After a slow second quarter that saw a 13-point lead disappear, Ball State coach Pete Lembo needed a fast start to the second half.
He got exactly what he needed and more as Ball State ran away for a 37-26 win over Eastern Michigan.
Two plays into the first drive of the third quarter, sophomore running back Jahwan Edwards took a handoff up the middle and made the first tackler miss. From there, he broke left and was untouched to cap off a 75-yard touchdown run.
"The linemen got a good push and I hid behind them a little bit," Edwards said. "I came out the left side and I tried picking up my knees and ran as far as I can."
At 5-feet-10-inches and 225 pounds, Edwards needed every push to out run the Eastern Michigan defenders. Lembo joked in the post-game news conference that he was surprised the defenders didn't catch up to him.
But more importantly, Ball State didn't look back after his second touchdown of the game. Getting the quick stop on defense and the touchdown run from Edwards put the momentum in Ball State's favor.
"That set the tone for the whole second half," Lembo said. "It was good to see us not take the foot off the gas pedal after that. To a degree it put the game just about out of reach."
Edwards touchdown was just his first of the third quarter. On the next possession, redshirt freshman running back Horactio Banks punched in his first touchdown for Ball State to extend the lead to 27-13.
After a three-and-out by Eastern Michigan on its following possession, Ball State made it a three-score game when Edwards scored his third touchdown of the game, this one on a five-yard run.
He finished the game with a career-best 200 rushing yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns. His previous best was 123 yards against Ohio last season.
But Edwards wasn't alone in the rushing game. On top of Banks adding a score in the third quarter, he and junior running back Barrington Scott ran for a combined 112 yards. It was Scott's first game back since suffering a broken leg in last season's 33-31 win over the Eagles.
Even with the 37-point output, Ball State quarterback Keith Wenning did not throw a touchdown pass in the win. Instead, it was the running game that led the team to the win, which Lembo said shows the balance of his team's offense.
"You have to play to your strengths," he said. "I know we're known as a passing offense and we take a lot of pride in that. But you have to play to your strengths of your team. That's a veteran group and a confident group. We've got some backs that we can rotate to keep guys fresh."
Though he had a career-night, Edwards still feels like he could have played better because of his two fumbles. One of the fumbles resulted in a turnover, the other he was able to recover himself.
During the news conference after the game, Lembo said he didn't know exactly how many rushing yards his team had by the end of the game. When it was mentioned that Edwards had 200 yards by himself, Edwards smiled and gave a small chuckle as he looked at the ground.
"And I fumbled twice, too," he said softly.
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