The Ball State football spring game is usually filled with laughs and little importance. Like a preseason game, the results are meaningless. However, for the two punters competing for one job in the fall it meant a lot.
Kyle Schmidt started the spring game playing with the first-team offense, and Alex Egan took over with the second-team.
However, neither played well out of the gate, constantly shanking punts into the sidelines or kicking them well short of the coverage.
“I have some things to work on, continuing to get better,” Schmidt said. “I’m a little disappointed, but we’ve got all summer to fix some things ... We’ve got a lot of time. I think it’s nine more weeks with Coach Feely in the weight room to continue to get better and work hard every day.”
Although he started with the first-team, Schmidt doesn’t feel he has an advantage going into the summer camps.
“I don’t feel I have a leg up,” Schmidt said. “I think we’ve both been working hard. We have a good friendship, we help each other out. I think we’re each rooting for each other in a way. It’s good competition. It’ll make both of us better.”
When four-year starter Scott Kovanda left due to graduation, it left a large hole in Ball State’s roster at the punter spot. Neither player seems to have taken hold of the competition so far.
Ball State coach Pete Lembo said that both players “have had their highs and lows this spring.”
Lembo also said there is no hurry to name the starter for the regular season.
“Unlike other positions where it’s so critical that you make a decision so that player can work with the players around them, it’s not as critical for a punter that you make an early decision,” Lembo said. “We can let that competition continue into preseason camp and make a decision probably halfway through camp.”
After many punts throughout the game, the coaches halted action to work on certain special teams drills, mostly punting drills.
Lembo said both players’ performances at the spring game were “inconsistent.”
“They’ve both shown flashes that they can do it,” Lembo said. “Both have been somewhat inconsistent. Obviously we haven’t had the best of weather, we’ve had a lot of windy days, a lot of rainy days, but we don’t make excuses about those things.”
Both are competing to be the next in a long line of excellent Ball State specialists.
“It would mean the world to me,” Schmidt said of winning the punting job. “It’s my ultimate goal. It’s kind of a dream to be a punter in college so to be a punter for Ball State, my school, would be awesome.”
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