As Ball State University's defense has improved during the past year, the unit has focused every day on developing an identity.
Despite scattering solid team efforts during the past 15 games, defensive captain Brandon Crawford said, that identity hasn't come quickly or easily. One play in Friday's game against Navy might have helped that process.
With the game in the balance and the momentum on Navy's side late in the third quarter, the Midshipmen faced a five-point deficit and a fourth and one from Ball State's three-yard line. With the crowd screaming so loud the Cardinals' coaches were hardly audible to the players on the field, the defense snuffed out Navy's quarterback sneak. Ball State's offense responded with a 97-yard touchdown drive, and the Midshipmen were scoreless the rest of the game.
Crawford said he hopes the momentum-changing stand, along with its second quality defensive effort to open 2008, will build the foundation for the Cardinals' defensive identity.
"We have to have an identity," Crawford said. "We haven't had one since I've been here, and we need to establish that. That's very important to us, all of us. We take it to heart, and we don't take anything for granted. When we go out there and work, that's what we work at."
The most likely identity to emerge for Ball State's defense this season, Crawford said, is that of a group built on speed. The Cardinals used their athleticism to swarm to the ball Friday night, particularly in the final 28 minutes of the second half when Navy was held to 63 rushing yards on 22 carries.
The Midshipmen were without their starting quarterback, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, and Crawford said his absence made a difference.
"I believe he's is a quicker quarterback," Crawford said, comparing Kaheaku-Enhada to Friday night's starter, Jarod Bryant. "That may have played a part in it."
Even with its strong second-half effort against the Midshipmen's running attack, Ball State allowed 346 rushing yards Friday. That total was 175 less than the Cardinals allowed last season in the first game of the two-year series, but coach Brady Hoke said he wasn't satisfied with the effort.
Hoke said the team's goal was to hold Navy to fewer than 300 rushing yards, and he was disappointed with the defense's 12 missed tackles.
"We need to get better in that area," he said. "No missed tackle is ever acceptable, but you ideally don't want to have more than six in a game."
Other than the unit's speed, Crawford said, he's noticed a tougher mentality on Ball State's defense than in the past couple years. He also said more depth at almost every position has enabled the defensive players to stay fresher for the fourth quarter.
"Last year we had some guys who were out there a little longer because [his backup] was a younger guy who really didn't know what was going on," Crawford said. "We have a lot more depth and a lot more knowledgeable guys who have been around a little longer. In that aspect I'd say [the defense] is better."
Regardless of the improvement, Crawford said, he and his teammates aren't content.
Fifth-year senior linebacker Bryant Haines, Ball State's leading tackler on the season with 20, said he's been pleased with the defense's performance in the first two games. Yet, he knows there's still work to be done before the unit can establish a lasting identity.
"I think we're playing fast, we're playing tough, we're playing together," Haines said. "That's a starting point, but we have to clean up some mistakes. We need to go back to techniques and fundamentals and keep improving every week."
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