Football team outclassed in 55-13 drubbing

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The IU football team was outplayed in seemingly every facet possible Saturday, on the way to dropping its fifth consecutive contest.

“We just haven’t played well enough to win,” said sophomore quarterback Ben Chappell. “I think that’s probably the bottom line. ... And I don’t think there’s one thing, I think there is a whole host of things.”

This latest defeat – a 55-13 whooping – came at the hands of border-rival Illinois (4-3, 2-2). The Hoosiers (2-5, 0-4) were outgained 563 total yards to 313.

    SLIDESHOW: IU at Illinois

The Hoosiers’ lone touchdown came from junior running back Bryan Payton, who rumbled over an Illini defender and was uncatchable in a 25-yard scamper to the end zone.

“We have to improve, ‘cause we didn’t get stops throughout the night.” said IU coach Bill Lynch. “And same thing on offense – we put together drives but didn’t finish anything.”

Lynch pointed out that a recurring weakness his Hoosiers have shown is their inability to win the third-down conversion battle.

“We were down 25 percent again,” he said. “With an explosive football team like that, we have got to keep the ball away from them.”

The second-year coach also noted Illinois’ ability to make the big play.

The Hoosiers let up three scoring plays of more than 20 yards and a kickoff return for a touchdown of 96 yards. They also allowed a 60-yard pass on Illinois’ first play from scrimmage, which led to a touchdown one play later.

It is the fourth time on their current five-game skid that the Hoosiers have allowed more than 40 points, while they have scored only 29 total in the last three games.

The Hoosiers were without starting quarterback Kellen Lewis, who suffered a high-ankle sprain against Iowa last weekend – Chappell replaced him.

In his first collegiate start, Chappell was 12-of-29 for 172 yards and no scores. Illinois’ defensive pressure was unrelenting, as the Bloomington, Ind., native was sacked 4 times.

“We knew there was going to be some pressure,” Lynch said. “But he didn’t throw any interceptions and threw some in there. A lot of his incompletions were on throwaways.”

The Hoosiers return to action next Saturday when they welcome Northwestern (6-1, 2-1) to Memorial Stadium for Homecoming.

The Wildcats will be coming off a 48-26 victory against Purdue.

“You know, we have five games left,” Chappell said. “We have to just put this behind us and move on.”

Lynch agreed with his quarterback, saying there isn’t a magical equation to turning the team around.

“Part of it is playing against good people, part of it is getting guys healthy,” he said. “We were thin in some areas, and you can’t make excuses. We just got to go back to work Monday. We have to play better on both sides of the ball.”