packersfan4eva
Ryan Luxem
Indiana Uses 2nd Half Surge to Beat Michigan State
Bloomington, IN - Anthony Thompson didn't worry. He never worries. He found his Hoosiers losing 27-14 in the 1st half, but he wasn't scared. He knew his Hoosiers could make a run and tie the game, or even better, win. The Hoosiers did just that, shutting down the Spartans in the 2nd half en route to a 42-40 victory.
"Things were looking bad in the 1st half," said Charles Love III, who helped the Hoosiers win with his 3 reception, 57 yard day, one of his best games this season. "We were depressed, sluggish, and we couldn't stop the Spartans passing attack. We had the run game bottled up, but they threw for 300 yards in the 1st half. It was sickening."
I have to agree with Charles. I couldn't even watch the 1st half, it was so bad. Indiana started out well, driving down the field on the opening possession for a quick touchdown. But then the Hoosiers fell apart, and they gave up 14 unanswered points to the Spartans to close out the 1st half. "We gained like 15 yards the rest of that quarter," said head coach Anthony Thompson. "It was bad."
The 2nd quarter--for the most part, at least--wasn't much better than the 1st. While you may look at the scoreboard and see that Indiana outscored Michigan State 14-13, it could easily been a 21-7 advantage for Michigan State. Three times the Spartans got the ball within the 5 yard line, and twice the Hoosiers came up with huge goal line stands to force a Spartan field goal. "[The Hoosiers defense] as a whole sucked," said Jerimy Finch, who had a season-low 2 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, "but we came up with big stops when it counted, which is the reason that we won." The big red-zone stops was the one thread that was keeping the Hoosiers team together. "We knew that if we kept up our defense, we could win the game easily," said Tim Alexander.
Down 20-14 with 12 seconds left, Michigan State quarterback Keith Nichol hurled a pass 40 yards down field, and it was completed for a touchdown. "I thought the game was over at that point," said defensive backs coach Tom Capers. "That play killed our momentum." But like they have many times this year, the football gods were smiling in the Hoosiers favor. On the kickoff that would close the half, Damarlo Belcher received the kick and turned up field. After about 15-20 yards, he got smashed by a Michigan State defender and fumbled the ball. With no one behind Belcher, a Michigan State recovery would certainly lead to a touchdown. But instead, Matt Williams, a four year starter on special teams, recovered the ball and took it to the house for a touchdown. "I honestly think that without that play, we would have lost," he said after the game.
Indiana carried that momentum into the 3rd quarter, and they managed to briefly take a 31-27 lead. But Michigan State quickly answered with 2 field goals of their own to take back the lead, 33-31.
Michigan State opened the 4th quarter by scoring on a 27 yard touchdown run by Edwin Baker, who came in for the injured John Marshall and ran for 115 yards on 20 carries. Down 40-31 and 5 minutes remaining, Indiana knew they had a great shot at winning. All they had to do was score a touchdown, recover an onside kick, and drive down and kick a field goal. "It was a simple plan that was hard to execute," said coach Thompson. But that's exactly what they did.
Chester caught fire on their first drive, completing 7 straight passes on his way to a touchdown pass to Brad Martin, the tight end. Surprisingly, they went for the 2-point conversion, a quick full back handoff up the middle. They got it.
Finally, with one minute and thirty-eight seconds remaining in the game, Indiana came up with one of the biggest plays of the year. Mitch Ewald executed a perfect onside kick, and it was recovered by none other than Matt Williams, who also had the huge touchdown at the end of the half. Needless to say, he would win the player of the game award. The Hoosiers wasted no time in driving down the field and setting up Mitch Ewald with the game winning, season-saving field goal from 38 yards out. The kick was straight down the middle. "It was one of the biggest field goals of my life," said Ewald after the game.
Indiana faces their toughest opponant of the season in Penn State next weekend. Fortunately it's a home game, so the Hoosiers have a good chance of winning.
"Things were looking bad in the 1st half," said Charles Love III, who helped the Hoosiers win with his 3 reception, 57 yard day, one of his best games this season. "We were depressed, sluggish, and we couldn't stop the Spartans passing attack. We had the run game bottled up, but they threw for 300 yards in the 1st half. It was sickening."
I have to agree with Charles. I couldn't even watch the 1st half, it was so bad. Indiana started out well, driving down the field on the opening possession for a quick touchdown. But then the Hoosiers fell apart, and they gave up 14 unanswered points to the Spartans to close out the 1st half. "We gained like 15 yards the rest of that quarter," said head coach Anthony Thompson. "It was bad."
The 2nd quarter--for the most part, at least--wasn't much better than the 1st. While you may look at the scoreboard and see that Indiana outscored Michigan State 14-13, it could easily been a 21-7 advantage for Michigan State. Three times the Spartans got the ball within the 5 yard line, and twice the Hoosiers came up with huge goal line stands to force a Spartan field goal. "[The Hoosiers defense] as a whole sucked," said Jerimy Finch, who had a season-low 2 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, "but we came up with big stops when it counted, which is the reason that we won." The big red-zone stops was the one thread that was keeping the Hoosiers team together. "We knew that if we kept up our defense, we could win the game easily," said Tim Alexander.
Down 20-14 with 12 seconds left, Michigan State quarterback Keith Nichol hurled a pass 40 yards down field, and it was completed for a touchdown. "I thought the game was over at that point," said defensive backs coach Tom Capers. "That play killed our momentum." But like they have many times this year, the football gods were smiling in the Hoosiers favor. On the kickoff that would close the half, Damarlo Belcher received the kick and turned up field. After about 15-20 yards, he got smashed by a Michigan State defender and fumbled the ball. With no one behind Belcher, a Michigan State recovery would certainly lead to a touchdown. But instead, Matt Williams, a four year starter on special teams, recovered the ball and took it to the house for a touchdown. "I honestly think that without that play, we would have lost," he said after the game.
Indiana carried that momentum into the 3rd quarter, and they managed to briefly take a 31-27 lead. But Michigan State quickly answered with 2 field goals of their own to take back the lead, 33-31.
Michigan State opened the 4th quarter by scoring on a 27 yard touchdown run by Edwin Baker, who came in for the injured John Marshall and ran for 115 yards on 20 carries. Down 40-31 and 5 minutes remaining, Indiana knew they had a great shot at winning. All they had to do was score a touchdown, recover an onside kick, and drive down and kick a field goal. "It was a simple plan that was hard to execute," said coach Thompson. But that's exactly what they did.
Chester caught fire on their first drive, completing 7 straight passes on his way to a touchdown pass to Brad Martin, the tight end. Surprisingly, they went for the 2-point conversion, a quick full back handoff up the middle. They got it.
Finally, with one minute and thirty-eight seconds remaining in the game, Indiana came up with one of the biggest plays of the year. Mitch Ewald executed a perfect onside kick, and it was recovered by none other than Matt Williams, who also had the huge touchdown at the end of the half. Needless to say, he would win the player of the game award. The Hoosiers wasted no time in driving down the field and setting up Mitch Ewald with the game winning, season-saving field goal from 38 yards out. The kick was straight down the middle. "It was one of the biggest field goals of my life," said Ewald after the game.
Indiana faces their toughest opponant of the season in Penn State next weekend. Fortunately it's a home game, so the Hoosiers have a good chance of winning.
