It wasn’t the prettiest or slickest of games, but in the end the Illini found themselves in the win column for the sixth time this season.

“I really believe last year and I know the year before we would not have won that game,” head coach Ron Zook said. “But we did the things we had to do. Some wins aren’t pretty, but we did the things we had to do to get the win.”

The Illini used strong second-half performances by quarterback Juice Williams and running back Rashard Mendenhall to top Ball State 28-17. Williams quarterbacked the whole game and led the Illini on a time consuming, 87-yard fourth quarter drive of 15 plays to close out the victory. Illinois dominated the time of possession in the fourth quarter, allowing quarterback Nate Davis and the Cardinals just 4:41 to try to mount a comeback.

“(The drive) was critical when you have an offense like (Ball State’s) that is one play away from being able to put it in there,” Zook said.

The win improved Illinois to 6-3 and made the Orange and Blue bowl eligible for the first time since the 2001 season.

“(It’s been) a long road from not even being close to bowl eligible and now we are,” senior linebacker J Leman said. “It’s exciting.”

Zook said the plan was to let Williams play the entire game and keep backup Eddie McGee on the sideline. In last week’s loss to Michigan Zook switched quarterbacks four times in the second half.

“I struggled early and I found a spark within me,” Williams said. “I believe it was the hit I took and that kind of got me going.”

Mendenhall finished the afternoon with 189 yards on the ground to help the Illini net their second highest rushing total of the season. The tailback found the end zone twice.

But in the third quarter Williams’ screen pass hit Mendenhall’s hands and deflected to Ball State’s Mike Dorulla, who intercepted the pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to give the Cardinals a 10-7 lead.

The Illini responded and drove 65 yards on seven plays for a touchdown to take the lead for good. Arrelious Benn snagged a 25-yard pass to start the drive and then the legs of backup tailback Daniel Dufrene and Williams took over. Williams capped the drive with his first of two rushing touchdowns.

The highly touted arm of Ball State quarterback Nate Davis threw for 167 yards on 33 attempts – 22 more than Williams tallied on seven completions. Davis’ last attempt at a rally came in the fourth quarter after the Cardinals recovered Mendenhall’s fumble on the Illinois 46-yard line.

But Leman and the Illini defense stood tall and forced the Cardinals offense into a three and out.

“When things are going good and all of a sudden something happens like a fumble we take pride in being able to shut down the offense at that time,” Leman said.