Defensive Backs
You may have not heard this group mentioned a lot throughout the television broadcast. I am here to tell you that is a significant positive.
Kei’Trel Clark registered his first interception on the season after coming so close so many times throughout the course of the year. It was well-earned and was a nice focus play after a Syracuse receiver had the ball slip through their hands.
Marlon Character and Chandler Jones were impactful throughout the game. Character forced a fumble on kickoff coverage in the first half on a big hit.
Isaiah Hayes had a couple of big shots throughout the game and Russ Yeast had a pass breakup. You didn’t hear much from the safeties in this one. That means that they were doing their jobs on the back end.
Yeast and Hayes catch a lot of slack when they have any plays given up against them. But, for the most part, they are good at what they do. Hayes has really cleaned up a lot of sloppy play he was putting forth in the first half of the season.
Yeast is a good player for this team and, while he is not quite the impactful player Cards fans may have hoped for, he’s still a good college safety.
Jack Fagot did not see many snaps and did not register a stat in the game.
It was nice to see freshmen Lovie Jenkins, Josh Minkins, and Greedy Vance get some run in the second half at defensive back. Those late snaps are very valuable to guys who are going to be big contributors for the program in the future.
So far, they seem comfortable with the game and if they were needed to play, it appears they could do so serviceably.
Overall, the secondary came up with a pick and only allowed 45 yards passing. So, yeah, that’s not too shabby.
Overall Grade: A