Duke Recap

Ballard showed, once again, why he deserves consideration for the Heisman Trophey after a dominating effort against Duke. Ballards 103 yards on 27 carries gives him 733 yards on 141 carries on the year for a 5.2 yards per carry average. His 733 yards are good for 38th, up from last weeks 45th, in the country while his average of 5.2 ypc is good for 61st in the country. His 81 yard scamper is now ranked 7th for the year.

The Mids regained the top rushing spot in the nation as a team this week by bulldozing the Blue Devils for 435 yards on the ground. Ballard showed off his skills once again by rushing for 103 yards on 27 carries and 2 TD's. The Blue Devils had no answer for the Mids rushing attack and especially no answer for the bruising fullback Ballard. Ballard wore down Duke's run D and showed his power by pounding the ball up the middle. Ballard rushed for 2 touchdowns, his first TD's since the season opener against East Carolina. When asked about trying to stop Ballard, Duke D lineman Okpokowuruk (#91 laying on ground in above picture) said, "Playing against Ballard was like playing against an 18 wheel Mac truck. I didn't stand a chance tackling him, so half the time I didn't even try getting off the blockers. I made it look like I couldn't get away so I didn't have to try and stop him." Ballard was heard telling Okpolowuruk to "hit the weights" as he ran him into the ground on the above play.