Despite losing its second straight game, Ball State's defense showed some of its most promising play of the season against Northern Illinois on Saturday.
It started with Ball State's third-down defense. After allowing opponents to convert 54 percent of third-down plays entering the game on Saturday, Ball State held Northern Illinois to 2-of-12 on third down conversions.
It continued with more discipline and better tackling by the defensive front seven, which recorded two sacks and a turnover, recovering a fumble by Northern Illinois wide receiver Tommylee Lewis in the fourth quarter.
And the defense did it all shorthanded. Sophomore safety J.C. Wade and senior cornerback Armand Dehaney, both starters, were inactive against Northern Illinois with injuries.
"Our defense came in knowing that it was going to be a physical game," junior defensive end Jonathan Newsome said. "I think our D-line did a good job just overall playing more physical than their offensive line today, and I think that's where it started at."
Newsome continued to prove himself to be Ball State's premier pass rusher, notching 1.5 sacks to pull his season total to 5.5 in only four games.
But even with Ball State holding its ground on third downs, creating a turnover and putting pressure on quarterback Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois still came up with enough big plays to earn points.
On a fourth-and-two play in the first quarter, Lynch ran to the left on a designed quarterback run, pushing through the first line of defenders and into the open field to score a 29-yard touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, running back Akeem Daniels got behind the Ball State safeties on a wheel route to the right sideline, catching a pass from Lynch in stride for a 54-yard score.
Lynch later sealed the game in the same quarter, bouncing off defenders on a run up the middle and outrunning everyone else to score from 71 yards out.
Even though it hasn't taken long for Newsome to become one of Ball State's best defensive players, plays like those kept him from taking many positives away from the game. That included his own play.
"For me, there is no personal success," he said. "I'm just out there doing my job. As far as our defense goes, we just have to be more consistent and stop them from making the big play."
As soon as Newsome finished speaking in Ball State's post-game press conference, Lembo added his thoughts on how the defense had played.
"These guys were 2-of-12 on third down today," Lembo said. "I don't know that anybody's done that to them. You know, you guys like to give us a hard time about where we're at on defense, but you know what, I think we played pretty well today against a pretty good team."
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