In its last six games combined, the NIU defense allowed only 43 points. Wednesday night, it gave up 45.

Ball State quarterback Nate Davis was unstoppable in the No. 16 Cardinals 45-14 victory at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Ind., putting on a clinic against a defense that was ranked No. 1 in the MAC heading into the game.

Davis picked apart the Huskie defense all game, going 18-for-22 for 300 yards and four touchdown passes. He also added a rushing touchdown in the third quarter.

“He’s a great quarterback,” said NIU linebacker Alex Kube. “He’s been unbelievable.”

Davis got help from his offensive line, running game, and receivers. Often Ball State receivers like Louis Johnson were wide open.

Johnson had a day himself, catching six balls for 165 yards and a touchdown.

“There’s no question as an overall football team through the teams that we have played this year, Ball State’s the best team we’ve played, no question,” said NIU head coach Jerry Kill. “Their quarterback’s outstanding, they’re very well coached, they’re fundamentally sound.”

Running back MiQuale Lewis made one of the bigger plays of the game early in the third quarter. After quarterback Chandler Harnish scored the first Huskie touchdown with a 25-yard run on NIU’s first drive of the fourth quarter to cut Ball State’s lead to 21-7, Lewis snatched the momentum right back from the Huskies with a 64-yard run on the Cardinals very first play of the next drive, giving Ball State the ball at the Huskie 16-yard line. Davis finished off the drive with a quarterback sneak from the NIU one-yard line.

The run gave Ball State a 28-7 lead, and any momentum the Huskies gained from the previous drive was gone.

“Of course it hurt us, but as a family we still believed that we could rally back,” Kube said. “We just didn’t get it done today, we made too many mistakes.”

The Huskie defense wasn’t helped by the team’s offense, which was inept basically the entire game. Ball State out-gained the Huskies 529 yards to 275.

The Cardinals have now put up at least 40 points in over half of their games, and lead the MAC in scoring and total offense.

“Unfortunately, they just played better,” said Huskie defensive end Larry English. “Ball State was a better team.”