Overtime loss hard to swallow

You had a feeling bad things were going to happen to the Hoosiers when a member of the Marching Hundred was carted off the field before the game started.\nThen, once Northwestern jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, all sorts of questions started flying around. Is IU the worst team in Division I-A? Were these guys listening to Gerry DiNardo when he met with everyone individually last week? Do they have any heart?\nThings got so bad in the first half that I saw something unprecedented in four years of attending games at Memorial Stadium. After giving up a long pass on third and 17, IU caught a break when Northwestern was called for an illegal procedure. On third and 22, Northwestern once again proceeded to get the first down -- that's not the unprecedented part -- upon which the crowd started booing.\nI'm not sure how many of the packed-in-like-sardines crowd of 27,213 were booing, but it was enough to stun me, as I had never seen the Hoosier faithfuls respond to their team in such a fashion.\nThough senior safety Joe Gonzalez said, "You really don't pay attention to the crowd," something caused the Hoosiers to buck up on defense as they held Northwestern without points for the first time in the game and headed into the tunnel only trailing 24-14.\nWith Northwestern being Northwestern (they turned a 17-0 lead over Minnesota into a 42-17 loss last week), you figured that the Hoosiers had a fighting chance even when they fell far behind.\nIn the second half, IU proved that they had the heart to go out and snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. The Hoosier offense ran wild over the Cat defense. Leading the way was the running back tandem of BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Brian Lewis. Green-Ellis looked wise beyond his years on a 27-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 24 as he did an amazing job of keeping his balance while breaking four Northwestern tackles.\nQuarterback Matt LoVecchio was as sharp as he's ever been, completing 11 straight passes. \nWhen Green-Ellis punched the ball into the end zone with less than 12 minutes left to play, there was little doubt that this thing was in the bag. Northwestern simply looked too demoralized to either move the ball or stop it from moving.\nAnd then came the play of the game. With just over six minutes left on the clock, Northwestern punt returner Mark Philmore took a 39-yard punt from Tyson Beattie back to the IU six-yard line. The defense valiantly attempted to stop the Wildcats, but on fourth and goal, running back Jason Wright tied the game up.\nBut the game was hardly over. IU would get the ball back on their own 46 with 1:30 left. Who could ask for anything more? All you needed was another 25-30 yards, and the game winning field goal was in the bag. But the IU coaching staff decided that it would be good to run the ball five straight times. Who needs to win in regulation when you could do it in overtime? With no effort to move the ball downfield, Bryan Robertson was forced to attempt an unrealistic 54-yard field goal as time expired.\nIn overtime, it looked like the Hoosiers would score. LoVecchio found Travis Haney in the corner of the end zone for a touch … no it's tipped … no it's an interception. A more frustrating finish couldn't have been scripted.\nIU finished the game with 531 yards on offense and a loss. It was more bitter to swallow than a Stroh's sitting on the kitchen counter for a month. \nWith a week off before IU meets with Ohio State to renew the most lopsided match-up in Big Ten history, the Hoosiers will at least have time to get it out of their heads.