Hoosiers fall just short of comeback against Buckeyes

Don’t count Indiana out.

Down 18 points with 100 seconds remaining in Saturday night’s game against No. 8 Ohio State at Memorial Stadium, it appeared IU was about to suffer its most pronounced loss of the season in front of a home crowd.

Then it happened. Much like the Ball State game, freshman quarterback Nate Sudfeld led the Hoosiers on a late fourth-quarter comeback.

But in the end, it was not enough, as IU fell to the Buckeyes 52-49.

Trailing 52-34 with 3:58 remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson benched sophomore starting quarterback Cameron Coffman in favor of Sudfeld in hopes of providing the freshman with playing experience.

At that point in the second half, the Hoosiers had allowed four Ohio State touchdowns on six drives as the Buckeyes pulled away.

On a fourth down during Sudfeld’s first drive, he completed a pass to junior wide receiver Jamonne Chester for a first down. Following two personal foul penalties on Ohio State that same possession, Sudfeld found junior wide receiver Duwyce Wilson in the end zone for a touchdown.

After the extra point, IU trailed by 11 with 1:40 remaining in the game.

“I felt prepared going out there,” Sudfeld said. “I was talking to Cam throughout the game in case anything were to happen. I just felt like I could step in and do it.”

That is when junior kicker Mitch Ewald booted an onside kick that the Hoosiers recovered.

As the kick went out of bounds, sophomore wide receiver Nick Stoner jumped and tossed the ball backward inbounds. Hoosiers landed on it.

On the next drive, Sudfeld completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Stephen Houston to cut the Buckeye lead to five.

During the ensuing two-point conversion attempt with 1:05 remaining, in a nearly identical attempt of what the Hoosiers did against Northwestern two weeks ago, sophomore wide receiver Cody Latimer took a reverse pitch from junior wide receiver Kofi Hughes into the end zone to cut the lead to three.

“After I scored and we went for two, I just knew we were going to get the ball on the onside kick,” Houston said. “It was a hope, a wish and a prayer.”

On their second straight onside kick attempt, it seemed the Hoosiers were going to be able to recover when OSU returner Corey Brown fumbled the kick.

Then the magic faded.

Brown found the ball and recovered both the ball on the Buckeye 31-yard line and the Ohio State victory.

Buckeye quarterback Braxton Miller, who produced 360 yards of combined offense, kneeled twice as the clock expired on the Hoosiers’ comeback.