IU beats Towson 51-17 in season opener

It didn’t start well for the IU football team after a botched snap to senior quarterback Ben Chappell contributed to a quick three-and-out on the first possession.

However, the defense quickly righted the ship.

Senior linebacker Tyler Replogle intercepted a third-down pass from Towson quarterback Chris Hart to put Chappell and an explosive IU offense back on track, leading them to a 51-17 win against the Tigers.

“For a first game it was pretty clean,” Chappell said.  “I think we only had maybe two offensive penalties — which is really good for a first game. I think from that standpoint it was really clean.  That’s really exciting. We’ve just got to keep working on those
conversion downs.”

The Replogle interception gave Chappell an inviting field position at the Towson 37-yard line, and the Hoosiers wouldn’t miss another opportunity. Five plays and one 12-yard pass to sophomore tight end Ted Bolser in the end zone later, IU was on the board with a 7-0 lead.

“After the first touchdown, I didn’t even know what to do,” Bolser said. “I had a couple guys tell me to throw my hands up, a couple more tell me to jump in the stands. I had the jitters, that is for sure.”

The defense then forced Towson into another Hart interception, leading to the Hoosiers’ shortest offense possession of the night. The brevity, though, wasn’t due
to failure.

Instead, a one-yard rush from junior running back Darius Willis led to a big second-down play. Willis broke free on the right side and scampered 49 yards — with a crafty dive into the end zone — to help build IU’s lead to 14-0.

Willis finished the night with 102 yards on 14 carries and added a second touchdown in second quarter.

Towson made things a bit interesting when it pulled within 10 at 17-7 and 24-14 during the second session. One score was a result of a five-yard pass when Hart connected with wide receiver Tom Ryan after a Hart 42-yard rush.

The Hoosiers followed with a Chappell 41-yard pass to junior wideout Damarlo Belcher for another touchdown, but Towson rallied back quickly with a three-play drive — including a 64-yard pass over the middle from Hart to wideout Hakeem Moore — that put the Tigers back within ten.

“The defense really played pretty well for the most part,” IU coach Bill Lynch said. “They gave up two big plays. That quarterback is a good athlete. He’s tough in the open field to get a hold of.”

Both teams traded non-scoring possessions before IU drove 77 yards and scored on a touchdown from senior running back Trea Burgess with 1:45 remaining before halftime.

The next score would open it up for good.Towson failed to earn another first down before the half ended, and a botched snap on a punt turned into a blocked punt by sophomore defensive end Kevin Bush, giving the Hoosiers great field position at the Towson 21 with 53 seconds on the clock.

By the time the clock read 19 seconds, Chappell had completed a 19-yard pass to Belcher to the two-yard line, and Willis broke into the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the game, making the tally 38-14.

After IU’s first drive of the second half resulted in one of two field goals by sophomore kicker Nick Freeland, IU’s defense again took over.

Senior cornerback Matt Ernest — a fresh switch to the defensive side of the ball after playing at wide receiver a year ago — intercepted Hart at the IU 47-yard line and bounded straight for the end zone. Sophomore kicker Mitch Ewald added the extra point to make it a 48-14 game.

From there, the majority of the starters were done for the evening after Lynch opted to get some of the backups playing time.

“It was a really good opportunity for us in an opener to play a lot of kids,” Lynch said. “You go through camp and all that these kids go through during the summer and to give them a chance to play in the first one is important.”

The Hoosier backups, still going against Towson’s Hart, stopped the Tigers from scoring anything more than a fourth-quarter field goal and added an Ewald 32-yard field goal of their own.