#CardinalCamp19: Defense Makes Lots of Noise in Second Scrimmage
August 17, 2019 | Football
MUNCIE, Ind. – As the countdown continues to get closer and closer to the season opener against Indiana, the Ball State football team went through a second scrimmage Saturday morning that featured situational football as well as plenty of action for the backups.
Defensive coordinator David Elson had plenty to smile about after his unit forced three turnovers, held the offense without a first down on several drives and also stopped the offense twice inside the 10-yard line.
"I thought our leadership did a good job being ready to play," Elson said. "That's a credit to our older guys – Bryce Cosby, Ray Wilborn, Jacob White, Chris Crumb. Those guys had our guys ready to play. We kept things really simple, and they just executed and played hard. We talked about that. When you do the things we talked about – running to the ball and taking the ball away – good things are going to happen. We were able to do that today."
The first four drives of the scrimmage had the offense start right outside the red zone at the 25-yard line. Cornerback Tyler 'Red' Potts broke up a third-down pass in the end zone to stop one drive. Safety Malcolm Lee and cornerback Amechi Uzodinma II had back-to-back pass break ups in the end zone on the ensuing drive to force a turnover on downs.
The defense continued to shine when head coach Mike Neu flipped the script and made the offense start its drives inside its own territory. Cornerback Isaac James came up with the first interception of the day on a long pass attempt from quarterback Hank Hughes. James made a splash play a day before in practice as well. In one of the team periods, James took a tipped pass all the way to the end zone for a pick-six.
Freshman Chandler Crite came up with his own pick-six a few minutes later. The cornerback stepped in front of a wide receiver screen and raced untouched about 60 yards to pay dirt. The following series featured fellow freshman Harold Jones pulling down an interception on a jump ball type pass.
The offense did have a handful of bright moments during the 1.5-hour scrimmage. On the very first play of the situational drives, senior tight end Kyle Schrank easily scored on a 20-yard reverse toss back pass from quarterback Drew Plitt.
Freshman Jack Knight connected on a 37-yard field goal early in the scrimmage. Running back Walter Fletcher almost single-handedly carried the offense on a long touchdown drive. He notched a 30-yard run to get the Cardinals into scoring position and later made a nifty move to avoid a tackler on a 15-yard scoring run.
Ball State will break preseason camp after tomorrow's practice as classes begin on Monday.
The Cardinals play host to Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium in their season opener on Saturday, Aug. 31. The last time the two teams played at LOS in 2011, Ball State came away with a 27-20 victory. Click here to purchase tickets.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State football team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateFB and @BSUCoachNeu.
Defensive coordinator David Elson had plenty to smile about after his unit forced three turnovers, held the offense without a first down on several drives and also stopped the offense twice inside the 10-yard line.
"I thought our leadership did a good job being ready to play," Elson said. "That's a credit to our older guys – Bryce Cosby, Ray Wilborn, Jacob White, Chris Crumb. Those guys had our guys ready to play. We kept things really simple, and they just executed and played hard. We talked about that. When you do the things we talked about – running to the ball and taking the ball away – good things are going to happen. We were able to do that today."
The first four drives of the scrimmage had the offense start right outside the red zone at the 25-yard line. Cornerback Tyler 'Red' Potts broke up a third-down pass in the end zone to stop one drive. Safety Malcolm Lee and cornerback Amechi Uzodinma II had back-to-back pass break ups in the end zone on the ensuing drive to force a turnover on downs.
The defense continued to shine when head coach Mike Neu flipped the script and made the offense start its drives inside its own territory. Cornerback Isaac James came up with the first interception of the day on a long pass attempt from quarterback Hank Hughes. James made a splash play a day before in practice as well. In one of the team periods, James took a tipped pass all the way to the end zone for a pick-six.
Scrimmage No. 2 is in the books. @coachdavidelson had plenty of reasons to smile after the defense's performance.
— Ball State Football (@BallStateFB) August 17, 2019
? 3 INTs, including a @crite10 pick 6
? Several 3-and-outs
? 2 stops inside the 10-yard line#OTM | #CardinalCamp19 pic.twitter.com/DwFs9CbSzh
Freshman Chandler Crite came up with his own pick-six a few minutes later. The cornerback stepped in front of a wide receiver screen and raced untouched about 60 yards to pay dirt. The following series featured fellow freshman Harold Jones pulling down an interception on a jump ball type pass.
The offense did have a handful of bright moments during the 1.5-hour scrimmage. On the very first play of the situational drives, senior tight end Kyle Schrank easily scored on a 20-yard reverse toss back pass from quarterback Drew Plitt.
Freshman Jack Knight connected on a 37-yard field goal early in the scrimmage. Running back Walter Fletcher almost single-handedly carried the offense on a long touchdown drive. He notched a 30-yard run to get the Cardinals into scoring position and later made a nifty move to avoid a tackler on a 15-yard scoring run.
Ball State will break preseason camp after tomorrow's practice as classes begin on Monday.
The Cardinals play host to Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium in their season opener on Saturday, Aug. 31. The last time the two teams played at LOS in 2011, Ball State came away with a 27-20 victory. Click here to purchase tickets.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State football team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateFB and @BSUCoachNeu.
Players Mentioned
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