In a back-and-forth, rollercoaster ride of a football contest which was never quite in the hand of either team until the triple zeroes showed on the board, the Ball State Cardinals (1-2) clinched the first victory of the Mike Uremovich era by a final score of 34-29 over the New Hampshire Wildcats.
The action got started right away, as the Wildcats defense forced an early punt, putting DJ Johnson in a position to block the boot and allow graduate senior safety Brendan Tighe to return the fumble 30 yards for a touchdown to get new Hampshire on the board first 7-0 within 90 seconds of the game’s start.
Ball State would reply with an explosive play of their own, as Cardinals quarterback Kiael Kelly would rip down the middle of the UNH defense for a 40-yard scrambling touchdown to tie the tally on the next possession.
Both teams would exchange scores in a wild first quarter, as New Hampshire would settle in with a 10-play, 75-yard drive lasting over five minutes before cashing in with a 16-yard connection between Matthew Vezza and Chase Wilson and Ball State running back Qua Ashley would score on an explosive 43-yard run three plays later to push the mark to 14-14 at the end of the first 15 minutes.
Some cracks started to appear in the second quarter, as Kiael Kelly tossed a lazy interception in the direction of New Hampshire’s Duncan Moreland, giving the Wildcats an opportunity for points thanks to favorable field position.
A facemask call on offense took them out of field goal range and forced a quick punt, but Ball State returner Eric Weatherly muffed the ball, allowing UNH’s Raleigh Collins III to fall on top of it at the Cardinals’ seven-yard line.
Once again, the Ball State defense came up clutch, with Nathan Voorhis and Micah Wing sacking quarterback Matthew Vezza on third down to force a field goal attempt from former Buffalo placekicker Nick Reed. The kick, on the right hash from 25 yards away, clanked off the right goalpost.
Qua Ashley made them pay two plays later, bursting up the middle for a 72-yard rushing touchdown to put the Cardinals up 21-14 with 7:12 to go in the first half.
On the ensuing possession, the Wildcats marched down the field, reaching the Cardinal 11-yard line with 2:07 remaining. Ball State would manage to stop Myles Thomason behind the line for a three-yard gain to set up a fourth-and-one situation, but a reckless tackle by linebacker Joey Stemler, which occurred after the play had been whistled dead, gave UNH the ball with a fresh set of downs inside the Ball State five-yard line.
After Stemler’s disqualification for targeting was assessed, Matthew Vezza would step into the endzone on a designed quarterback run from two yards out to tie the game back up at 21-21.
The key pivot point of the game proved to be on the quarter flip, as Kiael Kelly would find Kameron Anthony for a 10-yard passing touchdown and UNH’s Nick Reed would miss his second field goal of the day— this time from 52 yards out— to put the halftime tally at 28-21 Ball State.
UNH would be forced into a three-and-out on their first possession of the second half, and Qua Ashley would score his third touchdown of the afternoon on a 27-yard reception from Kiael Kelly to push the BSU lead up to 34-21 with 9:56 to go in the third quarter after a botched extra point attempt.
UNH looked to be in trouble after a pair of unblocked sacks by Nate Voorhis and DeJuan Echols forced the Wildcats to punt down 10 points, but a great punt by Matt Guidebeck put the Cardinals at their own five-yard line, and defensive lineman Justice Akinmoladun would sack Kiael Kelly in the endzone to give UNH the ball down 34-26.
The Wildcats would threaten to score after a 42-yard Caleb Burke reception put UNH at the Ball State 12, but an endzone toss to Burke on third-and-nine forced a decision. UNH head coach Rick Santos, faced with fourth-and-one at the Ball State 11-yard line, opted to kick a field goal from 29 yards instead of try to convert and kill clock.
Now down 34-29, New Hampshire would have to stop Ball State from converting two first downs on the ground while limiting the use of timeouts. The Wildcats would eventually get the ball back with 1:39 remaining after using two timeouts.
UNH would get as far as their own 43-yard line, but a vital mistake by quarterback Matthew Vezza with no timeouts left kept the clock running. Instead of tossing the ball away on the roll out, Vezza tried to stretch for as many yards as he could along the sidelines. In doing so, he allowed himself to get dragged in-bounds for a two-yard gain, taking 25 seconds off the clock and forcing a hurry-up drill.
Vezza would snap the ball with two seconds remaining, then fire a pass in the direction of Chase Wilson inside Ball State territory after scrambling from pressure. The ball instead found the hand of Cardinal cornerback Willizhaun Yates, who tossed it into the turf to secure a victory.
The win is Mike Uremovich’s first as head coach of the Cardinals, and evened the all-time series between New Hampshire and Ball State at one game apiece; UNH had won their only other meeting back in 2009.
Ball State featured two 100-yard rushers on the day, with Kiael Kelly finding 101 net rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries to pair with 105 passing yards and a passing score, while Tennessee State halfback Qua Ashley introduced himself to the home fans with 154 rushing yards and three total touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving.) Overall, the team had 308 yards rushing.
Ashley was also the leading receiver, with two receptions for 33 yards.
Jack Beebe led the team with nine tackles on the day, while eight different Cardinals notched at least a half-TFL. Nathan Voorhis was the primary backfield penetrator on the day, with two tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks to lead the Cardinals. Jackson Wiegold, Willizhaun Yates and Jahman Harmon had two pass break-ups each on the day.
For New Hampshire, Matthew Vezza led in both passing (25-of-44, 259 yards, touchdown) and rushing (16 carries, 78 yards, touchdown) for the Wildcats. Halfback Myles Thomason was limited to 24 yards on 12 carries. The duo of Caleb Burke (seven catches, 89 yards) and Chase Wilson (seven catches, 84 yards, touchdown) paced the receiving game, with no other UNH receiver notching more than two catches or 26 yards.
The Wildcats defense was led by Trevor Barry’s eight tackles and half-TFL. Cohen Cook and Jackson Stone were close behind with six tackles each. Jordan McAllister had two tackles-for-loss and a sack to lead UNH in both categories. DJ Johnson had a pass break-up and a blocked punt to go with five tackles.
Ball State, now 1-2 on the season, are set to visit UConn next Saturday, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. CBS Sports Network will handle the broadcast.
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