SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 29, 2013
Ball State 51, Illinois State 28: Keith Wenning passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for two scores as the host Cardinals knocked off the Redbirds in the season opener for both squads.
Willie Snead had nine receptions for 164 yards and caught two third-quarter touchdown passes as Ball State rallied from a 12-point second-quarter deficit with 42 consecutive points to turn the contest into a rout.
The Cardinals took their first lead of the contest at 23-21 on Wenningกฏs 9-yard pass to Snead with 12:27 left in the third quarter. The two hooked up again later in the stanza when Snead caught a short throw and turned it into a 40-yard score with 3:47 remaining.
Wenning scored on a 3-yard run with 1:41 left in the third quarter to make it 37-21. Horactio Banks scored from the 1-yard line with 8:08 remaining and Jahwan Edwards added a 6-yard scamper with 5:57 to go to push the lead to 30.
Illinois State, ranked 10th in the FCS Coaches poll, built a 21-9 lead over the first 27 minutes as Collin Keoshian rushed for the gameกฏs initial score and Jared Barnett tossed touchdown aerials to Anthony Warrum and Matt Meyers. Ball Stateกฏs comeback began with Wenningกฏs 16-yard scoring pass to Jordan Williams four seconds before halftime.