Davis, Ball State roll over over NIU 45-14
MUNCIE, Ind. - If and when Ball State junior quarterback Nate Davis becomes a first-day NFL draft pick, Northern Illinois' defense will be among those who'll help pack his bags.
Playing in front of 18 NFL scouts and an ESPN2 audience on Wednesday night, the Cardinals' junior ripped the Mid-American Conference's No. 1 defense to shreds.
Davis hit 18 of 22 passes for 300 yards and 4 scores to pace Ball State's 45-14 rout before 14,373 at Schuemann Stadium.
The Cardinals (9-0, 5-0), ranked No. 16 in The Associated Press poll and No. 17 in the BCS ratings, kept their BCS dreams alive with alarming ease.
"I just think he threw BBs," said Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill. "I don't think it mattered who was covering 'em. I just think he's that good.
"He was on target about every time he threw the ball. He just put on a tremendous show."
Here's how tremendous: Davis left with 14:24 to go after completing his last 12 passes for 229 yards and 4 touchdowns.
He also found time to sneak in for a 1-yard score during his 27-minute stretch of perfection.
That made a mockery of a proud NIU defense that entered the night having allowed just 3 touchdowns and 38 points over its last six games.
"We didn't get accomplished what we wanted to," said Huskies senior defensive end Larry English.
That's a statement that applied to every aspect as Ball State outgained the Huskies (5-4, 4-2) by a 529-275 count.
"We got beat in special teams, offense, defense, coaching," Kill said. "They kicked our butt."
NIU's special teams cracked first, as a roughing-the-punter penalty midway through the first quarter propelled Ball State to its first score.
NIU's offense cracked next as quarterback Chandler Harnish (14 of 22, 115 yards, 1 INT) found it difficult to throw downfield, and running back Chad Spann (9 carries, 27 yards) had little room to work as well.
Then came the Huskies defense. While it did a decent job bottling up tailback MiQuale Lewis early, it came at the expense of exposing the NIU secondary.
Cornerback Chase Carter was beaten for a pair of second-quarter touchdowns - including a jump ball he couldn't stop 6-foot-6 tight end Darius Hill from catching in the back of the end zone - that gave Ball State a 21-0 halftime lead.
Harnish offered a brief glimmer of hope with a 25-yard touchdown run to start the second half.
But Lewis (119 yards, 1 TD) rushed past English for a 64-yard gain on Ball State's next play from scrimmage to stunt NIU's momentum.
Meanwhile, Davis started to find guys left open by Melvin Rice, the Huskies' other cornerback. He hit Louis Johnson (7 catches, 125 yards, 2 TDs) on an open post pattern for a 22-yard score, then followed with a 20-yard post pattern to Hill for a score.