Hoosiers hold on to Homecoming, beat Arkansas State 36-34

After IU squeezed out a Homecoming victory tightened by two late Hoosier fumbles, IU senior quarterback Ben Chappell summed up the day in a short, witty fashion.

“I’m too old for this,” Chappell said afterwards.

The Hoosiers (4-2, 0-2) held on for a 36-34 win over the Arkansas State (2-5) on Saturday after 37 points were scored by both teams in the fourth quarter.

Chappell threw for 382 yards and four touchdown passes to lead the Hoosiers to their fourth non-conference win of the season.

The ASU defense entered the game allowing 31.8 points per game but they set a different tone early. A scoreless first drive of the game for the Hoosiers allowed ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin to get out to an early lead.

A 12-play, 85-yard drive ended with Aplin taking it into the end zone from one yard out to make it 7-0. The drive marked the third straight game that the Hoosiers gave up a rushing touchdown on the opening drive.

After another IU punt, ASU was set to take over at its’ own 13-yard line. But the Red Wolves would not get much of a chance to make it a two possession game.
    
For the first time since the opener against Towson, the IU defense intercepted a pass. Just like the opener, the pass was picked off by IU senior safety Mitchell Evans.
    
The change in momentum gave the Hoosiers a short field at the ASU 5-yard line. But the IU offense still could not get their first touchdown of the day.
    
The ASU defense held the Hoosiers at the 2-yard line and limited them to a field goal. The 20-yard field goal by IU redshirt freshman Mitch Ewald got the Hoosiers on the board, but still trailing, 7-3.
    
With the Hoosiers facing a deficit to start the second quarter, Evans stepped up again.
    
This time the senior safety jumped the route of ASU receiver Anthony Robinson and intercepted his second pass of the day. Once again, it was Evans getting the IU offense a short field to work with.

“I just got a good jump on it,” Evans said. “That’s one of my favorite routes to defend.”
    
Another defensive stop by the Red Wolves forced the Hoosiers to settle with a 34-yard field goal by Ewald to make it 7-6.
    
ASU return man Roderick Hall started a trend of big returns against the IU special teams unit. A 71-yard return by Hall gave the Red Wolves offense a starting field position at the IU 26-yardline.
    
This time, the Red Wolves capitalized.

Aplin rushed for his second touchdown of the day to give the Red Wolves a 14-6 lead with 2:43 remaining in the half.
    
For the first time of the day, the Hoosiers answered with a touchdown of their own.
    
Chappell led the IU offense down the field with completion after completion. The senior completed all six of his passes for 81 yards, ending with Chappell hanging in the pocket and throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to IU junior receiver Tandon Doss.
    
After a failed two-point conversion attempt, the Hoosiers went into halftime still trailing 14-12.
    
Unlike the first half, the Hoosiers struck first in the second.
    
Chappell connected with senior wideout Terrance Turner on a 27-yard pass down the right sideline to give the Hoosiers their first lead of the day.
    
“It took us a little bit longer to get adjusted to them than it should’ve,” Chappell said. “But eventually we did and we started to make some plays downfield on them.”
    
The IU defense held onto the lead for the rest of the afternoon -- though it would get uncomfortably close for the Hoosiers at times.
    
A scoreless third quarter for the Red Wolves gave the Hoosiers a 19-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.   
    
A career long 46-yard field goal by Ewald widened the Hoosier lead to 22-14 early in the fourth quarter.
    
Again, missed tackles would hurt IU on special teams.
    
ASU true freshman took Ewald’s kickoff back 60 yards to set up their offense just outside the IU red zone. A 6-yard touchdown run by true freshman Sirgregory Thornton gave the Red Wolves a chance to tie the game but a failed two-point conversion attempt left the score at 22-20.
    
The two offenses finally opened up and went bout-for-bout in the fourth quarter. Every time the Hoosiers would score, Arkansas State would respond. All five scoring drives in the fourth quarter were less than two minutes.
    
With 47 seconds remaining, the Red Wolves had one last chance to recover an onside kick and get a score. But IU receiver Damarlo Belcher capped off his 125-yard receiving day by batting the attempt out of bounds, preserving the Hoosier victory.
    
“We didn’t panic or lose our poise because we felt like eventually we could get something and we did,” Lynch said. “I wish we would have finished it off better in the fourth quarter, but when it’s said and done it’s still a win.”

The Hoosiers play at Illinois next Saturday, their third Big Ten game of the year.