No. 14 Ball State Snaps CMU's Winning Streak

MOUNT PLEASANT In a game that featured four ties and nearly 900 combined yards of total offense, Nate Davis threw two touchdown passes in the final 12:51 to rally No. 14 Ball State to a 31-24 win at Central Michigan on Wednesday night.

CMU’s Dan LeFevour finished with 420 yards of total offense, his eighth career 400-yard game, and his 38-yard touchdown pass to Kito Poblah with 14:21 left gave the Chippewas (8-3 overall, 6-1 Mid-American Conference) their third different lead of the contest.

Davis answered just 90 seconds later, hitting Louis Johnson down the sideline for a 45-yard touchdown that tied the score at 24-24.

The Ball State defense then forced CMU to punt, and MiQuale Lewis (28 carries, 177 yards) did the bulk of the work on a nine-play scoring drive that ended in an 11-yard scoring throw from Davis to Briggs Orsbon. Lewis carried the ball six times in the drive’s first seven plays for 63 yards.

CMU began its final possession from its own 13 with 1:02 remaining. LeFevour completed consecutive passes of 13 yards to Poblah, 9 yards to Antonio Brown and 29 yards to Joe Bockheim to move the Chippewas to the Ball State 36-yard line. The drive ended when Sean Baker intercepted LeFevour at the 9-yard line with 27 seconds remaining.

CMU ran 24 more offensive plays than Ball State (85-61), out-gained the Cardinals 466-407 and possessed the ball for more than 33 minutes, but still saw their six-game winning streak come to an end.

Davis threw the first of his four touchdown passes with 1:56 left in the first quarter to give the Cardinals an early 7-0 lead. His 20-yard scoring throw to Johnson (two catches, 65 yards, two touchdowns) capped a seven-play, 77-yard drive after Andrew Aguila missed a 40-yard field goal on CMU’s second possession.

The Chippewas scored on their next two possessions to take their first lead of the contest. LeFevour hit Bockheim on a 24-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, and Aguila converted a 31-yard field goal to put CMU in front. Aguila’s kick finished off a 15-play, 73-yard drive that ate 6:57 off the second-quarter clock.

Ian McGarvey booted a 21-yard field goal to draw Ball State (11-0, 7-0 MAC) even at 10-10 entering halftime.

CMU reclaimed the lead just 2:28 into the second half. The Chippewas covered 63 yards in just six plays on the half’s opening possession, with Ontario Sneed scoring on an 8-yard run to put the Chippewas back in front.

Davis threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Ifft on the ensuing possession to tie the score 17-17. Lewis ran for 1 yard on fourth-and-1 from the Ball State 37 and Davis ran for 22 yards on first-and-10 from the CMU 40 to set up the score.

LeFevour gave CMU its final lead just 52 seconds later. He hit Bryan Schroeder for 7 yards, ran for 15 yards and hooked up with Anderson for 12 yards before hitting Poblah on the go-ahead touchdown throw.

LeFevour finished 30-of-44 passing for 345 yards and two scores. He also was CMU’s leading rusher with 75 yards on 24 carries and eclipsed 11,000 career yards of total offense in the game.

Davis completed just 12-of-22 passes for 175 yards, but threw for all four of Ball State’s touchdowns.

CMU closes the regular season on Friday, Nov. 28 at Eastern Michigan. Kickoff is set for noon.

Next Event

Team Stats