Among the deep passes from Ball State quarterback Keith Wenning to a variety of his wide receivers in Saturday's Spring Game, a newcomer made himself a name to wrap up the spring season.
Running back Toney Williams, a transfer from Tennessee, got his first game situation action during the Spring Game and made the most with the touches he got.
Williams made bursts through the holes on the line and was able to get into the secondary on a few of his runs. His most impressive run went for 51 yards but a holding penalty negated the run.
"He's a very talented guy and he does a really nice job of running the football," Ball State coach Pete Lembo said. "Where he needs to develop right now is just getting comfortable with the system and doing the other things we expect a running back to do."
In his offensive system, Lembo said the running backs have three expectations: running the football, giving the quarterback pass protection and catching the ball out of the backfield.
"Toney's about where some of our guys were at this point last year," Lembo said. "Just in terms of getting comfortable and needing more time and more reps."
While he was impressive during the Spring Game, Williams' biggest challenge in the fall could be the depth that Ball State has at the running back position. Last season, Jahwan Edwards and Barrington Scott were the two feature backs for the Cardinals while Dwayne Donigan also got touches as well.
Scott did not participate in the Spring Game as he is still recovering from a broken leg he suffered on Nov. 5 against Eastern Michigan.
But Lembo doesn't see the depth at the running back position as a negative. In fact, he said his team is fortunate to have a number of running backs because it is an ideal situation to him.
"Anybody who has ever been involved with football knows that you can never have enough good tailbacks," Lembo said. "Because it seems like they are never all healthy."
Scott's return to full strength in the fall along with Williams and added redshirt freshman Horactio Banks the running back position for Ball State could be its deepest position on roster.
If he uses the running backs in the fall like he did last season, any combination of them could get playing time with the first team. All four of the running backs saw reps with the first team offense in the Spring Game on Saturday. The mix-and-match style comes from the depth, which Lembo hopes he can have that benefit for all positions in the future.
"We need congested positions," he said. "We want that with every position but we certainly aren't there yet."
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