BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University football team took to the field at Provost Umphrey Stadium Thursday for an approximately 70-play scrimmage as the Cardinals reached the midway point of spring camp. Lamar's defense took the spotlight Thursday forcing a fumble in the red zone, deflecting a pass to prevent a would-be touchdown to go along with several stops behind the line of scrimmage.
 
"I'm glad we're not playing a regular-season game today, but we're making the right moves progressing along the way I thought we would be," said LU head coach Pete Rossomando. "We're not ready to play right now. We are too inconsistent on the offensive side from an overall standpoint. Defensively, we're starting to play well as a group. Those guys are as fast as we've had on defense.
 
"Offensively, we're making some plays and got some good drives with the first group but the second and third groups are struggling to put it all together."
 
The Cardinals' defense forced a turnover in the red zone and stripped the ball away from a receiver in the end zone to thwart a second drive. By the end of the scrimmage, LU's defense recorded 10 tackles for losses, six sacks, four pass deflections and a quarterback hurry.
 
Linebacker Albert Simon III led the Cardinals with four tackles – three of which went for a loss – with a sack. Sophomore Caleb Holmes made four stops with a pass breakup. Three other Cardinals added three tackles.
 
Junior Aiden McCown got the start behind center and completed 8-of-16 (.500) passes for 82 yards, while redshirt freshman Julian Salazar completed 7-of-8 (.875) attempts for 70 yards.
 
The majority of the damage offensively came on the ground. Big Red carried the ball 29 times for 167 yards and one touchdown. Freshman Andikan Asuquo led the team with 12 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. Fellow newcomer Parker Jenkins had seven carries for 29 yards.