2009 Week 11

YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) - When B-Dawg pulled Wallace Stone after throwing three interceptions in the second quarter on Nov. 14, 2009, Eastern Michigan's hopes of beating Ball State appeared bleak.

Many college football pundits believe that the only reason the Hurons are contending for a Mid-American Conference championship this season is because Stone's 92 SPD masks a multitude of deficiencies, both for the team and for the coach.

But B-Dawg had some points to prove.

First, he had to show that nobody - not even his budding superstar - is immune from being yanked for poor performance.

Second, he wanted to show that he doesn't need to cheese it up to win.

Mission accomplished, on both counts.

Andy Schmitt, a more conventional quarterback, came off the bench and led EMU to a 27-24 come-from-behind victory over Ball State. Schmitt threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josh LeDuc with 1:51 left in the game for the winning score.

"I have no problem using Andy, though I must admit I was nervous putting him in the lineup with the 'option run' playbook in effect," B-Dawg said. "It's not like we could switch to a new book in the middle of a game. He's better suited for shotgun passing sets and we have only one in our entire book. Andy wasn't spectacular, but he got the job done."

Stone came out after gong 5-for-11 for 104 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Schmitt went 14-for-20 for 106 yards, one touchdown and one pick in his most extensive action in the three-year history of this dyNASTY. Schmitt, who has serviceable 72 SPD, ran 11 times for 41 yards. Stone ran four times for 36 yards, as EMU had four players run for between 35 and 53 yards.

Schmitt never threw more than 14 passes in a game before.

B-Dawg had no option but to yank Stone after two of his interceptions were returned for touchdowns. David Wise took a pick 64 yards to the house with 7:32 left in the second quarter after EMU had taken a 10-0 lead after one quarter. Linebacker Spain Cosby, who had a beastly game, returned a pick 31 yards for a touchdown to put Ball State (6-5) up 21-10 with 4:47 left in the second quarter. All three of Ball State's touchdowns came in a 2:45 span of the second quarter, the other being a 12-yard pass from Nate Davis to Deandrie Rogers.

Ironically, Stone got off to one of his best starts as a passer before everything unraveled, going 4-for-4 for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Schmitt wasn't immune from interceptions. His only pick appeared to be devastating at the time. On third-and-goal from the 17-yard line, Schmitt's pass toward Stone in the end zone was picked off by Bryan Louis with 5:41 left in the game. B-Dawg put Stone in the game as a receiver - his position when he was recruited - in the fourth quarter.

Eastern got the ball back and marched 60 yards in 10 plays for the winning touchdown, eating 2:07 off the clock. Schmitt hit LeDuc with a short pass on the left side of the field. LeDuc was an unlikely hero, having caught only 14 passes and no touchdowns in three years under B-Dawg.

Stone made his first career catch when he grabbed the 2-point conversion, though it won't go down on his official record.

"Ball State never expected us to throw to Josh," B-Dawg said. "We caught them off-guard. It caught me off-guard, too. He was lined up on the left side; he's usually on the right in most sets. I think everyone expected Wallace to come back in the game at quarterback once we turned momentum around, but Andy got us back in the game and it was his to win or lose."

Once EMU (7-3) had the lead, Hurons fans were holding their breaths. They'd seen EMU blow a game to Miami of Ohio when Ryan Downard accidentally pitched the ball on an interception return, allowing the Redskins to score the tying touchdown.

Davis, who had thrown costly interceptions in losses to EMU the last two years. Davis was 17-for-20 when he made yet another critical late-game mistake, throwing a pass that was picked off by Lorenzo Seaberry with 41 seconds left. This time, B-Dawg was focused and didn't do anything stupid to hand Ball State the game. Not wanting to take any chances, B-Dawg had Schmitt kneel out the game, something he rarely does because he's a stat whore.

It was the defense's way of closing out an outstanding performance. Ball State had only one offensive touchdown and managed only one field goal after the midway point of the second quarter. Halfback MiQuale Lewis was held to 23 yards on 17 carries.

This game got a Greatest Game score of 426 points.