LoVecchio sidelined as Minnesota routs IU 55-7

MINNEAPOLIS -- IU coach Gerry DiNardo said earlier in the week that quarterback Graeme McFarland wouldn't get an early opportunity Saturday against the Gophers.\nInstead, the freshman backup played the whole game.\nMcFarland subbed for an injured Matt LoVecchio at the last minute, but ultimately netted similar results. The Gophers dominated IU, slicing through the defense while holding back the offense in the 55-7 rout. Minnesota racked up 438 yards rushing and eight touchdowns in its biggest conference win since 1949. \n"We did terrible," junior defensive lineman Jodie Clemons said. "They ran the ball down our throats, and we weren't disciplined in our gaps. You can't win football games like that. We did awful."\nDiNardo learned Friday night his starting quarterback would be unavailable and informed the players, including LoVecchio, the morning of the game. \n"It put us in a bad position because Graeme could have gotten more reps during the week," freshman tailback BenJarvus Green-Ellis said. "But, as a unit, we have to come out and make those adjustments to anything that happens. Today, we just didn't do it."\nThe Gophers feature the top offense in the Big Ten, and it showed Saturday. Minnesota interchanged running backs Laurence Maroney, Marion Barber III and Thomas Tapeh and all three were able to break through the IU defense. Maroney and Barber each had 100-yard days and one touchdown, while Tapeh, a fullback, added 65 yards and a pair of scores. \nU-M also used wide receiver end-arounds, finishing with a 7.0 yards per carry average and scoring six touchdowns on the ground. \n"We had trouble stopping the run on defense and I think that obviously was our biggest problem," DiNardo said. "... I think our inability to stop the run was probably the most critical part of the game that set us back."\nThe U-M defense actually scored the team's first points. Just under a minute into the game, McFarland was blindsided by junior safety Justin Fraley. He fumbled, and sophomore safety John Pawielski scooped up the loose ball and returned it for the score. \nAfter a Barber touchdown in the first quarter, the Gophers scored three more in the second, two on the ground and one on a pass to tight end Ben Utecht. The last was a two-play drive in which Maroney rushed both times for 38 yards, seeming to break past the IU defense with ease. \nThe Hoosiers scored their lone touchdown of the game in the second quarter, when sophomore running back Chris Taylor got into the end zone on a fourth and one play. Taylor rushed 13 times for 36 yards on the drive.\n"That was a pretty long drive," Taylor said. "The line was blocking, and we were moving the ball real well. We got to the goal line and had a triple-out formation with two fullbacks. I got the blocks, and it was wide open. I went in untouched."\nUnfortunately for IU, that was all the scoring the team would do. Minnesota added two more rushing touchdowns in the third quarter and another in the fourth, topping off the score at 55-7. It marked the most lopsided loss of DiNardo's two years, and the worst since IU was beaten 58-0 at Michigan in 2000. \n"We didn't go out and play fundamental football the way we usually play fundamental football," senior cornerback Duane Stone said. "(Saturday) was a bad day for us. We need to go back to the drawing board and play our defense. This wasn't us out there today"