Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour was not coy about how tuned in he will be to Saturday’s Ohio-Northern Illinois game.

After the CMU football team cruised to a 35-3 win against Ball State, it put pressure on NIU to beat Ohio.

If Ohio wins, CMU will clinch the Mid-American Conferece West Division title. But if the Huskies win their home finale, it will set up a division championship setting between CMU and NIU at 1 p.m. Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.

“Those are two great football teams, so it’s going to be a great game, being a spectator and seeing what happens,” LeFevour said. “My Theo Scott jersey that I purchased, I’ll pull that out.”

Theo Scott is Ohio’s starting quarterback and, although LeFevour was joking — he does not really have Scott’s jersey — his point was made.

If Ohio wins, CMU can collectively breathe easy.

Dynamic duo

LeFevour, who completed 89 percent of his passes (25-of-28) for 344 passing yards and four touchdowns Wednesday against Ball State, as well running for 59 yards and a touchdown, connected with junior wide receiver Antonio Brown for 11 completions. Brown’s 11 receptions went for 170 yards and a touchdown.

But one of those completions was of the highlight variety.

Reminiscent of a play last week where LeFevour bought time with his feet and found junior wide receiver Kito Poblah deep down the sideline, it was Brown on the receiving end this week.

LeFevour evaded pressure as he scrambled toward the right sideline. He found Brown streaking across the middle of the field. He caught the pass in stride, picked up a downfield block from freshman wide receiver Cody Wilson, and capped off the 82-yard completion with a touchdown with a minute to go in the first half.

The third-down play extended CMU’s lead to 21-3.

“Dan gave me the signal to keep going. We work scramble drills at the end of every practice,” Brown said. “Dan gave me the signal to turn up field and, when I turned up, (wide receiver) Cody Wilson gave an awesome block, and it sprung me.”

And Brown was not done raving about the blocking from his receiver counterpart.

“It was an amazing block because, (in my) peripheral vision, I saw the safety, so I thought I was going to take a shot,” he said. “But then, I just heard this loud, car-crash noise and I knew Cody was in the area.”

And Brown was gone. The offense covered 82 yards in a matter of seconds.

“He’s a game-changer, and I think that play changed the game,” LeFevour said. “He can ignite this football team, and he did that today.”

Milestones

LeFevour’s passing allowed him to pass former Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich for most passing yards in MAC history. Leftwich had 11,903 career passing yards. LeFevour, with games remaining, has 12,000 passing yards.

“You can take away all the personal records but, what he’s meant to our football family and our football program, and what he’s been able to do, I think that speaks volumes,” said coach Butch Jones.

Also, wide receiver Bryan Anderson had four receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown. Anderson now has 51 consecutive games with a reception, which ties an NCAA record.

But past the personal statistics, CMU has an opportunity to go to its third MAC Championship game in four seasons. Whether Ohio beats NIU or not, the MAC West representative will be decided by next Friday.

Junior linebacker Nick Bellore, who finished with seven tackles and one tackle for loss, said the win against Ball State is already in the past.

“Once we get on that bus and we get home, it’s on to NIU,” he said.

E-mail the author: Andrew Stover