Ball State earned a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl and clinched the Mid-American Conference championship with a 28-3 victory Saturday over winless Kent.
The Cardinals (9-2-1 overall, 7-0-1 MAC) will meet Big West Conference champion Utah State, which beat New Mexico State 20-17 on Saturday, in the Dec. 17 matchup.Kent (0-10, 0-8) finished the season on a 15-game losing streak, the longest in major college football.
Mike Neu's touchdown passes of 1 and 54 yards brought his season total to 17, tying a Ball State record set by Dave Wilson in 1977.
Receiver Brian Oliver, who was on the other end of Neu's 54 yarder, also entered school record books with 16 reception TDs for the year, eclipsing the mark of 15 set by Mike Andrews in the mid-1970s.
The Golden Flashes crowned an impressive 14-play, 72-yard drive on their first possession with a 36-yard field goal to go up 3-0, but it was all Ball State after that.
Tony Nibbs and Carlos Davis responded with second-quarter scoring runs of 44 yards and 1 yard, respectively, and Neu hit Juan Gorman on a 1-yard TD pass to put the Cardinals in control, 21-3, with 14 seconds left in the half.
The Neu-Oliver connection completed the scoring with 7:54 left in the third quarter.
"Hopefully, today, I played my part and contributed," said Neu. "The light at the end of the tunnel kept getting brighter and brighter."