“He’s a baller”: D’Angelo Ponds shines for Indiana football against Washington

Ponds had two interceptions and made key plays in the secondary against the Huskies.

Screen passes are supposed to be simple.

The quarterback takes the snap and immediately throws it to a receiver with a wall of blockers in front of him. No reads necessary, just throw the ball where it’d supposed to go.

Unfortunately for Washington quarterback Will Rogers, Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds was between him and his receiver. Not where the ball is supposed to go:

When Ponds got control of the football there wasn’t a single shred of purple between him and the endzone. As he tore down the field unchallenged, the camera panned out to a sea of crimson as the Hoosier football faithful cheered him on.

Ponds’ transfer to Indiana was an interesting case. He was seen as one of the top talents available upon his entry and was pursued by plenty of big name programs following a standout freshman season at JMU.

But then questions came. Could he hold up in the Big Ten as a 5’9” cornerback?

Well the answer is a pretty clear yes and if the first interception didn’t make that clear the second through contact probably should’ve.

The thing about Ponds’ height is you’d have to look it up to learn about it. He plays with a drive and fervor that just makes it negligible. hard to notice.

Curt Cignetti has seen that for a long time, before anyone else did.

“You know, he’s got good talent, but he’s got competitive character,” Cignetti said. “He’s a competitor, and he wants to be great. He’s got day in, day out consistency. He does the things that help him improve on a daily basis, and that’s his goal. He wants to be the best football player he can be, and he loves the process and everything that goes into that, and he’s intelligent. He comes from an area down there in Miami where those guys growing up, high school, a lot of pride down there in South Florida about being a baller, and he’s a baller.”