Sports

OXFORD — It was sweet for a time. A much-too-brief time.

For much of the first half the Miami University football team dominated the ball, the clock and the 14th-ranked Ball State Cardinals.

Then the Cardinals did what they always do this season. They got the lead and eventually pulled away, defeating the RedHawks 31-16 Tuesday night, Nov. 11, at Yager Stadium.

"Frustrating. Very frustrating," said Miami senior safety Robbie Wilson, who led the RedHawks with 13 tackles.

"We're Miami, we have that M on our helmet for a reason, we go out expecting to win every game," said Miami junior quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh.

Miami dropped to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the Mid-American Conference with its third consecutive home loss despite keeping control of the ball 18 minutes, 59 seconds in the first half (compared to BSU's 11:01).

"Miami played hard, they had a great spirit about them," said Ball State coach Brady Hoke, whose squad improved to 10-0 for the first time in school history, 6-0 in the MAC, and remained in the running for a BCS bowl bid.

"It's awesome, it's huge, every win is huge," said BSU senior linebacker Bryant Haines. "I say that every week and it's true.

"We had our backs against the wall there and got behind, which hasn't happened to us much," he added, referring to Miami taking a 3-0 lead in the second quarter when Nathan Parseghian kicked the first of his three field goals.

BSU led 17-13 at halftime. The RedHawks had cut the lead to a single point when Raudabaugh fired a 49-yard touchdown pass to Chris Givens with 55.1 seconds left in the half, but the Cardinals answered with a 46-yard field goal by Ian McGarvey as time expired.

A 31-yard field goal by Parseghian cut the lead to one again with 10:48 left in the third quarter, but BSU scored the final 14 points on two 1-yard touchdown runs by MiQuale Lewis, who finished with 26 carries for 165 yards.

Ball State quarterback Nate Davis completed 17-of-24 passes for 289 yards, one touchdown (17 yards to Darius Hill) and one interception (which Joey Hudson returned 52 yards late in the third quarter).

Raudabaugh started in place of the injured Clay Belton after having started the first six games himself. He passed for 254 yards, becoming the sixth quarterback in Miami history to reach the 4,000-yard mark for his career. He also passed Neil Dougherty to move into fifth place on the school's all-time passing list.