2007 Week 2

YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) - This dynasty is only two games old, but no matter what happens from here on out, it's going to be tough to top the drama of B-Dawg's home debut at Eastern Michigan.

Cornerback Corey Everson picked off a first-and-goal pass from the 7-yard line in the end zone and returned it 101 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hurons a 19-13 overtime victory over Ball State on Sept. 8, 2007 at Rynearson Stadium.

Eastern was outgained 321-171, but used two defensive touchdowns to get its first victory under B-Dawg. Darran Matthews returned a fumble 64 yards to give the Hurons a 10-0 lead with 6:06 left in the second quarter.

It was the second time that Ball State quarterback Nate Davis, who threw five touchdown passes in the season opener, served up an interception in the end zone while the Cardinals were deep in EMU territory. Jacob Wyatt picked off a pass three yards deep in the end zone with 1:43 left in the first half and nearly took that one to the house, getting tackled by Davis after a 35-yard return.

"If I'm at this place for 10, 15 years or more, when I sit down to list the top moments in the history of this dynasty, I can't imagine there will be many plays more dramatic than that one," B-Dawg said. "Ball State at least had a field goal in the bag. They had moved the ball well on the first possession in overtime and had been tearing us up on the ground. Inexplicably, when they started to smell the end zone, they tried to squeeze a pass in there against our zone defense twice."

Eastern had no answer for impact halfback Miquale Lewis, who ran 27 times for 135 yards. Corey McGee spelled Lewis in the second quarter and scored on a 17-yard run to get Ball State within 10-7.

The game belonged to the kickers for the rest of regulation time, as neither team showed an ability to finish in the red zone.

A quarterback draw by EMU's Tyler Jones was stuffed with time running out in the first half, so B-Dawg called his final timeout and sent out Sean Dutcher for a 20-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to put EMU up 13-7.

Ball State's Jake Hogue had the only points of the second half on field goals of 26 and 31 yards. Hogue missed field goal attempts of 54 and 55 yards in the final 2:07, the first one coming on fourth-and-one when going for it with a successful running back would have been the prudent call.

Dutcher had a 47-yard kick graze the right upright with 36 seconds left in the game.

EMU got the ball back, but Jones threw an interception to Spain Cosby with eight seconds left. Cosby returned the ball to EMU's 44-yard line, giving Hogue a shot at a 55-yard field goal that was wide to the right.

Ball State gained 18 yards in three plays before Davis served up the dramatic game-winning pick by Everson in overtime.

"I was really working Corey to pick it up on that return, because I saw Davis get the angle and keep Jacob from scoring on a similar play earlier in the game," B-Dawg said. "It was also in my mind that this was a 100-plus return, and you don't get those every day.'

Everson made another huge play to set up EMU's other defensive touchdown. Ball State was moving the ball well when Everson forced Lewis to fumble. Matthews scooped it up and was in the clear for the first defensive touchdown in this dynasty's history.

"Our defense has been the most pleasant surprise so far," B-Dawg said. "I figured we'd struggle on offense, because I haven't been able to run well online and the limited vision with this camera angle makes short passes to the outside a risky proposition. I had no idea we'd play defense this well. I will certainly monitor the situation, because we shouldn't be this good on defense just yet. I refuse to bore my readers with a 10-2 season with a motley crew like this. I'll start over if it ever comes to that. Street cred, y'know."

B-Dawg might also need to tweak his offensive sliders to help out his sorry running game. Starting halfback Terrence Blevins had only 16 yards on 12 carries. In two games, he has only 38 yards on 23 carries.

"I have the CPU's awareness maxed, so maybe that's a big reason for it," B-Dawg said. "I'm sure a man with better stick skillz than I would do just fine."

The only bright spot on offense is the fact Jones has thrown only two interceptions in two games.

"I expected to have a lot of problems throwing picks early on, but having the CPU at zero definitely helps, because they've dropped a lot of passes," B-Dawg said. "I never envisioned that it would be the CPU having the hardest time adjusting to the new games. After all, it is the CPU's game."