Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia threw for 275 yards and a touchdown and ran for 82 and another score, leading the Commodores to a 24-14 win over visiting Ball State in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday night.
Tight end Eli Stowers caught eight passes for 130 yards and a touchdown for Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play) and kicker Brock Taylor connected on all three of his field goal attempts.
Tight end Tanner Koziol led Ball State (2-5, 1-2 in Mid-American Conference) with nine catches for 68 yards and a score.
Neither team committed a turnover.
The Commodores came in as two-touchdown favorites but didn’t lead for good until the fourth quarter, when Pavia made several big plays on the game’s key possession.
Martel Hight had a 25-yard punt return to the Cardinals 45 to set up the drive and Pavia took over from there. He hit Stowers for 8 on a third-and-7, added an 11-yard rush to the Ball State 25 and ended the drive with a 6-yard keeper for a score with 7:28 left.
The Cardinals had tied it on a 94-yard drive that ended with 6:03 left in the third quarter, with Kadin Semonza finding Koziol with a 7-yard scoring strike.
That remained the score until the fourth quarter, when Taylor hit a 38-yarder from the right hash to give Vandy the lead.
Vanderbilt had a 285-152 yardage edge at half but led just 14-7 due to its average drive starting at the 15, keyed by a pair of Cardinal punts that pinned the Commodores at their 3-yard line.
Ball State took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards (6:54 on the clock) when Kiael Kelly scored on a 9-yard quarterback keeper.
Vanderbilt answered with Taylor field goals of 32 and 29 on its first two trips.
The Commodores finally flipped the field late in the second quarter on a 97-yard drive.
Pavia hit Stowers on a perfectly executed screen pass with three blockers in front of him for an easy 41-yard touchdown down the left sideline. Pavia then found a wide-open Cole Spence for a 2-point conversion and a 14-7 lead.
Pavia threw for 246 yards in the first half, with Stowers catching six balls for 105 yards.
Vanderbilt played without a pair of key defensive starters in linebacker Langston Patterson and defensive end Miles Capers
