No. 16 Ball State remains undefeated

Nate Davis threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as No. 16 Ball State defeated Northern Illinois, 45-14, Wednesday night at Muncie, Ind., to remain undefeated and alive in the chase for a Bowl Championship Series game.

The matchup between the Mid-American Conference’s top offense and No. 1 defense wasn’t close.

MiQuale Lewis topped 100 yards rushing for the ninth game in a row for Ball State (9-0, 5-0), which produced eight plays of 25 yards or more in scoring its season high.

Northern Illinois (5-4, 4-2) gave up nearly six times its per-game average of 8.2 points.

Prince won’t return

Kansas State Coach Ron Prince will not return for the 2009 season, pushed out after failing to rebuild the Wildcats into a Big 12 Conference contender.

Prince took over for Bill Snyder in 2006, his first head-coaching job after 14 years at six schools. He never lived up to the standard Snyder set, posting a record of 16-18 in 2 1/2 seasons in Manhattan, including 4-5 this year.

“We are in a performance-based profession and have made this decision in the best long-term interest of both the university and its football program,” Athletic Director Bob Krause said.

Etc.

Buck Burnette, backup center for No. 5 Texas, has been dismissed from the team after a rules violation, Coach Mack Brown said. . . . Florida sophomore quarterback Cameron Newton slightly injured his neck in a car crash, but Coach Urban Meyer said that the backup to Tim Tebow would be fine.