TOLEDO -- It's quite possible that when viewing tape of Toledo,Ball State might not have taken a note on the Rockets' KennyHiggins.
Because when the senior receiver caught a pass, there was oftenno defender near him.
Higgins set a school and Glass Bowl record with his 233 yards on10 catches, including long touchdowns from Bruce Gradkowski onback-to-back plays in the first quarter.
The Rockets (3-2, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) ripped theCardinals for 21 points in the first, and BSU never recovered in a52-14 rout. Ball State fell to 1-4 and 1-1.
Gradkowski passed for 455 yards and tied his own record with sixtouchdowns. While the Cards held a 1:02 advantage in time ofpossession, the Rockets rolled up more than nine yards a play --645 overall.�
"We had way, way too many breakdowns," senior safety JustinBeriault said. "You can't beat a team like Toledo when you justgive them 21 points at the beginning like we did.
"(Gradkowski) is a great quarterback, don't get me wrong, but...we kind of gave him 300 of those yards."
Higgins got behind the defense for a 60-yard score on the firstdrive. After Reggie Hodges punted 46 yards to the 4, Gradkowskifound Higgins all by himself on the right side, against the grain.The 96-yard TD made it 14-0 with 9:09 still remaining.
"They really did a nice job with there scheme on the first two(touchdowns)," head coach Brady Hoke said. "They ran two goodroutes against those two coverages."
Brian Jackson's 52-yard field goal for Ball State bounced offthe crossbar, and the Rockets promptly drove 65 yards for theirthird score. Backup running back Scooter McDougle took a dump pass17 yards to the end zone.
Ball State fought to within 24-14 late in the second. FreshmanCole Stinson threw a five-yard score to Hahaj at the 12:55 mark,and Ryan Patrick returned a McDougle fumble 40 yards for anuncontested touchdown.
But a score with two seconds left in the first half killed itsmomentum.
Faced with a third-and-18 at the BSU 36, Gradkowski scrambledout to his left and lofted a pass into the end zone, where TerranceHudson worked free of the BSU defenders near the sideline andgrabbed the backbreaking completion.
"The quarterback scrambles, and that's always a problem," Hokesaid, "because when the quarterback scrambles there's seams thatcan open. Gradkowski played a heck of a game. The (defender)thought he had (Hudson) out of bounds, and he had more room."
Higgins added an eight-yard score on his team's first possessionof the third quarter, two plays after his 24-yard reception.
"That guy can make plays," Gradkowski said of Higgins. "Youcan't just focus on Lance (Moore) and Steve (Odom, the team's topreceivers). When there's certain matchups, I trust Kenny's going towin."
Stinson, who earned the start at quarterback over Joey Lynch,completed 17 of 29 for 213 yards and no interceptions. DanteRidgeway caught 10 of those passes for 144 yards. Another freshman,Adell Givens, rushed for 74 yards on 16 tries.
"Cole wasn't our problem," Hoke said. "Our whole team was ourproblem. We didn't play the kind of football we need to play. Wedidn't make plays defensively; we struggled offensively."
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