Getting to 6

The clock hit zeroes. Jane Hoeppner found Ray Fisher, wrapped him in her arms for an emotional hug, and the Hoosiers became bowl eligible for the first time since 1994.\n“That was a big moment,” the sophomore wide receiver said. “That’s all she’s been wanting. Everything that we’re doing is for coach Hep right now.”\nWith a 38-20 win over Ball State, the Hoosier faithful finally had something to celebrate, as cheers of “Terry Hoeppner” rained down onto the field.\n“I think about him every day,” said junior wide receiver James Hardy. “Usually, our fans say his name each and every game. It just really means something now that we’ve got the sixth win, because he was preaching on us to play 13.”\nOvercoming a rough start – including three first-half turnovers – sophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis finished the best passing day of his career. He completed 22-35 passes for 354 yards – a career high – and four touchdowns, but it was Fisher and Hardy who provided the big plays.\nBoth receivers had two touchdowns and each finished with more than 100 yards receiving. After stumbling out of the gates and falling behind 10-3, the Hoosiers came alive thanks to a big play by the 5-foot-7 Fisher.\nOn second and five from their own 40, Lewis threw a screen pass to Fisher, who cut across the center of the field and ran 60 yards for the score to tie the game.\n“He made some big plays, didn’t he?” Lynch said of Fisher. “Ray wants that ball in his hands all the time. You don’t know where he’s going to go, but he wants it, and he’ll take off.”\nWhen Ball State entered IU territory on the game’s next series, junior cornerback Chris Phillips took matters into his own hands – literally. Phillips picked off Ball State quarterback Nate Davis and sprinted 58 yards uncontested to give the Hoosiers their first lead of the day.\nAfter stopping Ball State on a three-and-out, the Hoosiers scored yet again, as Lewis found Hardy in the back corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown reception and a 24-10 lead at the half.\nDuring the opening drive of the second half, Ball State looked like a different football team. The Cardinals marched down the field for a touchdown to make it a one-score game. \nBut whenever the Cardinals challenged, the Hoosiers found an answer. Three minutes after Ball State closed the gap to 24-17, Lewis threw to a blanketed Hardy in the end zone, and the Fort Wayne native hauled in his second touchdown reception of the game. The two playmakers have now combined for 23 touchdowns together, the most of any duo in IU history.\n“Me and James, it’s something that we worked on over the summer,” Lewis said. “Most prolific, I’m kind of honored to take that title, but all we do is go out there and play every Saturday.”\nPlaying a team that lost by only a point at Nebraska and played well at Illinois last week, the Hoosiers finished the Cardinals off in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. Fisher cradled a Lewis pass over the middle to extend the lead to 38-17. The catch was a diving effort, and Fisher bobbled the ball on the way down.\nLewis, however, pointed out that bowl eligibility does not necessarily grant the Hoosiers a bowl bid.\n“It’s nothing but bowl eligibility,” Lewis said. “As of right now, yeah, we are bowl eligible. But we still have two more big games, so the more games we win, the better.”\nBut for a team that endured heartache over the summer and was in the midst of a three-game losing streak, Hardy had nothing but praise for what his team did Saturday, something IU has not done in more than a decade. \n“Adversity makes us who we are,” Hardy said. “For us to go through the things that we went through before the season even started and going down three games in a row, it’s huge for this program.”