MUNCIE, Ind- The Ball State football team hosted its annual spring showcase on April 14, and the first under new head coach, Mike Uremovich. The team uses this event as a chance to show fans what they have been working on all spring, and they look to take this opportunity to grow and become better before the season starts in August.
The football team underwent a coaching change after last season. Quarterback, Kiael Kelly, says that the biggest change from last season is just starting from scratch and having to grow together due to learning new schemes.
“Basically, we started from scratch, so everybody started from the same level,” Kelly said. “It’s like we’re all freshmen and learning to grow together because we have an entire new offensive scheme and nobody knew what to expect coming into spring practice.”
Uremovich said that one thing that stuck out to him was how slow they started the day.
“I thought the players started the day slow and were saving themselves for the scrimmage,” Uremovich explained. “That is one thing I want to fix by the end of the summer because we can’t start games like that in real games.”
Uremovich also said that the biggest thing he learned throughout the spring is that they are a hardworking
team and that they’re going to be competitors
“They’re going to compete and play hard. They’ve done all the things we’ve asked, and that’s really all you could ask for as a coach. I’m looking forward to the summer and camp with all the effort they have been putting in with things on and off the field, with things like conditioning and lifting.”
The Cardinals start the season against non-conference opponents such as Purdue, Auburn, New Hampshire, and UConn. Coach Uremovich says that he loves the schedule the way it is and that the conference games can help set them up for MAC play.
“The non-conference games are really challenging games and can help us get better, and I like the way our games are set up, so we have our non-conference games, and then the week 5 bye wee,k and then the rest of our games are MAC games. If it was up to me, I would always have a week-five bye.”
Everyone has a game that they have circled on their calendar that they’re looking forward to. Kiael Kelly says that the games that they’re looking forward to are Purdue and Toledo.
“I’m really looking forward to the first game of the season against Purdue. It’s the first game of the season and our first one under Coach U. I’d love to go out there and make a great first impression. I am also looking forward to the Toledo game because I’ve been here so long and we’ve never beat them, and I’d like to do that before I leave.”
There are a number of new faces that have joined the team this offseason through the transfer portal. Quarterback Walter Taylor III, who transferred from Colorado, is one of them. He said that an advantage that he got from moving to Muncie was that there is nothing to do, so it’s easier for him to focus on just football.
“There’s nothing to do here in Muncie, so it’s easier for me to stay locked in and do just Football stuff with no outside distractions,” said Taylor
The Cardinals start their season on August 30, at Ross-Ade Stadium against Purdue.
Contact Camden Jackson with comments at Camden.Jackson@bsu.edu.
