ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The close losses for IU's football team continue to pile up.
Saturday afternoon's game in Annapolis, Md. against Navy is yet another example of that.
Despite leading by nine points with under six minutes remaining in the outing, the Hoosiers (2-5, 0-3) were unable to hold on, losing to Navy (4-3) 31-30.
"As good as you play, you always have a couple of mistakes," IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. "Unfortunately, we had a couple of critical ones at the point of attack that cost us the game."
With a 20-14 edge at halftime, IU faced an early gut check in the third quarter after Navy went ahead 21-20 on an option run touchdown.
However, the Hoosiers responded.
Only four minutes later, IU retook the lead on a Mitch Ewald field goal. Following a Tevin Coleman touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers were ahead by a 30-21 margin.
A 16-play, 74-yard drive by Navy encompassing six minutes and 48 seconds followed, however a goal-line stand from the IU defense forced Navy to kick a field goal with 5:30 remaining.
With the Hoosiers leading 30-24 and momentum on their side, all they needed was a long, methodical drive to put the game to bed.
"I just knew we were going to play hard," safety Tim Bennett said. "Our offense was going to be out there and I knew it was going to do what they had to do."
Instead of that result, two misreads ending in missed passes from sophomore quarterback Cam Coffman resulted in a three and out. The drive lasted a total of 42 seconds.
One was an attempted handoff where the running back was not in place. The other was an intended go-route that ended with the receiver running an out-route.
"I don't know what he saw, but at the end of the day we have to get the first first down and get it rolling," Wilson said. "We just put him in a bad situation."
Following an Erich Toth punt to the Navy 28-yard line, the Midshipmen used nine plays over a span of two minutes and 46 seconds to drive down the entire field. A Keenan Reynolds pass to wide receiver Matt Aiken ended in a touchdown. One extra point later, Navy went ahead on the scoreboard, 31-30.
IU had lost the lead. They would not gain it back, either.
After the kickoff, on the second play of IU's subsequent drive, Coffman threw an interception. Only a minute and 38 seconds remained after the turnover, which was not enough time for the Hoosiers to have one more chance on offense.
"I thought the safety was about to drive up on the underneath route that was there," Coffman said. "I just forced a pass. I shouldn't have done it."
Navy kneeled for the next three plays - all it needed - and the Midshipmen celebrated it's fourth win of the season.
For the Hoosiers, though the opponent was different, the same result showed on the scoreboard when the clock hit zeroes in the fourth quarter.
In fact, Saturday night's loss resonates with the likes of the ones to Ball State, Michigan State and Ohio State. It was the fourth time in IU's last five games that the team had lost by four points or less.
"It sucks to lose in general," Coffman said. "We're just so close. We've just got to keep working every day. We can't lose hope"
