Ball State’s 52-yard FG in closing seconds sinks NIU in wild ending, and other takeaways

MUNCIE, Indiana – Ball State kicker Jackson Courville hit a 52-yard field goal as time expired for a 25-23 win over NIU on Saturday.

The Huskies had just taken the lead for the first time in the second half on a 47-yard field goal by Kanon Woodill. But there were still 15 seconds left, and the NIU defense allowed a 34-yard pass play down to the NIU 40.

The Huskies trailed most of the game and all of the second half but got a late blocked field to still only trail by two, 22-20. Woodill made a 47-yard field goal with 18 seconds left but Ball State pulled off the win.

Here are some key moments from the game.

Crazy fourth quarter

Down 22-14 in the fourth, NIU had a chance to tie the game. Taking over with 8:51 left, the Huskies seemed to go three-and-out, but a taunting call on Ball State gave the Huskies 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. Three plays later, a pass interference call moved the ball to the Ball State 20.

Antario Brown got into the end zone on a 6-yard run, his second score of the game. But the 2-point conversion pass from Ethan Hampton to Cam Thompson, who had his first 100-yard receiving game as a Huskie, failed. NIU trailed 22-20 with 5:02 left.

The NIU defense forced a stop, but the Huskie offense barely started its drive when Riley Tolsma tipped a Hampton pass at the line and it fell right into the hands of Joey Stemler for the interception with 2:21 left.

Santana Banner blocked a late Ball State field goal attempt, giving Hampton and the Huskies one last chance to get into field goal range. Hampton had a key third-and-5 pass to Dane Pardridge to keep the drive alive.

Ball State had a chance to win on a 52-yard field goal.

NIU defense comes up big late

Ball State, leading 19-14 with 11:52 left in the third, started a methodical drive from its own 3-yard line. The Cardinals converted their first three third-down attempts and moved the ball down to the NIU 28, facing a third-and-6.

But Skyler Gill-Howard sacked Kadin Semonza and the Cardinals were forced to pooch punt, although they did pin the Huskies at their own 2-yard line and helped flip the field position battle.

Ball State ran 16 plays on the drive, netted 60 yards and ate up 10:05 in a game in which it was already winning the time of possession battle. It was a big reason the third quarter was scoreless, the first scoreless quarter for Ball State and just the second for NIU after the third quarter in a 17-7 win against Bowling Green.

Hampton comes in, sparks scoring drive

The Huskies fell behind 19-7 after a pair of turnovers by quarterback Josh Holst. With 1:51 left, Hampton returned after missing last week with an injury and not starting this week, although coach Thomas Hammock said earlier this week he was medically cleared.

Hampton led a lightning-quick scoring drive that culminated in a 54-yard pass to Thompson, who sped past the defender on a post and scored with ease.

Hampton also had a chance to lead the Huskies on another scoring drive, taking over in the final 30 seconds at the NIU 47 after a 25-yard punt return by Pardridge. He found Trayvon Rudolph for a 13-yard gain, but two plays later Rudolph dropped what looked like would have been a touchdown pass and the drive stalled out.

Big plays briefly spark NIU on scoring drive

Down 7-0, NIU mounted a seven-play, 90-yard scoring drive featuring two really big plays.

On third-and-3 from the NIU 17, Holst tossed a deep pass to Thompson. George Udo made a play and almost had an interception, but Thompson ripped it from him and came down with the catch for a 27-yard gain.

Holst added runs of 17 and 9 yards, then Brown ripped off a 34-yard scoring run. He used a picture-perfect spin move to elude the final tackler and tie things up at 7-7 in the final minute of the first quarter.

NIU defense falters early

Ball State started the first drive of the game in good shape thanks to a 37-yard kickoff return. Then Vaughn Pemberton and Braedon Sloan took care of the rest, breaking off chunk plays into NIU territory against the Huskies’ 13th-ranked rushing defense. They were 2 for 2 on the third down against the Huskies’ top-ranked third-down defense.

Tanner Koziol capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass in light coverage despite being one of the top tight ends in the league, staking the Cardinals to a 7-0 lead in less than five minutes.

Things didn’t get much better from there. Although the Huskies forced a punt on the Cardinals’ second possession and followed it up with a touchdown, Ball State’s third drive got into the redone mostly through the ground. That included a 34-yard reverse by Cam Pickett and a 7-yard TD run by TJ Horton that was negated by a holding penalty.

After the hold, Ball State had to settle for a field goal and a 10-7 lead with 12:44 left.