No. 1 Ohio State.
Luster’s unusual size for a quarterback has put him on the national radar Saturday’s clash.
“I’ve been riding with a chip on my shoulder my whole life, so it’s really nothing that phases me, honestly,” Luster told the Muncie Star Press. “I’ve seen quarterbacks of my height do it as well, come from where I’m from. One in the league, Kyler Murray, he’s kind of on the shorter side of quarterbacks, he’s from that Allen, McKinney area, and he’s playing in the big leagues. I feel like the sky’s the limit for me.”
Luster is a relative unknown in the college football world and he’s not your typical quarterback.
His 5-foot-10 stature makes him smaller than the prototypical signal caller, while he’s heavier than most quarterbacks by weighing in at 250 pounds.
Texas’ Arch Manning, for example, is listed by the school as 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, while Oregon’s Dante Moore is registered at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds.
Ohio State fan site elevenwarriors.com described Luster as a “bowling ball.”
Luster said Monday he’s seen some of the attention he’s generated due to his size.
“Teammates sent it to me, people back home sent it to me,” he said of the buzz. “I’ve kind of tried to block it out a little bit. Getting ready for Week 1.”
Plenty of quarterbacks have excelled despite not being the prototypical mold, and Luster seemingly is set to receive his first extended chance to showcase his skills.
He started his career with SMU from 2023-24, appearing in seven games for the program before heading to Texas State for the 2025 season.
Luster has appeared in just nine games, tallying 37 passing yards and 76 rushing yards.
“I feel like, seeing the measurables, I surprise a lot of people,” Luster, a Texas native, told the Muncie Star Press last month. “But I’m confident in my game, and I know there’s people out there that’s confident in my game as well. At the end of the day, I’m just ready to display it on Saturdays and show this Muncie community and Ball State program what I can do this year.”
