Ball State Cardinals vs Northwestern Wildcats Match Player Stats On Sep 26, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 26, 2015

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Clayton Thorson threw two touchdown passes to Dan Vitale and one to wide receiver Austin Carr as No. 17 Northwestern held off a late Ball State comeback for a 24-19 victory on Saturday night.

Thorson, a redshirt freshman quarterback, was 18-of-31 passing for 256 yards and running back Justin Jackson rushed for a career-high 184 yards on 33 carries as the Wildcats improved to 4-0.

Vitale had five catches for 108 yards and his first career multi-touchdown day that including a 66-yarder in the first half.

A 21-yard pass to Carr gave the Wildcats a 21-10 lead with 8:01 left in the third quarter and Jack Mitchell's 21-yard field goal capped a 17-point quarter Northwestern.

Ball State closed the gap to 24-16 after a 29-yard pass from quarterback Riley Neal to wide receiver Jordan Williams with 2:06 left. An extra point kick attempt was blocked.

The Cardinals moved inside the Wildcats' 20 with under five minutes to play but stalled and settled for a 36-yard Morgan Hagee field goal that pulled Ball State within 24-19.

Saturday's meeting was the first between the programs. Northwestern improved to 19-10-1 all time against current members of the Mid-American Conference.

Neal was 13-of-34 passing for 165 yards and two touchdowns for Ball State (2-2). Williams had both TD receptions, one in each half, and seven catches for 122 yards.

In the first quarter, a Ball State drive stalled at the Northwestern 13 and the Cardinals settled for a 30-yard Hagee field goal and a 3-0 lead with 9:06 left. Hagee missed a 43-yard try with 3:03 left in the quarter.

In the final seconds of the first quarter, a 34-yard James Gilbert run gave Ball State a first-and-goal at the Northwestern 4-yard line. But the Wildcats forced a fumble on the next play and recovered to start the second quarter.

Northwestern went nowhere and Ball State missed a scoring opportunity when Hagee failed on a 40-yard field goal try with 9:45 remaining in the half.

The Wildcats went ahead 7-3 with 6:30 left in the first half as Thorson connected with Vitale on the 66-yard touchdown pass, wrapping up a two-play, 70-yard drive that took 33 seconds.

The Cardinals reclaimed the lead at 10-7 when they recovered a Thorson fumble at the Northwestern 20 with 1:03 left before halftime and scored on a 22-yard, first-down touchdown strike from Neal to Williams.

NOTES: Northwestern's win over Duke last week was its seventh nonconference victory over a Power-5 opponent since the start of 2012, more than any other team in the country. ... The Wildcats entered Saturday's game among the top defenses in the nation on third down, limiting opponents to 6 of 43 third-down conversions (14 percent), and their 5.3 points allowed led the country. ... Ball State QB Riley Neal made his first collegiate start on Saturday after playing significant minutes in two previous games. He completed 74.5 percent of his passes in the first two games. ... Ball State is home next Saturday to face Toledo in a MAC opener. Northwestern hosts Minnesota to open Big Ten play.