11 minutes of shame

It's cliché to say, "That game was closer than the score indicated." This phrase has garnered far too much usage over the years.\nYet it is the perfect way to describe IU's 38-13 loss to No. 22 Washington. For 49 minutes, the Hoosiers matched everything that the Huskies showed them, not appearing the least bit daunted.\nBut for the final 11 minutes of the third quarter, the Hoosiers appeared to have eaten the mental equivalent of Taco Bell, as a series of brain farts allowed the Huskies to score four touchdowns and put the game well out of reach.\nEven so, this game showed that this team of mostly freshman and sophomore players should someday be capable of not just hanging with the big boys, but beating them altogether.\nThe Momentum Turner: With 11:07 left in the third quarter, IU had a 13-10 lead and the Husky Stadium crowd sounded more like it was attending the world's largest biology lecture than a football game. This was compounded even further when their kickoff returner decided to catch a ball that was clearly headed out of bounds at the 16-yard line, which caused a considerably excitable reaction from Gerry DiNardo.\nHis excitement would be tempered soon thereafter as Washington quarterback Cody Pickett hit Reggie Williams for a 71-yard touchdown pass. But this wasn't the play that broke the Hoosiers -- Pickett and Williams are two of the best players in the Pac-10, and it can be expected for them to break out a big play at least once a game.\nIU managed to march the ball to the Washington 35-yard line when disaster struck. On second down, quarterback Matt LoVecchio threw an ill-advised screen pass to Chris Taylor, nearly 10 yards behind the line. What made this ill-advised was the fact that Taylor had a man in his face, and since the pass was a lateral, the ball was live when it fell to the ground, where Washington's Graham Lasee fell on it. \nStill, this was not the play that turned the momentum, as the IU defense dug in. Washington's drive stalled out at the IU 34-yard line, and Huskies kicker Evan Knudson had to come out to attempt a career long 51-yard attempt. But somehow the Hoosiers did not have the right personnel on the field, and DiNardo had to call a timeout to avoid getting penalized for having too many men on the field.\nDuring the timeout, Washington decided that this field goal was a little too long for their liking, and brought out the punt unit. And that's when the most mind-boggling thing I have seen on a football field happened.\nDespite having just called a timeout to get the right personnel on the field, the Hoosiers were flagged for an illegal substitution. It looked like something right out of a yet-to-be-made Disney movie about the comically bad football team with a bunch of lovable players and the tough-as-nails, stressed out coach who somehow turns around their season.\nFrom that point, everything in the game was just stats to be put in the record book, as IU's momentum and hopes of winning had clearly been snapped.\nIU MVP: There are actually a lot of candidates for this award. One cannot overlook the effort of linebacker Kyle Killion, who recorded 10 tackles and an interception. And safety Will Meyers was more than solid with 13 tackles and a fumble recovery.\nAnd then there's left tackle Isaac Sowells, who led an offensive line that looked like a completely different unit than the one that took the field a week ago. During the first half, the time they provided LoVecchio allowed IU to keep the game close.\nBut the biggest tip of the cap must go to the drivers of IU's equipment truck. Think about it. Last week, they had to drive to Connecticut and back. This week, it was all the way to Seattle and back. I'm not quite sure how many miles, cups of coffee, hours, or pit stops this covers. But it could be the most impressive performance in college football this season.