When one flower blooms, spring awakens everywhere.
- John O’Donohue, writer
This iteration of the spring game recap series includes notes from spring games that occurred on April 18.
These teams include: App State, Ball State, East Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Texas, Oklahoma, Southern Miss, Liberty, Duke, Michigan, Old Dominion and Texas A&M.
Next article: Troy, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Virginia Tech, California, Memphis, San Jose State, Oklahoma State, Utah Tech, Delaware, Ohio, San Diego, Texas, Virginia, and Wake Forest.
You can find the previous version here:
One thing to note is that the quality of intel coming out of these games highly varies per program. Some plamaces have a lot of coverage, and some don’t. And even when intel is available, some coaches use these games primarily to see what young players are capable of, whereas others prefer to treat it like a pre-season game which is more informative.
Nonetheless, I’ve found that throughout the years there is always at least one interesting nugget that turns out to be useful from these spring game reports.
Also, now that we can embed tweets into Substack articles again these are going to be so much better going forward. Cheers.
FYI—I AM CURRENTLY RUNNING A DISCOUNT ON ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (until end of April):
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APP STATE
QB:
With no tackling allowed Saturday and many plays continuing after backfield pressure from quarterback-pursuing defenders, the 11-on-11 scrimmage sessions included two touchdowns that capped 75-yard drives: Henry Hasselbeck's 18-yard touchdown pass to Doopah Coleman and Malachi Singleton's 6-yard touchdown pass to Chris Lofton.
Red-zone sessions were highlighted by Singleton's 13-yard touchdown pass to running back Jaquari Lewis and Tommy Ulatowski's 11-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Grier.
Singleton and Hasselbeck combined to complete more than 70 percent of their throws, with Singleton gaining 31 yards on one scramble and Hasselbeck covering 27 yards on another.
NOTE on RB Kanye Roberts:
Kanye Roberts is also back in hybrid rehab mode, but wasn’t active for the spring game.
BALL STATE
QB:
Ball State football QB competition remains a close race
Ball State will have a new quarterback under center in 2026, and the competition has narrowed itself down to two strong candidates — Texas State transfer Keldric Luster and Concord (D-II) transfer Tyler Mizzell. Both redshirt juniors rotated first-team reps and took some lumps during the defense-dominated spring showcase — Luster threw an interception in 7-on-7s and Mizzell threw one in 11-on-11 work — but they also flashed some of the abilities that make them each enticing potential starters.
At 5-foot-10, 248 pounds, Luster is built like a tank. A former 3-star recruit and track star in high school, he has plus-athleticism and showed some good mobility on Saturday. Passing-wise, Luster attacked the middle of the field and executed the redzone offense well. The opportunity to compete for a starting role was a priority for Luster when he entered the transfer portal, and he is firmly entrenched in that conversation in Muncie.
Mizzell offers a more traditional quarterback build at 6-1, 176 pounds. He doesn't quite have Luster's athletic ability but still has flashed some good movement and willingness to tuck it and run. Mizzell was very accurate throwing outside the numbers and seems to be a more aggressive downfield passer than Luster, though he did take longer to go through progressions and make a decision at some points during the showcase.
WR:
Isaiah Thacker in line for breakout season at wide receiver
Both quarterbacks seem to have developed a strong rapport with one particular wideout. Isaiah Thacker has been making plays throughout spring practice and put his strong hands and crisp route running on full display Saturday. A former standout at perennial Indiana high school football powerhouse New Palestine, Thacker first joined the Cardinals as a member of the 2023 recruiting class and has stuck around for three seasons.
Thacker redshirted as a true freshman and has only logged five total touches in the two seasons since, but he seems like Ball State’s best candidate for a breakout season after the spring and has the support of the coaching staff.
“After our season last year, Coach U talked to me about how I’m going to be a starting guy, the main guy for next season,” Thacker said. “That really helped me stay. I really trust this coach and staff. I feel like we don’t really change stuff around next year, so that’s really why I stayed.”
For a team that added four transfer wide receivers, Ball State’s returning wideouts really stood out Saturday. In addition to Thacker, redshirt sophomore Donovan Hamilton took a majority of first-team reps as the X-receiver after breaking out down the stretch last season. Redshirt senior Jamarion McDougle also took a large share of the first-team reps and showed some great route running and deep threat ability. Among the transfers, CJ Nelson from Eastern Illinois was the biggest standout and had one of the highlights of the day, dragging his feet in-bounds to secure a sideline catch on a 20-yard out delivered by Mizzell.
Thacker believes the explosiveness of the receiver room — and the offense as a whole — will help the Cardinals take a big offensive leap from a year ago.
“I’m really happy to have a very explosive offense,” Thacker said. “We’re going to have a lot of explosive plays come week one. I feel like that’s my favorite part about the offense.”
EAST CAROLINA
QB:
Plenty of attention was obviously on the quarterback position on Saturday. Mitch Griffis and Emory Williams both got equal reps, as each rotated with the first-team personnel.
Griffis led the offense immediately down the field on the first series of the day, scrambling on a few plays, and then finding a wide open Tyler Johnson, and dropping the ball in the bucket to him down the sidelines to spark what would become a touchdown drive, capped by Ashton Gray‘s 7-yard touchdown run.
Griffis had a few other series, including one in the red zone, where the offense picked up one first down. Then, he just missed Ray Ray Joseph in the back corner of the end zone while rolling to his right. That led to a field goal, instead of a touchdown. But Griffis put the ball in the only place Joseph could catch it on third and goal, and didn’t risk a turnover.
As for Williams, he started a bit more slow, before getting more comfortable as the scrimmage went on. A few sacks derailed his drives, but he showed promise with good poise, and strong throws, from the pocket. Williams isn’t necessarily fleet of foot, but he did have a nice scramble at one point, escaping the pocket to his right, and running for five yards. So it’s not necessarily like he’s incapable of running.
Williams also had a good showing in the red zone in his lone series in that phase, throwing a 25-yard strike to Joseph on a nice read for an easy touchdown.
Overall, comparing the two quarterbacks isn’t easy, at least in terms of who is the better long-term fit. I think you can make an argument both ways. I do think Griffis is a tick ahead right now. He looks like he’s thinking less out there, and just playing. He has increased mobility, and throws a better deep ball more consistently.
But Williams is better at standing in the pocket, and making the short and intermediate throws. When it comes to getting the ball out quick and on time, Williams looks very comfortable. And Williams should continue to improve with his decision-making as he keeps learning the offense. I think he will look more comfortable over time when it comes to operating the system.
I do think ECU can win with both. They both show poise in the pocket and looked relatively comfortable in the offense, though Griffis is playing a bit faster right now. Another big key is neither turned the ball over on Saturday. That had been a problem at times this spring.
The quarterback battle will roll on into the summer, and preseason camp.
RB: