Hoosiers eliminated from bowl race

STATE COLLEGE, Penn. -- Penn State was up two touchdowns with just more than nine minutes left in the game, and the football team was at its three-yard line. Enough time remained on the clock to even the score, but it was crucial that the Hoosiers score on this drive.\nAll senior running back Levron Williams had to do was follow the play and walk into the end zone. He did what was expected, but as the Hoosiers were celebrating, an official threw a flag. Holding, IU, on senior fullback Jeremi Johnson. No touchdown, no final momentum drive. \nAnd the Hoosiers lost 28-14, with IU's post-season dreams dashed after a dreary, mistake-filled game that was topped off with the controversial holding call.\nHead coach Cam Cameron was not vocal about the call after the game, but what he lacked in verbalizing was made up for by senior quarterback Antwaan Randle El.\n"The one at the goal line was ridiculous," Randle El said, with a large icebag wrapped around his leg and his chin in his hand. "Levron walks into the end zone, and their big guy is there, and Jeremi is down there blocking. It wasn't even a holding call. The referee acted like he waited (for the score), like he threw the flag late or something. I'm not blaming the game on that, but that's a totally different momentum swing.\n"Other than that, the calls were pretty good, but that one call there -- that is ridiculous. That right there changes the ball game. It was a bad call."\nThe Hoosiers (3-6, 3-4 Big Ten) were unable to find the end zone after the call took them back to the 13-yard-line, and with an unstable kicking game, IU was forced to go for the first down on a fourth-and-nine. But this time, Randle El was unable to convert and IU turned the ball over to Penn State (4-5, 3-4).\nArguably the most surprising part of Saturday's game is the complete shutdown of the IU offense in the second half. The kicking game is expected to be below par after a season of misery, and the defense is marked with a streak of inconsistencies in the previous nine games, but it's the Hoosier offense that is relied upon to make plays.\n"How many times were we within 30 (yards) and didn't score or were across midfield?" Cameron asked. "Give them credit for getting us stopped or whatever got us stopped. We had the opportunity to score more than fourteen points."\nIU crossed midfield four times, and was inside the thirty-yard-line twice when unsuccessful conversions forced IU to punt the ball. Despite being able to score, IU was able to gain more total yards than the Nittany Lions. IU rushed for 298, and Randle El passed for 225 to total 523 yards to Penn State's 450.\nThe usually unstoppable pair of Randle El and Williams was overwhelmed by the Nittany Lion defense, but not before each scored a touchdown, and rushed for 141 yards and 129 yards, respectively.\nWilliams was the first to find the end zone after IU received the ball in first to start the game. In an uncharacteristic Hoosier call, IU choose to receive the ball in the first half, and less than three and a half minutes later, Williams found the end zone on a four-yard run.\n"We went right up and down the field, but on our offense, that's how it is supposed to be," Randle El said. "Somebody was making plays on their defense here and there, but we scored fourteen points. And then nothing in the second half."\nBut even without being able to find the end zone in the second half after an eight-yard touchdown run in the first half, Randle El still managed to bypass yet another record. After completing a 39-yard pass, Randle El became the first quarterback in NCAA Division 1-A history to pass for 7,000 career yards and rush for 3,500 career yards. \nTo put that number in perspective, no other Division 1-A quarterback has even passed for 6,000 yards or rushed for 3,000, much less the amount Randle El achieved. He also is now seventh on the Division 1-A total yardage list with 10,965. \nIn his press conference after the game, Penn State coach Joe Paterno praised Randle El for his athleticism.\n"He is some athlete," Paterno said. "I was looking for him after the game to tell him what a great athlete he is."\nBut the offense was not supported by a defense, who was called twice for pass interference calls and let Penn State convert eight third down conversions on twelve tries. In addition to that, IU managed only 54 tackles in between an overabundance of missed tackles, and sacked the quarterback only once, thanks to freshmen defensive end Jodie Clemons.\n"We just didn't make any plays," senior defensive end Kemp Rasmussen said. "It was something we had a lot of trouble with last year. We would get in situations where someone would have to step up and make a play, and nobody was there to make one."\nBut now that IU's bowl chances are gone, the Hoosiers are now playing for self-respect and team pride. \n"Guys like (junior tackle) A.C. Myler and Kemp and all those guys, they know our bowl chance is done," Randle El said. "We got to get everybody ready for the next few games"