MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Jordan Lynch accounted for 402 yards and gave Northern Illinois the lead for good with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Akeem Daniels, and the Huskies defeated Ball State 35-23 on Saturday.
Northern Illinois (5-1, 2-0 Mid-American), which has won five straight after a season-opening loss to Iowa, trailed 23-14 after Keith Wenning's short TD run for the Cardinals (3-3, 1-2) in the third quarter. But Lynch, who ran for 207 yards on 29 carries, scored on a 12-yard run. With 4:58 to play, the TD pass to Daniels made it 28-23 Huskies. Lynch then sealed it with a 71-yard run, his third rushing TD, with 3:03 left.
Lynch was 16 of 23 for 195 yards and was not intercepted. Wenning attempted 71 passes for Ball State, completing 42, for 434 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Jamill Smith ran for 146 yards on just 14 attempts for the Cardinals.
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| Scoring Summary |
| NILL | Jordan Lynch 29 yd run (Mathew Sims kick) |
| BALLST | Steven Schott 20 yd FG |
| NILL | Leighton Settle 1 yd run (Mathew Sims kick) |
| BALLST | Steven Schott 27 yd FG |
| BALLST | Willie Snead 12 yd pass from Keith Wenning (Steven Schott kick) |
| BALLST | Steven Schott 43 yd FG |
| BALLST | Keith Wenning 1 yd run (Steven Schott kick) |
| NILL | Jordan Lynch 12 yd run (Mathew Sims kick) |
| NILL | Akeem Daniels 54 yd pass from Jordan Lynch (Mathew Sims kick) |
| NILL | Jordan Lynch 71 yd run (Mathew Sims kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| NILL | BALLST | |
| First Downs | 24 | 29 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 2-12 | 9-20 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 2-3 | 1-2 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 75-509 | 100-563 |
| Rushes-Yds | 52-314 | 29-129 |
| Passing Yds | 195 | 434 |
| Kick Return Yds | 124 | 105 |
| Punt Return Yds | 2 | 0 |
| Passes | 16-23-0 | 42-71-2 |
| Punts | 6-214 | 4-157 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-2 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yds | 9-81 | 7-70 |
| Time of Poss. | 26:12 | 33:12 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| NILL: Jordan Lynch 29-207, Keith Harris 5-46, Tommylee Lewis 4-32, Leighton Settle 11-15, Akeem Daniels 2-15, Team 1--1 |
| BALLST: Jahwan Edwards 10-65, Horactio Banks 11-43, Barrington Scott 5-17, Keith Wenning 3-4 |
| PASSING |
| NILL: Jordan Lynch 16-23-195-0 |
| BALLST: Keith Wenning 42-71-434-2 |
| RECEIVING |
| NILL: Akeem Daniels 5-78, Martel Moore 5-31, Jamison Wells 3-47, Luke Eakes 1-34, Da'Ron Brown 1-6, Tommylee Lewis 1--1 |
| BALLST: Jamill Smith 14-146, Zane Fakes 11-98, Willie Snead 6-87, Connor Ryan 4-17, KeVonn Mabon 2-60, Jahwan Edwards 2-7, David Schneider 1-9, Jack Tomlinson 1-8, Horactio Banks 1-2 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Northern Illinois | 1st Mid American West | 9-0 | 12-2 |
| Ball State | 2nd Mid American West | 6-2 | 9-4 |
