The pass on a 2-point conversion with seconds remaining hit the Southern Illinois receiver square in the numbers.
If he wrapped his arm around the ball, held on tightly and fell backward, IU might be 0-1 and answering to angry fans about how it lost to an FCS program.
However, the ball was knocked out by freshman defensive back Andre Brown, and Southern Illinois’ late comeback was not enough to defeat IU.
The 659 yards of Saluki offense wasn’t able to push them over the hump against a defense with several rotation players out of the lineup for disciplinary reasons.
The Hoosiers defeated Southern Illinois 48-47 in the season opener Saturday at Memorial Stadium, and it wasn’t pretty.
But IU did make the stop in the end, even after allowing Southern Illinois to drive 75 yards on five plays and score.
“We’ve been preaching all camp, it’s just play the next play,” sophomore linebacker Marcus Oliver said. “It’s like when you’re tackling, it’s no matter how pretty the tackle was, you got the tackle.”
It’s the same thing when it comes to a win, Oliver said.
The game was chaos.
Before the IU football season had even begun, there was a delay of game, and nine players were suspended for the season opener.
The moments that followed were not any more ideal.
The first play of the 2015 season was a 26-yard run for Southern Illinois.
Senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld’s first risky pass was into triple coverage and was nearly intercepted.
Late in the first quarter, a Hoosier punt was blocked.
Instead of following the assumed laws of physics, the ball bounced backward and stayed in bounds so that the Salukis could recover it for a touchdown.
IU went back into the locker room at half time trailing 32-21 and had given up 394 yards of offense.
“I said, ‘Can I just say something real quick?’” Wilson said. “Will you just slow down, play one play, take a deep breath. Can’t change what happened, where do you go next?”
IU made its adjustments and outscored Southern Illinois 17-0 in the third quarter.
The defense held the Saluki offense to 48 yards in the quarter as well.
The Hoosiers regained the lead and never fell behind again.
Some big plays in the fourth quarter, however, put Southern Illinois back into position to win.
The game was tied 41-41 with 2:37 remaining, and the pressure fell on Sudfeld and the IU offense.
Despite all the chaos that preceded it and the disorder that came soon after, Sudfeld found junior receiver Ricky Jones on a deep 71-yard pass down the sideline and junior running back Jordan Howard punched it in from the 1-yard line to take a 48-41 lead.
The eldest receiver who dealt with years of injuries and setbacks.
The running back who had to leave a disbanded UAB football program.
The quarterback that’s been chomping at the bit to play for the first time since dislocating his shoulder 11 months ago.
All of these misfit toys and battle-tested Hoosiers made the plays that mattered in a game that eerily resembled the careers they’ve had.
But when Southern Illinois drove downfield to make it a one-point game, and when the stop eventually came on the 2-point conversion, happiness wasn’t exactly the feeling around the team.
Players weren’t smiling after the victory.
They were solemn and didn’t view it as an impressive performance.
So as the Hoosiers attempt to make sense of this win and prepare for week two, Wilson knows there are things to work on, but he isn’t all angry.
He had a message for his team after the game.
“Don’t take winning for granted,” Wilson said.
