It was the first play of the second quarter last Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. A play-action pass and Antwan Davis was running free on a crossing route near the hashmarks.
Antwan Davis fights for yardage against Indiana in the
2019 Ruoff Kickoff Classic. He caught three passes for a
BSU career-high 60 yards in his return from a broken foot.
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He had envisioned this moment in pregame warmups. Thought about it the night before. Waited on it for a full year.
 Drew Plitt scanned the field and found his open man. Davis caught the ball in stride and took it to the Indiana 6-yard line, a 28-yard gain that set up the Cardinals' first touchdown of the season. Cody Rudy gave him a pat on the helmet. Then Kaleb Slaven. Then Plitt.
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It was Davis' first catch since the 2018 opener, his first time on the field since a broken foot in practice just days before the Notre Dame game sidelined him for the entire season.
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"The night before and up until the game, I was closing my eyes, taking deep breaths, visualizing the play before it happened," Davis said. "I got excited when the play was called, but I knew I had to go out and execute. I just ran my route to the best of my ability and got open, the line sustained a good block, and Drew put it on the money."
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Davis later caught two more passes on a fourth-quarter scoring drive, including a sliding first-down grab with his knees. In total, his three receptions netted 60 yards, the most of his Ball State career so far.
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It was an early-season reward for the weeks he spent largely in his bed, the nights he slept in a boot, the training in the pool and eventually on solid ground as he regained his strength and his physical conditioning. A delayed reward for missing last year's game at Notre Dame, a 90-minute drive from his northwest Indiana hometown of St. John, and every other game that followed.
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"It was truly amazing," Davis said. "God blessed me with the ability to come back from the injury 100 percent. It was awesome to fly around and get live game action."
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Davis is set for his first Scheumann Stadium appearance since the injury this Saturday as the Cardinals welcome FCS opponent Fordham for the first of six true home games this fall. It is the first meeting between the teams and only the second for Ball State against a Patriot League squad. The Cards defeated Colgate in the 2014 opener.
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Fordham lost its first game last weekend in dramatic fashion as Central Connecticut connected on a 31-yard field goal as time expired to hand the Rams a 26-23 defeat.
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Fordham allowed an average of almost 220 yards through the air and 200 more on the ground a year ago. Ball State compiled nearly 400 total yards in last week's loss to Indiana.
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Davis will line up out wide Saturday, looking to make a mark again. It's a spot he plans to occupy not only for the rest of this season but for yet another one to come. He is in his fifth year of college but was just last week granted a clock extension by the NCAA, meaning he will have a sixth season of eligibility next fall.
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Ball State applied for the additional season for him, and the NCAA granted the request based on the nearly two full years of competition he has missed, first as a transfer in residence in 2016 and then because of the injury last year.
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Davis could have opted to call it quits on football after the injury. He was nearing graduation and could have decided to move on.
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That never crossed his mind. Instead, he will enroll in graduate school in the spring, play another season and leave Ball State with two degrees.
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"There was no doubt I was coming back," Davis said. "I wanted to be part of this family and this football team. I really love it here, so I wanted to get all the time I can here."
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