For two straight weeks, the Ball State University defense struggled with a mobile quarterback. Fortunately it didn't have an effect on the outcome against Eastern Michigan, but the same couldn't be said in last night's 24-23 loss to Indiana.
Without the services of Blake Powers and his back-up Graeme McFarland unable to find any kind of offensive rhythm, Hoosier coach Terry Hoeppner didn't waste any time turning to his third-string quarterback Kellen Lewis.
It was a decision that paid off.
"I told Kellen at the hotel, we'll see how Blake goes but you better be ready to play," Hoeppner said.
Lewis, who hadn't taken a snap since his high school days in Jacksonville, Florida, was solely responsible for getting his team back into the game.
After struggling in the first half, Lewis decided to throw the ball down field and challenge the Ball State secondary. This spread out the defense and opened up several running lanes, which Lewis and the Hoosiers took advantage of.
Indiana scored its first touchdown, just 3:57 into the third quarter, after being shutout in the first half. Lewis hooked up with James Hardy from 12 yards out, completing an 8-play, 69-yard drive. He then followed it up with a 23-yard scramble to the end zone to pull the Hoosiers within two at 23-21.
"We didn't play very good defense in the third quarter, tackling wise a little bit," Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. "Lewis did a nice job of making things happen on his own."
After Austin Starr converted on a 35-yard field goal, which proved to be the game-winner, Ball State had two straight possessions go by the way side. They might have had another chance, but Indiana was able to run the clock, after starting back at their own 1-yard line.
"We didn't wrap up guys and tackle," strong safety Erik Keys said.
The red shirt freshman, Lewis, completed 15-of-28 passes for 228 yards and also ran the ball 12 times for 91 yards giving him more than 300 yards of total offense.
"Kellen Lewis, not only made some outstanding plays, but managed the game so well," Hoeppner said. "He is able to break some tackles and is a powerful young man. I like the fact that we have quality depth at quarterback."
Powers started all 11 games last season, set the Indiana record for touchdowns thrown with 22 and passed for 2,305 yards. He also put the ball in the end zone four times on the ground.
"We decided during the warm-up that we weren't going to play him [Blake], Hoeppner said. "He wasn't 100 percent and I really felt we got a lot of football games to play and so Graeme was going to start."
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