Nov. 11, 2008
OXFORD, Ohio - Running back MiQuale Lewis rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Nate Davis passed for 289 and another score to lead 14th-ranked Ball State to a 31-16 victory over Miami Tuesday night at Yager Stadium. With the victory, the Cardinals improve to 10-0 (6-0 in Mid-American Conference play) for the first time in school history, while Miami falls to 2-8, 1-5.
Daniel Raudabaugh returned to the starting lineup for the RedHawks and turned in a strong performance going 24-for-42 for 254 yards. He became the sixth Miami quarterback to pass the 4,000-yard mark for his career early in the second quarter. He finished the night in fifth place on the RedHawk career list with 4,227 yards.
An inability to stop Ball State on third downs proved to the undoing for Miami. The Cardinals converted on 6-of-9 third downs and did not punt until the fourth quarter. Starting with its second possession of the game, Ball State scored on four straight drives.
After the RedHawks turned the ball over on their first drive, the Cardinals drove 54 yards to set up first-and-goal at the Miami four-yard line. After Lewis gained three yards on first down, the RedHawks stopped him two consecutive times to force fourth down. Ball State went for it, but Nate Davis' pass was dropped in the end zone and Miami took over on downs.
Miami went up 3-0 early in the second quarter on a Nathan Parseghian 39-yard field goal. The drive, which started on Miami's one-yard line went 18 plays for 77 yards and took 9:17 off the clock.
Raudabaugh was 6-for-8 for 52 yards on the drive. A 13-yard screen pass to Thomas Merriweather brought the RedHawks to the 23-yard line of the Cardinals to set up the field goal.
Ball State's Torieal Gibson returned the kickoff 34 yards back to the Cardinals' 46-yard line. Davis needed only five plays and 2:16 to put Ball State up 7-3. He went 4-for-4 for 49 yards on the drive, and completed a 17-yard pass to Darius Hill for the touchdown.
Parseghian hit a 37-yard field goal with 5:57 left in the second quarter to pull the RedHawks to within one at 7-6. The key play came on a 22-yard completion from Raudabaugh to Jamal Rogers that put Miami on the Cardinals' 18.
A 46-yard completion from Davis to Lewis set up Ball State's next score. On third-and-goal from the one, Davis kept the ball and was able to sneak into the end zone to make the score 14-6 with 2:05 left in the half.
Miami answered the Ball State touchdown when Raudabaugh completed a 49-yard touchdown pass to Chris Givens with 55 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The 49-yard pass tied for the third longest play from scrimmage this season. The drive totaled six plays for 72 yards and took only 1:10.
Ball State went up 17-13 going into the half after driving six plays and 37 yards in the final 55 seconds to set up Ian McGarvey's 46-yard field goal as time expired.
Raudabaugh finished the half 16-for-21 for 183 yards and one touchdown.
Miami closed to within 17-16 after Chris Shula stripped Lewis of the ball and Wendell Brunson recovered on the Cardinals' 45-yard line for the RedHawks early in the third quarter. Miami drove the ball 32 yards over eight plays, which set up Parseghian's third field goal of the night, a 31-yarder.
The Cardinals responded once again on the next drive with a touchdown that pushed their lead to 24-16. Two big plays back-to-back, a Lewis 42-yard run and a 36-yard completion from Davis to Briggs Orsbon put Ball State on the Miami one-yard line. Two plays later, Lewis scored on a one-yard run to the right side of the end zone with 8:12 remaining in the third.
With Ball State driving deep in Miami territory late in the third quarter, Joey Hudson stepped in front of Davis' pass and recorded his first interception of the season. He returned the ball 52 yards to the Ball State 40, but the RedHawks were unable to advance the ball further and punted it away.
The Cardinals put the game away with a 12-play 80-yard drive that took 5:58 off the clock. Lewis scored his second touchdown of the night on a one-yard run with 9:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The RedHawks were able to move two more times into Ball State territory, but both drives ended with incompletions on fourth down.
Ball State outgained Miami 484-330. 10 different receivers caught passes for the RedHawks, led by Chris Givens, who hauled in three balls for 66 yards. Merriweather led the team with 71 yards on 18 carries. Defensively, Robbie Wilson had 13 tackles.
Miami is next in action on Friday, Nov. 21 when it travels to Toledo for a 7 p.m. game.
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