Hoosiers lose to Wolverines, 63-47

ANN ARBOR, MICH. — When IU recovered a fumble at its own two-yard line, it had a chance to do something no opposing team had done since Michigan Coach Brady Hoke took over: beat Michigan at The Big House.

However, the IU offense couldn’t respond as it had all game, and IU (3-4, 1-2) fell to Michigan (6-1, 2-1) 63-47.

“We’re so tired of being close,” senior kicker Mitch Ewald said. “We’re going to go home and everybody is going to say, ‘Oh, you were so close.’ We’re tired of that. We want to win.”

Junior linebacker David Cooper recovered the crucial fumble as Michigan was going in to score.

The turnover gave IU the ball deep inside its own territory and gave the team a chance for its first win at Michigan since 1967.

But with the score at 49-47, sophomore quarterback Tre Roberson, who had taken over for sophomore Nate Sudfeld, came out of the game with an injury.

“His hand actually cramped up,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “That’s why Nate came back ... We actually thought when he came over he broke his hand. His thumb was pointed cockeyed.”

Sudfeld came in and threw an interception, all but extinguishing the hopes of the historic win. IU would not get as close the rest of the game.

Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner took it in for a six-yard touchdown run on the subsequent possession, making it a two-possession game with only six minutes remaining.

Roberson threw an interception on IU’s next drive, icing the Wolverine victory.

Michigan would go on to record 751 yards, nine touchdowns, 35 first downs and a 9.0 yards-per-play average.

“It’s embarrassing for our defense to give up that many yards,” senior safety Greg Heban said. “... This game is completely on the defense.”

Gardner, who came into the game leading the Big Ten in total yards per game, almost doubled his normal production.

The Detroit native had 503 yards, a school record, and two touchdowns through the air.
He also had 84 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Gardner’s 584 total yards was the second most in Big Ten history and the most IU had ever given up to an opposing player.

His primary receiver was Jeremy Gallon, who had 369 receiving yards on 14 catches for two touchdowns.

Gallon was just 36 yards from the NCAA record for most receiving yards in a game.

“Three hundred sixty yards is ridiculous,” Wilson said.

Both the number of receptions and yards were records for opposing receivers versus IU.

After being bottled up for 27 yards on 27 carries last week against Penn State,

Michigan running back Fitzgerald Toussaint bounced back with a productive day.
He had 151 yards on 32 carries and four rushing touchdowns.

Heban said the Gardner-Gallon combo was one of the toughest the defense has faced this year.

“Just the shiftiness of both of them,” he said. “It was wet on the turf, but that’s definitely not the excuse we’re going to use. We gave up way too many yards.”

The IU offense was humming to open up the second half. It had seven straight drives in which it scored a touchdown or a field goal, and it averaged 73 seconds per drive.

In the end, IU fell flat in its final three possessions.

Its last three drives ended with an interception, an interception and a turnover on downs.

“If we got some stops we could really gas some people and run them out of the building,” Wilson said. “But it’s kind of putting it all together.”

Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.