Kent St. 31, Ball St. 18
Nov 10, 2001
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Joshua Cribbs ran for one touchdown and threw for
another to lead Kent State to a 31-18 victory over Ball State on Saturday.
Cribbs finished with 147 yards rushing and 95 yards on 5-of-14 passing for
Kent State (5-5, 4-3 Mid-American Conference).
Cribbs scored the Golden Flashes' first touchdown of the game on a 29-yard
run midway through the first quarter.
He then sparked a 14-point third quarter to give Kent State a 28-11 lead.
Jurron Kelly scored on a 16-yard pass from Cribbs with 11:45 remaining in the
third, and David Alston scored on a 52-yard run.
Ball State (4-5, 3-2) had possession of the ball nearly twice as long as
Kent State, but quarterback Talmadge Hill was picked off three times on
12-of-23 passing. He finished with just 93 yards and was sacked three times.
Marcus Merriweather carried the ball 35 times for 160 yards and two
touchdowns - a 3-yard run in the second quarter that brought Ball State within
three at the half, 14-11, and a 1-yard run in the fourth.
He finished the game with 1,000 yards rushing so far this season, becoming
only the second player in Ball State history to rush for 1,000 yards two years
in a row. Corey Croom had been the only other player to do so in 1991 and 1992.
Ball State jumped out to an early lead when Mike Langford connected on a
36-yard field goal midway through the first quarter.
Kent State answered with Cribbs' touchdown run and a 2-yard touchdown run by
DeMarlo Rozier.
Dave Pavich capped the scoring for Kent State with a 29-yard field goal in
the fourth.
