Willie Snead didn’t surprise himself with the numbers he put up last season.
In fact, he intends on putting up better numbers this season.
The Ball State junior wide receiver recorded 1,148 receiving yards as a sophomore and was consistently in the top 20 among receivers in the country. His 89 receptions tied for 16th best in the nation with Toledo’s Bernard Reedy.
“I knew if I worked hard, I could do anything I put my mind to,” Snead said. “I pressure myself to do well. I’m all the way up here [from Florida], and if I’m going to be up, here I might as well put everything I’ve got into it.”
Snead’s prolific season came as a product of a 3,000 passing yard season from senior quarterback Keith Wenning. The tandem connected for nine of Wenning’s 24 touchdowns.
The duo has developed since they began playing together during Snead’s freshman season in 2011.
“Every time we want to go throw together, we’re making each other better,” Wenning said. “He understands how to run routes; I know where to put the ball. That chemistry is vital.”
Snead isn’t a big target for Wenning. At only 5-feet-11-inches, he’s the third-smallest receiver for the Cardinals. He makes up for his height with hands, but also his quarterback knowledge from his high school career.
Snead played quarterback at Muskegon Heights High School in 2010.
“When Keith and I meet, we talk from a quarterback standpoint,” Snead said. “We ask what would the quarterback do, which helps us move at a quicker pace.”
Offensive coordinator Rich Skrosky has used Snead in a number of offensive packages to make him a versatile weapon for the Cardinals. Wenning has been able to find Snead on deep routes down the middle of the field as well as on underneath screen routes.
The versatility makes Snead one of the more dangerous wide receivers in the Mid-American Conference. With Wenning throwing to him, the two could be one of the best quarterback-wide receiver combinations in the conference.
“There’s a couple from other teams that are pretty good,” Wenning said. “But I definitely think we’re one of the top and have been one of the top for the past couple of years.”
It’ll be difficult for Wenning and Snead to duplicate the same numbers in 2013 with MAC defenses taking notice at Snead’s abilities.
Snead’s goal for his junior season is to eclipse the 1,200-yard mark, which would put him at least 355 yards short of Dante Ridgeway’s Ball State record for career receiving yards of 3,030 with his senior season remaining.
“We just have to be consistent,” Wenning said. “We have the mindset that we aren’t satisfied and we have to keep working.”
