Cardinals Enter Final Week of Training Camp
August 14, 2024 | Football
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State Cardinals have begun their third week of football training camp, with 11 practices under their belt through Wednesday, and four to go before classes begin next Monday.
Under ninth-year head coach Mike Neu, the Cardinals are eager to begin a 2024 season that is the 100th in Ball State history. #Team100 is focused on structuring an offense around one of the most experienced lines in college football, and a defense excited about new beginnings under new coordinator Jeff Knowles.
In contrast to the 2023 season which featured a rotation of three starting quarterbacks, Ball State enters its new season with a commitment to redshirt freshman Kadin Semonza who started three of four games last year before preserving a valuable redshirt season. The youngster from Huntington Beach, California, brings a sharp, accurate, strong arm that was successful in securing at least one first down in each of six series during his collegiate debut last year at Kentucky. The Cardinals ran at least nine plays in five of those six second-half series against the SEC Wildcats.
This year, he will work with a receiving contingent that could be as deep and as talented as Ball State has seen during Neu's last eight seasons. Ty Robinson returns as an All-MAC caliber target who was the Cardinals' top receiver at Kentucky and Georgia last year, but who sustained a season-ending thumb injury between the hedges in Athens. He returns with another big target in Eastern Illinois transfer Justin Bowick, giving Ball State a perimeter receiving tandem that is rare in the MAC. Qian Magwood was the Cardinals' top receiver last season and he returns in the slot. Malcolm Gillie is a returning starter from 2023 and he joins Cam Pickett as the fastest pass-catchers in the Ball State arsenal. Nick Presley and utilityman Nick Munson will see snaps in a deep receiving corps that also features preseason All-MAC tight end Tanner Koziol. The tight end room is made complete with converted quarterback Christian Abney and Indiana State transfer Tyce Ferrell.
A rotating backfield will feature FCS All-American Braedon Sloan, a transfer from Eastern Kentucky, returning power back Vaughn Pemberton, redshirt freshman Christian Davis, and a pair of muscle backs in Charlie Spegal and Maximus Webster.Â
The motor that drives the offense, though, is its experienced offensive line that showcases four of five returning starters and boasts 117 career starts -- the most in the MAC and 12th-most in the FBS. Center Ethan Crowe (29 Div. I starts) anchors the unit from the middle, with Damon Kaylor (35) moving from left tackle, last year, to right tackle in 2024. Jon Mucciolo (38) was deemed a Transfer All-American last season and Taran Tyo (12) returns as the fourth starter. Kevin Meeder (3), Tristan Cook and transfer Luke Dalton complete the rotation on the first unit.
Defensively, Knowles brings a wealth of experience that includes success at previous FBS stints at Temple, Northern Illinois and NC State. He welcomes 2023 stalwarts Brandon Berger and Keionte Newson as leaders of the Cardinal defense that was a key in leading Ball State to victory in three of its final five games last year. Top returning players will be mixed with a bevy of newcomers as the Cardinals hope to re-shape a unit that lost its entire defensive line and key starters in the secondary.
Top returners include Joey Stemler, Jack Beebe, Jackson Wiegold and Caden Johnson who will work into the linebacker rotation with Berger, Newson and transfer George Udo. In the backfield, redshirt junior Thailand Baldwin was a part-time starter a year ago and leads a cast of returners that include DD Snyder and Jordan Coleman. Added to the DB mix is perhaps converted quarterback Kiael Kelly, who provides one of the Cardinals' biggest storylines this year. Kelly pondered the transfer portal but none of his suitors matched the "culture and opportunities" presented to him at Ball State, so he returned and welcomed a transition to the defensive side of the ball where his superior athleticism should be showcased covering opposing wideouts. Another key newcomer in the defensive backfield is Iowa State transfer Myles Norwood.
Ball State used its own portal access to beef-up its defensive line, welcoming a half-dozen transfers that join returners Danny Royster, Darin Conley, Drew Hughes, Nathan Reichert and Dakari Frazier. Former Pike High School star Kyran Montgomery returns to his Indiana roots following a transfer from Missouri. L'Cier Luter, Riley Tolsma, Justin Thomas and Hunter Sanderson all are hungry transfers eager to display their talents after starring at Division II, III or junior college levels.
There are proverbial "unknowns" while counting on a redshirt freshman quarterback and a host of defensive transfers. But there is no doubting #Team100's enthusiasm and eagerness to begin the 2024 season. A regular practice schedule awaits next week as classes begin in Muncie. The home opener against Missouri State awaits on September 7 with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
Under ninth-year head coach Mike Neu, the Cardinals are eager to begin a 2024 season that is the 100th in Ball State history. #Team100 is focused on structuring an offense around one of the most experienced lines in college football, and a defense excited about new beginnings under new coordinator Jeff Knowles.
In contrast to the 2023 season which featured a rotation of three starting quarterbacks, Ball State enters its new season with a commitment to redshirt freshman Kadin Semonza who started three of four games last year before preserving a valuable redshirt season. The youngster from Huntington Beach, California, brings a sharp, accurate, strong arm that was successful in securing at least one first down in each of six series during his collegiate debut last year at Kentucky. The Cardinals ran at least nine plays in five of those six second-half series against the SEC Wildcats.
This year, he will work with a receiving contingent that could be as deep and as talented as Ball State has seen during Neu's last eight seasons. Ty Robinson returns as an All-MAC caliber target who was the Cardinals' top receiver at Kentucky and Georgia last year, but who sustained a season-ending thumb injury between the hedges in Athens. He returns with another big target in Eastern Illinois transfer Justin Bowick, giving Ball State a perimeter receiving tandem that is rare in the MAC. Qian Magwood was the Cardinals' top receiver last season and he returns in the slot. Malcolm Gillie is a returning starter from 2023 and he joins Cam Pickett as the fastest pass-catchers in the Ball State arsenal. Nick Presley and utilityman Nick Munson will see snaps in a deep receiving corps that also features preseason All-MAC tight end Tanner Koziol. The tight end room is made complete with converted quarterback Christian Abney and Indiana State transfer Tyce Ferrell.
A rotating backfield will feature FCS All-American Braedon Sloan, a transfer from Eastern Kentucky, returning power back Vaughn Pemberton, redshirt freshman Christian Davis, and a pair of muscle backs in Charlie Spegal and Maximus Webster.Â
The motor that drives the offense, though, is its experienced offensive line that showcases four of five returning starters and boasts 117 career starts -- the most in the MAC and 12th-most in the FBS. Center Ethan Crowe (29 Div. I starts) anchors the unit from the middle, with Damon Kaylor (35) moving from left tackle, last year, to right tackle in 2024. Jon Mucciolo (38) was deemed a Transfer All-American last season and Taran Tyo (12) returns as the fourth starter. Kevin Meeder (3), Tristan Cook and transfer Luke Dalton complete the rotation on the first unit.
Defensively, Knowles brings a wealth of experience that includes success at previous FBS stints at Temple, Northern Illinois and NC State. He welcomes 2023 stalwarts Brandon Berger and Keionte Newson as leaders of the Cardinal defense that was a key in leading Ball State to victory in three of its final five games last year. Top returning players will be mixed with a bevy of newcomers as the Cardinals hope to re-shape a unit that lost its entire defensive line and key starters in the secondary.
Top returners include Joey Stemler, Jack Beebe, Jackson Wiegold and Caden Johnson who will work into the linebacker rotation with Berger, Newson and transfer George Udo. In the backfield, redshirt junior Thailand Baldwin was a part-time starter a year ago and leads a cast of returners that include DD Snyder and Jordan Coleman. Added to the DB mix is perhaps converted quarterback Kiael Kelly, who provides one of the Cardinals' biggest storylines this year. Kelly pondered the transfer portal but none of his suitors matched the "culture and opportunities" presented to him at Ball State, so he returned and welcomed a transition to the defensive side of the ball where his superior athleticism should be showcased covering opposing wideouts. Another key newcomer in the defensive backfield is Iowa State transfer Myles Norwood.
Ball State used its own portal access to beef-up its defensive line, welcoming a half-dozen transfers that join returners Danny Royster, Darin Conley, Drew Hughes, Nathan Reichert and Dakari Frazier. Former Pike High School star Kyran Montgomery returns to his Indiana roots following a transfer from Missouri. L'Cier Luter, Riley Tolsma, Justin Thomas and Hunter Sanderson all are hungry transfers eager to display their talents after starring at Division II, III or junior college levels.
There are proverbial "unknowns" while counting on a redshirt freshman quarterback and a host of defensive transfers. But there is no doubting #Team100's enthusiasm and eagerness to begin the 2024 season. A regular practice schedule awaits next week as classes begin in Muncie. The home opener against Missouri State awaits on September 7 with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
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