Everybody knows about Willie Snead, unquestionably Ball State’s No. 1 wide receiver.
And for good reason. the junior caught nine passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns Thursday night against Illinois State.
However, he wasn’t the only receiver to make an impact in Ball State’s 51-28 win.
Sophomore Jordan Williams caught a career-high six passes for 64 yards, along with the game-changing touchdown in the second quarter.
KeVonn Mabon, also a sophomore, caught just two passes, but had a block that helped break Snead open in the third quarter, which later led to Snead’s nine-yard fade for the go-ahead touchdown.
Snead also had a 40-yard touchdown in the third quarter where he caught a pass at the 28-yard line, then ran the rest of the way to the end zone.
“We feel like we have a really intelligent group of receivers,” head coach Pete Lembo said. “It’s a fairly experienced group. It was nice to see Jordan Williams and KeVonn continue to get more and more game experience and do good things for us.”
Although senior Connor Ryan started the game opposite Snead, he played two snaps before giving way to sophomore Jordan Williams in the first quarter.
It was Williams’ name that showed up more in the statistic sheet.
On the third play of Ball State’s first drive, the Cardinals had a first and 10 at the Illinois State 32-yard line.
Williams lined up wide left, next to Snead. At the snap, he ran an in route and senior quarterback Keith Wenning’s pass found him just after his break, five yards before the first down marker.
Immediately after making the catch, Williams was wrapped up by an Illinois State linebacker and cornerback.
However, instead of going down right away, the sophomore used all of his 216 pounds to fight through the gang tackle, dragging defenders for eight more yards.
It wasn’t Williams’ first catch that helped Ball State the most.
Late in the first half, the Cardinals were down 14-9 with 10 seconds remaining in the half.
Williams fought off the defensive back in the end zone and made a falling catch for his first career touchdown.
“The coverage wasn’t bad,” Lembo said. “They were on the same page in terms of what needed to be done. Keith put the ball in a perfect spot.”
Ryan managed just one catch for six yards, but even his one play was a big one.
Late in the third quarter, Ball State was staring at a third and 3 at the Illinois State 19-yard line.
Right after the snap, Ryan jumped and caught a quick pass from Wenning, keeping the drive alive.
“Connor Ryan had a huge catch on a high ball,” Lembo said. “He went up and got it and took a whack.”
Senior Jamill Smith caught four passes for 63 yards, but his value showed up on special teams Thursday.
“I was worried he was a little too hyped up going into the game,” Lembo said.
After Illinois State took a 14-6 lead, Smith took the following kickoff to the 10-yard line. Smith’s 90-yard return was a career-high for him.
Lembo said Smith was “bouncing off the walls” when the team got off the bus for the Cardinal Walk.
“I pulled him out of the locker room during warm-ups,” Lembo said. “We went out and watched their punter a little bit. We just kind of talked and shot the breeze.”
Smith almost broke off another kickoff to open the second half.
“All of our receivers contributed,” Lembo said. “A lot of receivers stepped up and had explosive plays for us.”
