Ball State University
5-4
Illinois
6-3
Football Suffers Defeat at Illinois, 28-17
October 29, 2007 | Football
Ball State's football team had a 10-7 lead early in the third quarter after Mike Dorulla intercepted an Illinois pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown, but Illinois responded with a pair of third quarter touchdowns and a fourth quarter score to post a 28-17 victory.
"We are disappointed," Ball State head football coach Brady Hoke says. "We had some penalties and did not tackle well, but we played a good football team and that has alot to do with how we played. Give Illinois credit for the athletes they have. There were an awful lot of good things that we did today. The defense stared out well and kept the offense in the game. It seemed like we could not get our defense off the field in the second half."
After Ball State opened the fourth quarter by missing a field goal, the Fighting Illini of Illinois mounted a 5-play, 80-yard drive capped with a touchdown to give them a 28-17 advantage with 11:16 to play. Illinois fed the ball to Rashard Mendenhall for the majority of the fourth quarter, and Ball State's defense limited the big plays, but the Illinois offense dominated the game and sealed the victory. Mendenhall rushed for 189 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.
Ball State's Nate Davis completed 16-of-33 passes for 167 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Darius Hill and Dante Love were his top targets. Hill tallied four catches for 56 yards and one score, while Love had four catches for 45 yards. The nation's No. 1 punter, Chris Miller, helped the Ball State own the field advantage for the majority of the game with five punts for 218 yards and a 43.6 average. He pinned the Illini inside their own 20-yard line on three of the five punts.
Illinois managed the 28-17 victory to improve to 6-3 on the season, while the Cardinals fell to 5-4 overall.
Ball State will face its second straight foe from the Big Ten Conference when the Cardinals travel to Bloomington, Ind., for a Noon game against the Indiana Hoosiers Saturday.
Below is the game's scoring summary:
First Quarter Summary:
Ball State's defense limited the Illinois running game to 35 yards, and Alex Knipp intercepted his third pass of the season to stop a Fighting Illini drive late in the first quarter. Chris Miller punted three times for a 44.3 average and forced Illinois to start two of those three drives inside its own 20-yard line.
End of First: Ball State 0, Illinois 0
Second Quarter Summary:
With 10:03 to play, Rashard Mendenhall put the first score of the game on the board on a 2-yard touchdown run to give Illinois a 7-0 lead. Ball State took the ball over with 10:03 to play in the first half and mounted a 17-play, 65 yard drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal by Jake Hogue to pull the Cardinals within 7-3 with 3:51 to play. The 17-play drive ties for the longest drive of the season for a Ball State team.
Halftime Score: Illinois 7, Ball State 3
Third Quarter Summary:
Ball State's Mike Dorulla registered his first interception of the season and the second of his career and returned it 36 yards to the endzone with just over 13 minutes to play in the third period to give the Cardinals a 10-7 lead. Illinois responded less than three minutes later and with 10:16 to go in the third quarter took the lead back 14-10 after a 7-play drive that ended in a Juice Williams touchdown run. With 7:06 to go in the third quarter, Rashard Mendenhall scored his second TD of the day on a 30-yard run to increase the Illini lead to 21-10. The Cardinals fought right back and Nate Davis connected on a 24-yard scoring strike to Darius Hill to complete a 10-play drive and pull Ball State within 21-17 with 3:01 to play in the third period. On the strength of a Nate Davis 46-yard rush, Ball State moved into Illinois territory as the quarter came to a close to set the stage for the Cardinals fourth quarter chase of a Big Ten opponent.
Third Quarter Score: Illinois 21, Ball State 17
Fourth Quarter Summary:
Illinois quarterback Juice Williams rushed in from three yards out with 11:16 to play to finish the game's scoring for the day and seal a 28-17 win for the Illini.
Team Stats
BSU 0, ILL 7
ILL - Mendenhall,R. 2 yd run (Reda,Jason kick), 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 5:07
BSU 3, ILL 7
BSU - HOGUE, Jake 22 yd field goal 17 plays, 65 yards, TOP 6:12
BSU 10, ILL 7
BSU - DORULLA, Mike 36 yd interception (HOGUE, Jake kick)
BSU 10, ILL 14
ILL - Williams,Isiah 10 yd run (Reda,Jason kick), 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:49
BSU 10, ILL 21
ILL - Mendenhall,R. 30 yd run (Reda,Jason kick), 3 plays, 58 yards, TOP 0:57
BSU 17, ILL 21
BSU - HILL, Darius 24 yd pass from DAVIS, Nate (HOGUE, Jake kick) 10 plays, 76 yards, TOP 4:05
BSU 17, ILL 28
ILL - Williams,Isiah 3 yd run (Reda,Jason kick), 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:30
