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 Draft Scout College Football Player News: Ball State
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  Backup quarterback Layne Hatcher threw four second-half touchdowns - three of them to Corey Rucker - turning a one-point halftime deficit into a rout as Arkansas State dominated the second half to beat FCS-member Central Arkansas 40-21 in a season opener on Saturday. Central Arkansas used a stout defense and Breylin Smith's 66-yard scoring strike to Chris Richmond to lead 7-6 at halftime. The Red Wolves' scoring came on two Blake Grupe field goals. Arkansas State starting QB James Blackman directed a nine-play 51-yard drive for the go-ahead score with 8:21 left in the third quarter after Johnnie Lang returned a punt 29 yards to near midfield. Alan Lamar ended the drive with a 2-yard TD run for a 13-7 lead.

Hatcher took over from there, completing all 12 of his pass attempts for 150 yards. He found Rucker for the first time for a 34-yard score at the 2:53 mark of the third quarter. The duo connected twice in the fourth quarter from eight and 33 yards out to push the Arkansas State lead to 33-14. Hatcher capped the scoring with a 5-yard TD toss to Te'Vaila Hunt with 2:48 left to play. Rucker finished with nine catches for 138 yards. Blackman completed 16 of 26 passes for 169 yards. Smith completed 23 of 42 passes for 296 yards with three TDs and two interceptions for the Bears. Luj Winningham had six catchers for 84 yards and two scores, while Tyler Hudson hauled in seven passes for 118 yards. Chris Richmond also had a TD catch. - Arkansas State/AP College Football

rSr/2024 QB Layne Hatcher, Ball State
News Source: Arkansas State/AP College Football
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  Drew Plitt threw two long touchdown passes to Justin Hall and Ball State pulled away in the second half for a 31-21 victory over Western Illinois in a nonconference season opener on Thursday night. Plitt connected with Hall for a 49-yard score midway through the first quarter to open the scoring and fired a 48-yard scoring strike to Hall midway through the third quarter to give the Cardinals a 21-14 lead. Carson Steele raced 37 yards for a TD early in the fourth quarter to make it 28-14 and Jake Chanove added a 35-yard field goal to cap Ball State's scoring. Plitt completed 17 of 28 passes for 188 yards and the two scores. Will Jones carried 18 times for 93 yards and a TD, while Steele added 79 yards on seven totes.

The Leathernecks hung with the defending Mid-American Conference champions, forging a 7-7 halftime tie when Connor Sampson directed a 13-play, 96-yard drive that culminated with Tony Tate's 1-yard run to paydirt. Sampson completed 30 of 43 passes for 367 yards with two TDs and an interception. Sampson hooked up with Dennis Houston for a 75-yard scoring strike to knot the score at 14 with 10:17 left in the third quarter, but Ball State answered with 17 straight points to wrap up the victory. Houston finished with 12 catches for 237 yards and two scores. Western Illinois managed just 70 yards on the ground on 24 carries, while the Cardinals ran for 216 on 40 attempts. - Ball State/AP College Football

rSr/2022 QB Drew Plitt, Ball State
News Source: Ball State/AP College Football
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  Ball State quarterback Drew Plitt found himself on another watch list Thursday. Plitt was named to the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm watch list, which annually recognizes the top senior or upperclassmen quarterback. Last season, Plitt - who enters his third year as the Cardinals' starter - scored 21 touchdowns, was ranked 18th nationally in passing efficiency (155.6) and 23rd in completion percentage (.656). Plitt, who was named the offensive player of the game in both Ball State's Mid-American Conference Championship and Arizona Bowl wins last season, helped Ball State to top-30 national rankings in scoring (25th, 34.2) and yards per game (27th, 447.2). He enters this season with 6,520 career passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns, which ranks fourth and third, respectively, in school history. - Star Press

rSr/2022 QB Drew Plitt, Ball State
News Source: Star Press
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  Arkansas State's Layne Hatcher is getting some more national attention. The Little Rock native is one of 32 quarterbacks on the 2021 Manning Award watch list. Hatcher is one of 4 Sun Belt standouts the Allstate Sugar Bowl selected on Thursday. Hatcher landed on the watch list for the CFPA National Performer of the Year on Wednesday. The College Football Performance Awards hand out this trophy annually to the best player in FBS. Hatcher threw for 2,058 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2020. The pride of Pulaski Academy is already top 10 in A-State history in career passing yards (7th), passing touchdowns (T-5th), and total offense (9th). - KAIT8.com

rSr/2024 QB Layne Hatcher, Ball State
News Source: KAIT8.com
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  If Ball State football took anyone by surprise in 2020, it is unlikely similar success in 2021 will result in the same response. According to the Mid-American Conference's preseason media poll, BSU was selected as the favorite to win in both the MAC's West Division and the conference's championship game. Ball State earned 11 first-place votes and 114 total points to lead its division. Ball State earned seven votes to lead those picked to win the MAC title game. Last year, when the Cardinals won the MAC and went on to win a bowl game during a 7-1 season, head coach Mike Neu's squad was picked to finish third in its division. And it was fourth among teams with at least one vote to win the MAC. From that 2020 team, BSU brings back the vast majority of its starters and 10 of the 12 athletes who earned All-MAC recognition - including co-defensive player of the year Brandon Martin and starting quarterback Drew Plitt. - Star Press

rSr/2022 QB Drew Plitt, Ball State
News Source: Star Press
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  Arkansas State quarterback Layne Hatcher, a 2020 All-Sun Belt Conference selection ranked among the top seven players in school history for both career passing touchdowns and yards, was named Monday to the 2021 Maxwell Award Watch List. The Maxwell Award, sponsored by Mammoth Tech and The Athletes' Corner, is presented annually to the outstanding player in college football. Hatcher is one of 80 players from across the nation to earn a spot on the watch list for the prestigious award. Hatcher becomes the fourth player in Arkansas State history to be named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, joining wide receiver Kirk Merritt (2019) and quarterbacks Justice Hansen (2018) and Fredi Knighten (2015). The Little Rock, Ark., native enters the 2021 season with 5,065 career yards of total offense for the ninth most in school history, while his 46 passing touchdowns and 5,004 passing yards recorded over his first two seasons with the Red Wolves stand as the fifth (tied) and seventh most, respectively. - KAIT8.com

rSr/2024 QB Layne Hatcher, Ball State
News Source: KAIT8.com
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  Ball State is the preseason favorite to win the Mid-American Conference football title. The Cardinals were picked to defend their championship as the West Division winner in a MAC media poll released Tuesday. Kent State was selected as the favorite to claim the East Division title. Ball State returns 10 starters on both sides of the ball from a team that won its last seven games during the pandemic-shortened season. The Cardinals closed the year with a 34-13 win over No. 19 San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl and finished ranked No. 23 in The Associated Press college football poll. - AP College Football

rSr/2022 QB Drew Plitt, Ball State
News Source: AP College Football
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  Drew Plitt was there Tuesday, participating during all the team reps, as Ball State football opened spring practice inside of its new indoor facility. Every time a snap came he'd make a read based on what he saw the defense do. He'd progress through his footwork. Whether it was his choice on a run-pass option, a decision he made pre-snap or post-snap or something else, he was putting on tape something his coaches could grade him on. Plitt just wasn't on the receiving end of any of those snaps as he has been so often at quarterback for BSU in recent seasons; the likes of John Paddock, Elliot Charlebois and Eddie Schott were.

Because right now, that's not what Cardinals head coach Mike Neu feels is best for Plitt. It's an opportunity for Neu and his staff to see more clearly just how much Paddock, Charlebois and Schott have developed. And even though Plitt's time in that opening practice skewed heavily toward mental reps instead of live ones, his only throws coming during individual periods, that doesn't mean it has to take away from how engaged he is. "I'm taking the same thing, talking to coach about what I'm seeing, kind of what throws are happening and what's going on," said Plitt, who's taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility the NCAA awarded fall athletes like Plitt amid the pandemic. "So, for me, it's just - it's way more mental, but...I've got to focus more because I'm not playing, I'm not the one making the throws. I'm behind and I'm kind of grading myself when I go and watch film on...the decision-making process that I had." - Star Press

rSr/2022 QB Drew Plitt, Ball State
News Source: Star Press
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  Iowa State has added a veteran piece to its 2021-2022 secondary. Jaquan Amos, a graduate transfer defensive back out of Villanova, announced Monday his commitment to Iowa State. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was also considering West Virginia, Virginia, Mississippi State and Kansas State. Villanova didn't play this fall. In his prior three seasons, Amos played in 33 games and logged 109 tackles, six tackles for loss, eight interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He was seen as one of the top available secondary transfers. - Des Moines Register

rSr/2023 FS Jaquan Amos, Ball State
News Source: Des Moines Register
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  University of Cincinnati Bearcats wide receiver Jayshon Jackson has entered the NCAA transfer portal. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Jackson, a Chicago native, was a three-star recruit in Cincinnati Head Coach Luke Fickell's 2018 recruiting class. Jackson appeared in 13 games as a freshman with the Bearcats, making one start. Jackson had 67 catches for 786 yards and three touchdowns in 37 games at UC. - Cincinnati Enquirer

rSr/2023 WR Jayshon Jackson, Ball State
News Source: Cincinnati Enquirer
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  The way Drew Plitt sees it, although he and some of his fellow Ball State football teammates had individual decisions to make, he thought one person deciding to return would have a domino effect on the rest. Plitt, the Cardinals' redshirt senior quarterback in 2020, was one of 22 athletes on BSU's roster who faced the choice of coming back to the program for an extra year. After the NCAA's ruling that provided fall athletes with an additional year of eligibility, everyone knew that moment would come. And while Plitt did his best to focus on the season and the season alone this fall, after Ball State won the Mid-American Conference title last month Plitt began to more seriously consider his options. The same goes for Justin Hall, a senior wide receiver this past season for the Cardinals, too. Plitt said there was even a group chat with various teammates. - Star Press

rSr/2022 QB Drew Plitt, Ball State
News Source: Star Press
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  Tears were shed when Ball State coach Mike Neu told his players this summer that the season had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. When the Mid-American Conference changed course and decided to start a truncated season in November, the Cardinals were given a second chance. They turned it into the program’s first bowl win in 10 tries. Antonio Phillips returned an early interception 53 yards for a touchdown, Drew Plitt accounted for two scores and Ball State beat short-handed No. 19 San Jose State 34-13 in the Arizona Bowl on Thursday.

San Jose State (7-1, No. 22 CFP) had to play without its two coordinators and Mountain West Conference player of the year Cade Hall due to COVID-19 and other issues. The Cardinals (7-1) took advantage, quick-hitting their way down the field on offense after Phillips’ interception for a 27-0 lead in the first quarter. The Mid-American champions bogged down in the second half but had four interceptions to beat consecutive ranked opponents for the first time; they defeated then-No. 23 Buffalo in the MAC title game. - AP College Football

Sr/2021 CB Antonio Phillips, Ball State
News Source: AP College Football
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  2020 ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION: Layne Hatcher, QB,...The 2019 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, Hatcher was a member of the 2020 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) National Performer of the Year Watch List. A two-time Manning Award "Star of the Week" and CFPA Honorable Mention National Performer of the Week, Hatcher leads the nation in passing yards per completion (17.7 avg.) while ranking ninth in passing efficiency (179.2), 17th in passing touchdowns (19), 30th in passing yards (2,058) and 38th in points responsible for (116). - Arkansas State Football

rSr/2024 QB Layne Hatcher, Ball State
News Source: Arkansas State Football
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  Drew Plitt threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score in the first half, and Ball State kept Buffalo star Jaret Patterson under control in a 38-28 victory over the 23rd-ranked Bulls on Friday night in the Mid-American Conference title game. The Cardinals (6-1) won their first MAC championship since 1996, the year before the title game originated. They held Patterson to 47 yards on 18 carries after he'd been averaging over 200 a game. Patterson left with an apparent right leg injury in the third quarter, but he was able to return in the fourth.

By then, Buffalo (5-1) was playing catch-up. The game turned when Ball State scored three touchdowns in the final 5:55 of the first half to take a 35-21 lead. The Bulls trailed by 10 and had the ball in the red zone when running back Kevin Marks dropped a fourth-down pass in the final quarter. Buffalo, which hadn't played a game closer than 19 points in this short season, was trying for its first MAC title since 2008. That year, the Bulls knocked off an undefeated and nationally ranked Ball State team for the championship. The Cardinals returned the favor this time. - AP College Football

rSr/2022 QB Drew Plitt, Ball State
News Source: AP College Football
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  2020 ALL-MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM (COACHES): Defensive Back - Bryce Cosby, Ball State,...Cosby owns 44 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, and registered an interception in the win at Toledo. The senior from Louisville, Kentucky, has started 41 of the 42 games in his career at safety. He owns seven career interceptions and ranks second among all active MAC players with 264 career tackles. - Ball State Football

rSr/2022 FS Bryce Cosby, Ball State
News Source: Ball State Football
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