MUNCIE, Ind. -- The last time Riley Dodge got the start at quarterback on his father’s team, he ended the night celebrating a Texas high school state championship.

The situation Dodge faced in his first start as a college quarterback on Thursday night at Ball State was dramatically different, but the result was the same.

Dodge made a few mistakes, but also made enough plays to lead the Mean Green to a 20-10 win.

“Give all the credit to my offensive line, running backs and wide receivers,” Dodge said. “They couldn’t have done just more. They made the job easy for me tonight.”

Dodge finished with 216 passing yards and added 73 yards on the ground. His 4-yard pass to wide receiver Mike Outlaw proved to be the game winner, and came just four plays after Ball State running back MiQuale Lewis broke free for a 27-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 10-10 in the fourth quarter.

Riley Dodge played in three games at wide receiver last season, but was making his first start at quarterback after sitting out the end of last season with a concussion.

“I am so proud of Riley,” UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. “He made the plays we needed and did a nice job running our offense.”

The pressure was squarely on Riley Dodge to replicate the type of performances that made him one of the top recruits to ever sign with UNT when he graduated from Southlake Carroll.

Dodge had committed to Texas, but backed out of that pledge to follow his father to Denton.

The decision put him in a leadership position on a team trying to turn the corner after a series of tough seasons. UNT went 2-10 in Todd Dodge’s first season and 1-11 last year.

Starting quarterback Giovanni Vizza elected to leave the program after the 2008 season to transfer to Texas A&M.

Vizza’s departure left Dodge as the obvious starter at quarterback in a passing offense. Todd Dodge said he wanted his son to manage the offense early in the season and get the ball to the team’s playmakers.

Riley Dodge ended up connecting with four receivers and completed 23 of 33 attempts in a performance reminiscent of his junior season in high school, when he led Carroll to a Class 5A state title in his father’s final game with the Dragons, a win over Austin Westlake.

“I had some good times and some bad times,” Riley Dodge said. “I missed some throws. I was trying to get the ball to Bryant Seidle in the end zone on the interception, but it doesn’t matter. We got the monkey off our backs.”