Indiana 31, Penn St. 36 |
FINAL |
Kellen Lewis has fumbled the game away.
With only forty seconds left, Lewis fumbled for the third time this afternoon, turning the ball over to Penn State and handing them the victory.
A disappointing finish for one of the most exciting games I've witnessed at Memorial Stadium. With all of the positives that are worth noting, you can't help but note the giant letdown resonating through the stadium. The Hoosiers had a chance to knock off Penn State on homcoming, but three extremely untimely fumbles eventually crippled their chances.
The UTR staff is going down to the Hoosier Room for interviews and Bill Lynch's press conference. Check back on the blog and on the IDS website for more coverage of today's game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kellen Lewis scrambled to the 29-yard line for a first down. The clock is stopped with a first down but the Hoosiers still have a lot of ground to cover. The Penn State safeties are dropping straight back on every play.
A five-yard pass to Ray Fisher forces the Hoosiers to burn their second timeout. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A 68-yard punt forces the Hoosiers to start from their own five-yard line. Porter did a poor job on the return, letting the ball bounce for an additional thirty yards rather than waving for a fair catch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On first down the Hoosiers stopped Penn State for only a two-yard gain on the ground. With the crowd on their feet on second down, the Hoosiers stopped the Nittany Lion rushing attack again for only a short gain.
After using their first time-out, the Nittany Lions faced third-and-seven with the game essentially on the line for the Hoosiers.
Lining up with three wide receivers in a shotgun formation, the Hoosiers broke Penn State's pass protection and forced Morelli to throw it out of bounds. Penn State will punt. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kellen Lewis decided late in the fourth quarter would be a good time to start running.
A broken pass play forced Lewis to run up the field. His speed and athleticism forced him into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown.
Down five again, the Hoosiers will either go for an onsides kick or kick-off to try force the Nittany Lions to punt. IU has all three of their timeouts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Penn State did exactly what a good football team does in the fourth quarter.
With a five-point lead and the ball, the Nittany Lions slowly marched down the field - taking over four minutes off the clock - and scored to pad their lead and stretch it to two possessions.
The Hoosiers now face an uphill battle than even the most eager optimists would cringe at. Down 12, the Hoosiers will need two touchdowns to come back. That means they need a quick score, an onsides kick and another touchdown. Unlikely.
One thing IU does have is all three of their timeouts. In fact, Bill Lynch hasn't used a timeout all game.
The Memorial Stadium "faithful" is starting to leak out of the stands back to their loyal tailgates. A Bud Lite and a hot dog will never let you down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's more than just tailgating on campus right now...
We've got a game.
Lewis completed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Hardy to pull the Hoosiers within five points. The touchdown reception makes Hardy the all-time leader in touchdown receptions for the Hoosiers.
The best part of the touchdown was Hardy's non-celebration. After winning the jump ball (he does this every time, it pains me the Hoosiers don't throw more high passes to him), Hardy stood over Penn State cornerback Justin King motionless and flipped the ball to the referee. I'm a big fan of acting like "you've been there before."
All of a sudden it's a one possession game with the momentum heavily in IU's favor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hoosiers got the ball back after Penn State kicked a chip shot field goal. On the first play Lewis coughed the ball up again and Penn State recovered inside IU's red zone.
The Hoosier defense stood strong and forced Penn State to settle for another chip shot.
But IU now finds themselves down 12 against a defense they haven't had much success against since the first quarter. It's not a question of whether IU can move the ball, it's a question of whether they can finish a drive instead of fumbling away another opportunity. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kellen Lewis, Maurice Evans.
Maurice Evans, Kellen Lewis.
Unblocked, the Penn State defensive end leveled Lewis, sacking the quarterback and forcing him to fumble. Evans picked up the fumble and returned it almost all the way to IU's end zone, stomping IU's touchdown hopes along the way.
The play was reviewed, but the call on the field stands. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IU's first quarter offense is back on the field, which is a good thing for the Hoosiers.
A pass to Hardy down the sideline, a pass interference call on Penn State and a play-action screen to Thigpen moves ball to Penn State's 25-yard line.
On third-and-two Lewis went back to Hardy once again for a six-yard gain and a first down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A fumble, forced by Will Patterson, breathes life into a temporarily comatose Memorial Stadium. The Hoosiers took over on Penn State's 24-yard line and quickly picked up nine yards on the ground thanks to Thigpen.
A pathetic third down play forces the Hoosiers to kick a field goal. Austin Starr split the uprights.
But three points it simply not enough for that kind of field position. On second down, Thigpen danced around the line of scrimmage instead of pushing forward for the one yard. Is Josiah Sears on his death bed? That situation was made for Mr. Excitement.
And the third down call, as I mentioned above, was in fact "pathetic." The Hoosiers needed only one yard, and instead of running Lewis outside or Sears up the middle they lined up with five wide receivers and tried to force a slant to Hardy. The pass, overthrown and low, fell incomplete and the Hoosiers were kept out of the end zone once again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's not a "break-out game," but this could easily be defined as Marcus Thigpen's "wake-up game."
Thigpen just returned Penn State's kick over 50 yards to Penn State's 44-yard line. If it weren't for a diving tackle by Penn State's last guy back, Thigpen would have gone all the way.
In three offensive plays the Hoosiers could only total a single yard, forcing them to punt. Lewis was sacked again on third down, getting almost no protection on the pass play. The Hoosiers offensive line is protecting right now like an eight-year-old stick of generic deodorant. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The game is back from halftime - it looks like about 10,000 fans are not though.
After a decent kick return and a first down completion, Penn State moved the ball close to midfield. On third down IU linebacker Ryan Marando surprised an unsuspecting Morelli and wrapped him up for the sack.
Penn State's 48-yard punt resulted in a Nittany Lion possession inside IU's red zone. Porter fumbled the punt and a scrap for the ball ensued. Penn State recovered.
Unsuccessful on third-and-three from IU's five-yard line Penn State settled for a short field goal to stretch its lead to nine points. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A touchdown-pass by Morelli just before halftime spoils IU's strong first half.
The Hoosiers have been unable to gain anything on the ground this afternoon, totaling only six rushing yards. Penn State meanwhile has gained 267 total yards with 124 of them coming on the ground.
IU_fan: The outside really hasn't been open for Lewis. The Penn State linebackers and defensive ends are getting around IU's tackles fast and have been closing in on Lewis quickly. I think a play-action move or a play-fake would throw them off though - they are over-committing on almost every move the Hoosiers make. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You could tell that Penn State figured out IU's defense around the Hoosiers' 30-yard line. How? They started running the ball up the middle every play.
Sure enough, running it up the gut resulted in seven points for the Nittany Lions. What's the half time meal in IU's locker room? The Hoosier line needs to add about 300 pounds by the third quarter to start putting up a better fight.
Morelli has looked shaky up this point, which could mean the Hoosiers will stack the box next time out on defense. I would think IU would rather have Morelli's arm try and beat them rather than the Penn State backs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back from "two-yard loss" exile, Marcus Thigpen just took a screen pass 30 yards for an IU touchdown.
Thigpen exploded after catching the ball near the Hoosier sideline. Near the goal line he darted in-between two Penn State defenders to bump his way into the end zone.
You forget it because he hasn't been having a good season, but Thigpen is a force to reckon with the ball in his hands. The Hoosiers are a team stacked with speed - Ray Fisher, Kellen Lewis, etc. - but Thigpen's speed is unlike anyone else wearing cream and crimson.
The inner Stuart Scott comes out in me when I start talking about Thigpen. Dude is crazy fast. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A first down pass to Josiah Sears aided by a personal foul facemask flag puts the Hoosiers near midfield and driving...
Golarz Watch: UTR favorite and Penn State defensive lineman Tom Golarz nearly made a tackle on a punt return minutes ago. Golarz is from Bloomington and played for the North Cougars for four years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faced an awkward field position - too close for a punt, too far away for a field goal - the Hoosiers elected to go for it on fourth-and-11.
But Lewis's pass attempt to Brandon Walker-Roby fell incomplete and Penn State will take over on downs from the 36-yard line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Facing third down inside IU's red zone, Morelli completed a touchdown pass to Terrell Golden for six points.
But the Nittany Lions would only get six points - kicker Kevin Kelly missed the extra point.
On the ensuing kick-off Thigpen juked and stuttered-stepped his way to IU's 40-yard line giving the Hoosiers their best field position of the day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great opening quarter for the Hoosiers.
On their first possession they stormed down the field and scored. Although they haven't been able to score since they have been moving the ball consistently enough to make you think scoring again is in their future.
And then on top of that, the Hoosiers shut out the Nittany Lions in the first quarter. They intercepted a pass from Morelli and have held Penn State's rushing attack in check. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony Morelli just threw a punt on second-and-seven into IU's red zone that was easily intercepted by Nick Polk. Morelli's pass was thrown so high and so directly at Polk that the writer next to me joked Polk should have waved for a fair catch.
IU will start again from their 20-yard line and look to add on to their early lead. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It looks like the Hoosiers have worked on their run "D" since last week.
After letting Michigan State run all over them (several times) the Hoosiers forced Penn State to punt on their first drive. I can't remember IU stopping two consecutive run plays like that all season, but the Hoosiers had no problem stopping Penn State rushes on second and third down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unlike most of the students in the stands, the Hoosier offense is firing on all cylinders today.
The first play of scrimmage was a play-action pass to James Hardy, followed by a completion to Andrew Means. Another Hardy catch and a Marcus Thigpen run resulted in two more first downs for the Hoosiers.
With the ball at Penn State's 8-yard line, Lewis rolled out to his left, froze the secondary with a pump-fake and zipped a pass to Hardy in front corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
IU might not have 50,000 fans packing "The Rock" - but they do have 35,000 loud and proud with that opening drive.
* Hardy's touchdown ties him with Jade Butcher for first place on IU's all-time touchdown receptions list. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Penn State has won the toss and will kick to IU.
The Hoosiers start their first drive of the day from their 20-yard line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good morning, Hoosier fans.
We are about a half an hour away from IU's homecoming kick-off when they will take on Penn State - a team they have never beaten before.
Both schools have 5-2 records overall and are 2-2 in Big Ten play up to this point. Although the Nittany Lions are the logical favorite, they have struggled on the road recently and have yet to win away from Happy Valley.
The Hoosiers are coming off their most disappointing loss of the season - a 52-27 thumping by Michigan State -- but are hoping to grab their sixth win of the season this afternoon and gain bowl eligibility.
IU's athletic department estimated today's crowd would be under 40,000 and in the upper 30s. After driving through the tailgating fields on my way to stadium I can tell you there are at least 50,000 people within a mile radius of the stadium. I just don't think they plan on moving anytime soon.
Updates, analysis, commentary and more on the way.
