Offense returns, record falls in win
INDIANAPOLIS -- High scores have returned to the Indianapolis Colts as the team woke up in the second quarter of their Monday night game to score 45 points in three quarters, beating the Rams 45-28.
INDIANAPOLIS -- High scores have returned to the Indianapolis Colts as the team woke up in the second quarter of their Monday night game to score 45 points in three quarters, beating the Rams 45-28.
It takes brains to skip an entire grade, but it took sophomore guard A.J. Ratliff to jump one. Ratliff, who shared Friday's Hoosier Hysteria slam dunk crown with senior forward Marco Killingsworth, first wowed spectators by leaping over sophomore guard Adam Ahlfeld for a one-handed throw-down.
Auburn proves too much for young Hoosier swimmers The Auburn Tigers proved to be too hot for the Hoosiers' swimming and diving team to handle as the team displayed their dominance with a 165-124 win over IU Friday in Auburn, Ala. The Hoosiers' opposition showed that a sizeable amount of talent has carried over from last year's squad, which finished as the NCAA runner-up.
The IU women's soccer team's roller coaster season continued this weekend -- hitting the low early, losing to Northwestern Friday, but peaking with a win against Wisconsin yesterday. The split over the weekend moved IU to 6-8-1 overall. With three games left, the Hoosiers are looking for a spot in the top eight in the Big Ten to make the conference tournament. Before Friday's game, the Hoosiers sat in eighth place.
For the fifth time this season the IU men's soccer team ended regulation with a tie. For the fifth time this season the team ended overtime without a victory. And in that fifth time, the Hoosiers ended overtime tied with Northwestern University 1-1 Sunday. IU improved its record to 8-1-4 and its Big Ten record to 2-1-2 after tying the Wildcats and beating the University of Wisconsin on a weekend road trip.
Perhaps Blake Powers has powers of prophecy. Earlier in the week, the sophomore quarterback discussed breaking Antwaan Randel El's record for touchdown passes in a single-season. Impressive numbers, he said, were only impressive if they helped IU to victories.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Not since Shoeless Joe Jackson have the Chicago White Sox caused this much of a commotion. World Series, here they come for the first since 1959. A.J. Pierzynski came out on the right side of yet another umpiring ruckus, Jose Contreras pitched Chicago's fourth straight complete game and the White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 to win the AL championship series in five games.
With the fight song blaring and the cream and crimson crowd on its feet, the IU women's basketball team took the court for the first time this season during Hoosier Hysteria Friday night. "It was a big asset to be in front of 10,000 fans or however many there were," first-year IU coach Sharon Versyp said. "We were able to sell ourselves to the fans and get them excited about our program."
Road trips continued to treat the IU women's volleyball team harshly this weekend, as the team came away winless against both Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Hoosiers cited failed passing attempts, weak serves and a breakdown in communication for their two losses. "We just didn't play together against either (squad)," senior Rachel Gerling said. "When we lose the first set, we get down on ourselves. That's what we did last night (against Wisconsin)." The Badgers took down the Hoosiers 3-0 (30-14, 30-25, 30-12) in the first match Friday. The red and white took down the cream and crimson offense, overpowering the Hoosiers' killing percentage of .081 with a .413 percentage of their own. Gerling came out firing for IU with 10 individual kills, followed by freshman Erica Short, who added seven.
The football team giveth and the football team taketh away. Like a child playing in a bathtub turning tides, a game of momentum in Iowa City went back and forth. "It's hard to get momentum on the road," coach Terry Hoeppner said at the post-game press conference. For the adolescents of the Big Ten, a team which has grown up rapidly before the eyes of every Hoosier, seizing the lead remained a problem.
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- IU sophomore quarterback Blake Powers and freshman wide receiver James Hardy continued breaking records Saturday against the Iowa Hawkeyes. However, for Powers, Hardy and the rest of the Hoosiers, the most important record at Kinnick Stadium -- Iowa's 21-home game winning streak -- couldn't be broken. The Hawkeyes defeated the Hoosiers 38-21 Saturday in Iowa City, dropping IU to 1-2 in the Big Ten.
The No. 7 IU women's field hockey team's win streak reached double digits Friday, as the Hoosiers defeated No. 9 Ohio State 2-1 during a double overtime thriller. The victory extended the team's record-breaking win streak to 10 games and improved the Hoosiers' record to 13-1 overall, with the 13 wins marking an all-time high for the program and all but ensuring 2005 as the most successful season in coach Amy Robertson's tenure.
Last season, a first-game exit from the Big Ten tournament sucked the madness out of the Hoosiers' March, and hysteria ensued. Bracey Wright, leading scorer for the team and the Big Ten, left for the NBA draft and IU head coach Mike Davis again faced criticism for failing to make the NCAA tournament. It's only fitting that the Hoosiers' third quest for madness begins with a little bit of hysteria.
The IU women's swimming and diving team will begin its season in dramatic fashion as the Hoosiers face off against one of the nation's most elite teams: the Tigers of Auburn University. IU will make its first splash of the season and hopes to continue its tradition of excellence at 6:30 p.m. today at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala.
When the IU women's cross country team gets back from an away meet, the last thing it wants to do is spend several hours hitting the books. But they do it anyway. And hitting the books has led the team to the highest athletic team GPA of any program on campus with 12 athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten honors. This weekend the team heads to Terre Haute to run in the Pre-NCAA meet, one of the most competitive of the year. And although the Hoosiers' season is entering its most difficult and crucial weeks, team members do not have a break from academics or midterms.
There's a lot on the line today when the No. 7 IU field hockey team travels to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes. At stake in this showdown of top 10 Big Ten rivals is both teams' unbeaten conference records, an IU win streak of nine games, a Buckeye win streak of 11 games and seeding implications for next month's Big Ten tournament.
Homecoming might have been in Bloomington last weekend, but don't tell that to some of the members of the IU men's soccer team. For six Hoosiers, this weekend's road trip will be a homecoming of sorts as the team travels to the Chicagoland area for two Big Ten matches.
IU coach Mick Lyon likens his team to a train. Recently, Lyon said the train has been struggling to keep its wheels on the track. That track runs through Evanston, Ill., and Madison, Wis., this weekend as the Hoosiers (5-7-1, 1-4 Big Ten) take on Northwestern and Wisconsin. "We need to find a groove," he said. "Right now we have one foot on the track but the second keeps slipping off. If we can get both feet on, we'll be cruising."
Before the football season began, Terry Hoeppner had a simple request for his team. "We challenged (the team) in the spring," Hoeppner said. "We want to play 12. What we do between now and then will determine how realistic that goal becomes." Halfway through their schedule with five games down, the Hoosiers will march toward their goal of extending their season to a 12th game, beginning with a trip to Kinnick Stadium to face Iowa Saturday.
A year ago, IU sophomore quarterback Blake Powers went seemingly unknown. While Powers sat on the bench and watched the Hoosiers struggle, Iowa quarterback Drew Tate earned All-Big Ten honors and led the Hawkeyes to a tie for first place in the conference. What a difference a year makes. So far this season, Powers has accumulated more passing yards and touchdowns than Tate, en route to the Hoosiers holding a better record than the Hawkeyes.