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MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Drew Plitt threw a pair of touchdown passes, Caleb Huntley ran for 103 yards and Ball State beat Northern Illinois 31-25 on Wednesday night.

It was a program record seventh consecutive 100-yard game for Huntley, who carried the ball 25 times including a 3-yard touchdown.

Plitt threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Antwan Davis in the first half, and his 7-yarder to Yo’Heinz Tyler stretched the Cardinals’ lead to 28-14 early in the fourth quarter.

Ross Bowers threw for a season-high 300 yards to lead the Huskies, hitting Tyrice Richie 11 times for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Video from NewsLink Indiana

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — Former late-night TV host David Letterman and former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning were on the Ball State University campus Tuesday to film a segment for a football-themed ESPN documentary, the college said in a news release.

The pair arrived Tuesday morning and wrapped up around 4 p.m. Because of the pandemic and a tight schedule, the production of the show was done privately. The day’s events included filming at Scheumann Stadium and at Frog Baby in the heart of Ball State University’s campus.  

Manning hosts “Peyton’s Places” on ESPN +.

Colts fans may remember Letterman spoke at the unveiling of the statue of Manning outside Lucas Oil Stadium in October 2017. During that event, Letterman said, “I’m here for two reasons. One, I’m from Indiana. Two, whether he knows it, whether he wants it, I’m friends with Peyton Manning. You can’t not be friends with this guy.”

Late-night TV fans may remember Manning was a guest on the last episode of “Late Night with David Letterman” in May 2015.

Letterman is a 1969 graduate of Ball State. The university’s David Letterman Communication and Media Building was completed and opened in 2007. 

Statements

“It was exciting to have David Letterman and Peyton Manning on our campus today. Mr. Letterman is proud to be a Ball State graduate, and I am grateful that he returned to our campus with Mr. Manning. They’re two stars with strong connections to our state. I look forward to seeing the program that they filmed here today that will air in January. The location they chose will showcase our beautiful campus.”   

Geoffrey S. Mearns, Ball State president

“It was an exciting day for our football program. The team was thrilled to engage with these two Indiana legends for ‘Peyton’s Places.’ We are grateful for the opportunity to help showcase our campus, as it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student-athletes and coaches.” 

Beth Goetz, Ball State University director of athletics

(AP) — The Mid-American Conference, the first major college football league to postpone its season because of the pandemic, has become the final one to jump back in, making it 10 out of 10 conferences that will play in the fall.

As university presidents in the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West have done over the last 10 days, MAC leaders on Friday voted to reverse their August decision to kick football to spring and tee it up during its usual season.

Just like the other conferences returning to fall ball, the MAC cited advancements in COVID-19 antigen testing as key to the change of direction. The conference will begin testing athletes four times per week, starting Oct 5.

The MACtion will start Nov. 4 — a Wednesday, of course — and the championship game will be played Dec. 18 or 19.

“Our decisions, in August and again today, have been guided by an overriding concern for the well-being of the student athletes, institutions, and the community at large,” Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said in a statement. “Our medical advisory group, presidents, directors of athletics, and others, have worked hard to develop a plan that provides the opportunity for student athletes to compete.”

The MAC, a 12-school league of mostly Midwest schools with relatively small athletic budgets, postponed all fall sports on Aug. 8. Within a few days, the Mountain West, Big Ten and Pac-12 had done the same.

Six conferences, including the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big 12, held firm. The major college football season started Labor Day weekend and their have already been disruptions.

But if all goes well, by the first weekend of November, all the conferences will be playing football.

Coronavirus links

Indiana coronavirus timeline

With information from the Indiana Department of Health through March 4, 2021, this timeline reflects updated tallies of deaths and positive tests prior to that date.

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — A Ball State University professor and scientist is praising Gov. Eric Holcomb for the mask mandate.

The professor says the mandate, which starts Monday, will save lives.

Dr. Jagdish Khubchandani said he thinks Holcomb should have done a mask mandate even sooner, but the professor of health science also said he’s glad Indiana has the requirement now and wants everyone to embrace it.

He says, in a time where COVID-19 has no real treatment or vaccine, masks are all people have to fight the spread of the virus. He also called COVID-19 the smartest child in the coronavirus family.

“It infects people and does not show symptoms,” Khubchandani said. “You could be having the virus for 10 days and have no symptoms at all and, in the meanwhile, you could be infecting other people. Given the nature of this coronavirus, the only chance we have to save others and ourselves is to wear a mask because asymptomatic people are infecting others.”

In Wednesday’s news conference where Holcomb announced the mandate, the governor said, “I’ve seen the movie before. I’ve seen it around the country. I know how it ends and we’re trying to change that ending for real people.”

Khubchandani says masking decreases transmission from 25-50%. He believes if people don’t start getting serious about reducing the spread, the virus could continue for as long as two years.

Here is a summary of all research he has gathered on why people may or may not wear a mask:

Coronavirus links

Indiana coronavirus timeline

With information from the Indiana Department of Health through March 4, 2021, this timeline reflects updated tallies of deaths and positive tests prior to that date.

FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) — Brittany Kelly is walking down the fairway at Ironwood Golf Club, just a 3 wood away from her parents’ backyard, with a completely new perspective on life.

“I want to make sure I’m here for a reason, to help as many people as I can through this journey that I have had to go through,” Kelly said. 

Kelly, a former prep golf standout at Hamilton Southeastern High School and collegiate star at Ball State University, is a gift to golf and to aspiring young girls everywhere.

Kelly is the PGA assistant golf professional at Woodland Country Club in Carmel, Ind. — coming off an incredible run of golf herself in 2019.

Quickly, let me rattle off what Kelly just pulled off:

Those were just the major achievements. 

Behind the scenes during the PGA Cup event this past fall, however, another battle was brewing. Kelly was dealing with a pain that wouldn’t go away and after undergoing surgery during the winter to remove a mass half the size of a football, her worst fear was confirmed: cancer.

“It was Stage 1, Grade 3, clear-cell ovarian cancer,” Kelly said. “They decided to start my first treatment at the end of February, six-cycles (in total).” 

Kelly quickly shared her story and the fight ahead. A battle cry of “BK Strong” spread across the central Indiana golf community via social media. 

These days, she can get a few swings in ahead of the home stretch at the hospital. Her final treatment is right around the corner later this June.

“Oh, my gosh, she has been through a ton and she has handled it so well,” said Brittany’s mother, Joni Kelly. “Much better than I could have ever handled it.”

Brittany’s father, Ken Kelly, said, “Brittany, all of her life, has been a competitor and a fighter.”

A few weeks after her final treatment, Kelly hopes to return to her home away from home, Woodland Country Club. July 1 is her target date to get back to helping members improve their games and to start tinkering again with her own swing. 

During our visit recent visit together, Kelly’s boss at Woodland, Patrick White, put together a pump-up video for her treatment. It is clear, those closest to Brittany Kelly can’t wait to hear her yell out a simple phrase — “I’m back.”

“That is what I’ve been waiting for,” Kelly said. “I want to get back. I want to see them (Woodland members). I want to be back to normal.“

“They’re awesome people and Woodland is a special club. I have a great staff, my boss is absolutely amazing.”

There is a leaderboard out there of folks who show us how to live. And Brittany Kelly — is right near the top. 

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two Ball State University professors are leading new efforts to help the Burmese community in Indianapolis.

Data shows about 19,000 Burmese refugees live in the city.

Coming from a place with limited access to health, research shows Burmese women see higher premature births and infants have lower birth weight. A series of texts could improve those odds.

For most people, their cellphone is never too far away. It’s that idea that got professors at Ball State University thinking about the best ways to get out maternal health information to Burmese refugees in Indianapolis.

“I did some research about the refugee community. Barely any research has been done regarding infant mortality in refugee communities so that is one of the reasons why I even started the study in the last year,” professor Mengxi Zhang said.

In a matter of months, they’ll start sending out text messages about maternal health to expecting Burmese refugees in Indiana. LUNA Language Services is doing the translations.

About two years ago, health science professor Zhang and her colleague Jean Marie Place started conducting research to measure maternal child health in the Burmese community.

“I feel like, in general, refugee communities have been ignored in a lot of health intervention projects because of their language barrier,” Zhang said.

According to research a third of Burmese women did not receive timely prenatal care in the first three months of their pregnancy and the majority of these women didn’t realize not getting it was a problem.

The project aims to improve knowledge about maternal and infant health while encouraging women to practice recommended health behaviors involving sleep, breastfeeding, early prenatal care and postpartum checkups.