Davis leads Ball State past Northern Illinois

[November 06, 2008]  MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) -- Ball State's Nate Davis used every option in the arsenal Wednesday night.

There was the nifty pump-fake, the soft lob, the deep ball, the low liner, the long runs and, oh yeah, all those Northern Illinois mistakes.

Davis threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as the 16th-ranked Cardinals routed Northern Illinois 45-14 on Wednesday night to remain undefeated and alive in the chase for a BCS bowl game.

The matchup between the Mid-American Conference's top offense and No. 1 defense wasn't even close.

MiQuale Lewis topped 100 yards rushing for the ninth straight game for Ball State (9-0, 5-0), which produced eight plays of 25 yards or more in scoring its season high.

Northern Illinois (5-4, 4-2) allowed nearly six times its per game average of 8.2 points.

Davis finished 18-of-22 for 300 yards and broke Mike Neu's career record for completions. The junior has 592, 12 more than Neu. Lewis ran 19 times and topped the 1,000-yard mark, while Louis Johnson roamed free behind the secondary with six catches for 165 yards and a TD.

The Huskies were completely out of sync but could only blame themselves for the inexplicable mistakes.

After forcing an early punt, defensive back Kiaree Daniels ran into Ball State's Chris Miller, drawing a 15-yard penalty to extend the drive. Davis responded by throwing a 33-yard strike on the run to Briggs Orsbon at the Huskies 1. Two plays later, Lewis ran left, split two defenders, spun away from a third and dived into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Midway through the second quarter, a short punt by Northern Illinois was the culprit. This time, Davis hooked up with Johnson on a 33-yard completion. Then, on third-and-4 from Northern's 6, Davis threw a perfect lob to 6-foot-6 tight end Darius Hill, who was shielding the defender like a basketball player fighting for a rebound, for 14-0 lead.

The Cardinals were only getting started.

Davis threw a nifty 25-yard line drive to Daniel Ifft with 1:53 to go in the half for a 21-0 lead.

Northern's Chandler Harnish opened the second half with a 25-yard TD run, but Lewis' 64-yard run on the ensuing drive set up Davis' 1-yard plunge.

Then, after a replay review wiped out a 71-yard TD pass from Davis to Johnson, Davis went right back to Johnson for a 22-yard TD on the next play. Fittingly, Davis finished his night with a one-play drive -- a 20-yard touchdown pass to Hill early in the fourth quarter that made it 45-7.

Harnish was 14-of-22 for 115 yards with one interception and led the team with 12 carries for 59 yards.

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL MAROT]

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