Northwestern Rallies To Beat Ball State, 24-19
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Clayton Thorson threw three touchdown passes, Justin Jackson ran for a career-high 184 yards and No. 17 Northwestern overcame a sluggish first half to rally for a 24-19 victory over Ball State on Saturday night.
Thorson, the freshman quarterback, finished 18-of-31 for 256 yards with one interception for the Wildcats (4-0). Jackson had 33 carries for an average of 5.6 yards.
Dan Vitale had five receptions for 108 yards and a pair of touchdown catches, including a 66-yarder in the first half.
Riley Neal was 14 of 35 for 178 yards and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver Jordan Williams, for Ball State (2-2).
Northwestern won its first four games for the second time in three seasons. Two years ago, the Wildcats dropped seven straight after the fast start. They begin the Big Ten season next week against Minnesota.
Ball State controlled the first half — thanks to three Northwestern turnovers — for a 10-7 halftime lead.
Northwestern struggled to move the ball in the first ball except for the 66-yard touchdown pass from Thorson to Vitale.
The Wildcats came to life at the start of the second half. They put together a pair of 80-yard scoring drives on their first two possessions to grab a 21-10 advantage. Thorson capped the first drive with a 21-yard TD pass to Vitale, and found wide receiver Austin Carr on a 25-yarder on the second.
The third Northwestern drive stalled inside the 5, but Jack Mitchell added a 21-yard field goal to make it 24-10 with 4:51 left in the third quarter.
Ball State pulled to 24-16 late in the third when Neal and Jordan hooked up again for a 29-yard scoring pass.
The Cardinals moved closer with Morgan Hagee's 36-yard field with 4:34 left.
Northwestern then took over and nearly ran out the clock. Jackson had 12 yards on six carries during the drive.
Running back Solomon Vault had a key 14-yard run for a first down on a third-and-8 play for a first down on the Ball State 38 with less than 2 minutes to play.
Following a Northwestern punt, Ball State got the ball back on its 9 with 11 seconds left and no timeouts.
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