Ball St balanced attack beats Illinois St 51-28

By foxsports
Published

Keith Wenning passed for three touchdowns and ran for two and Ball State defeated Illinois State 51-28 in the season opener for both teams.

Willie Snead caught two of Wenning's touchdown passes and finished with nine catches for 164 yards. Wennin was 24 of 40 for 340 yards.

Illinois State led 21-9 before Wenning hit Javond Williams to make it 21-16 at half. Ball State opened the second half with the two touchdowns passes to Snead before Wenning scored his fifth touchdown on a 3-yard run. Jahwan Edwards and Horactio Banks each had rushing touchdowns to conclude the six-touchdown run for the Cardinals.

Illinois State, coming off a FCS quarterfinal appearance finish last season, was led by Jared Barnett who was 20 for 29 with two touchdowns. Collin Keoshian also scored two touchdowns for the Redbirds. The two teams have not played since 1993, renewing the series dating to 1957.