 Ball State RB MiQuale Lewis
Davis did just that in leading the Cardinals past Eastern Michigan, throwing for 306 yards and four touchdowns, including three first half scoring strikes, as Ball State rolled to a 38-16 victory at Rynearson Stadium. With the victory, Ball State moved into first place in the MAC West and evened its record at 1-1 while Eastern Michigan falls to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the MAC West.
Davis and the Cardinals struck early, scoring on their first possession after stopping Eastern Michigan on the game's opening possession.
The Cardinals needed only 1:40 to score after Davis connected with running back MiQuale Lewis on a 77-yard swing pass on the Cardinals' first offensive play from scrimmage. Three plays later Davis found tight end Darius Hill on a two-yard touchdown pass to give Ball State a 7-0 lead.
The Cardinals never trailed throughout the contest.
"MiQuale really got us off to a good start and that play just gave us momentum on offense," said Ball State wide receiver Dante Love who was on the receiving end of two of Davis' touchdown passes, scoring on a 20 yard 2nd Quarter pass that gave Ball State a 21-9 edge and then adding a second touchdown when he hauled in a 27-yard pass from Davis late in the game. Love finished with 114 yards receiving on seven catches despite struggling with cramping throughout the entire game in the humid conditions.
"I just didn't feel real good out there," said Love. "I was cramping up all game."
The homestanding Eagles rallied twice in the first half, cutting into Ball State's early lead on a 42-yard Sean Dutcher field goal to pull within 7-3 and then added a rare offensive touchdown after the Cardinals had taken a 14-3 lead, following a failed run on a fake punt by EMU's Zach Johnson that gave the Cardinals the ball at Eastern Michigan's 26-yard line.
"That play (the fake punt) was actually something that the punter has as an option to use. He (Johnson) thought he saw something on the left side and made the decision to run the ball," explained Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk.
The turnover on downs set up a 15-yard Joe Everett touchdown reception for the Cardinals but Eastern Michigan answered when quarterback Andy Schmitt connected with DeAnthony White for a 67-yard scoring strike on the Eagles' next possession to narrow the deficit to 14-9.
For Eastern Michigan, the touchdown was the first registered by the Eagles since losing to Navy 49-21 on November 11, 2006, ending a three game touchdown drought. But the Eastern Michigan scoring strike seemed to rally Ball State, which went on to record 24 unanswered points, opening up a 38-9 lead late in the contest.
"In the vast majority of games that I been involved with, when we make a big play like that we have a chance to change momentum, but it was so brief," said Eagles' head coach Jeff Genyk.
Ball State immediately answered EMU's touchdown with a 58 yard 9-play drive that culminated in Love's 20-yard touchdown pass from Davis, starting Ball State's run of 24 unanswered points. 
Ball State's defense limited the Eagles to 59 total offensive yards in the second half as the Eagles' were repeatedly stymied, going three and out throughout most of the second half, pleasing Ball State head coach Brady Hoke.
"We try to get turkeys (three and outs) on defense," said Ball State head coach Brady Hoke using some bowling terminology. We played some awesome defense in the second half."
The Cardinals meanwhile moved the ball nearly at will in the second half, coming up with several critical third down conversions, possessing the ball for over for 22 minutes in the second stanza.
"Overall it was obviously great to get the win," said Hoke. "We really stepped it up in the run game." Ball State finished with 153 yards rushing and 459 yards in total offense.
Eastern Michigan capped the scoring when Dontayo Gage returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown which was the longest return in Eastern Michigan's history at Rynearson Stadium, topping the previous best of 88-yards recorded by the Eagles against Temple in 1993.
The Cardinals (1-1, 1-1 MAC) now head to Navy for a non-conference matchup next week while Eastern Michigan (0-2, 0-1 MAC) continues intra-divisional play with a road tilt against Northern Illinois.
|
