Published: November 08, 2009 12:24 am         

No. 24 Wisconsin football survives IU rally

Bloomington — This loss may not have mattered as much to a different Indiana football team.

But in a season where four Big Ten games have seemingly been a play away from victory, Saturday’s 31-28 loss to No. 24 Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium simply compounded the heartbreak.

The Hoosiers watched fourth quarter leads slip away against Michigan, Northwestern and Iowa, where one stop might have given Indiana (4-6, 1-5) the season-defining victory that it still seeks.

Indiana had its chance to make that play when Wisconsin had a third-and-eight with 2:35 remaining on the Wisconsin 32. If the Hoosiers stop the Badgers (7-2, 4-2) on that play, Indiana would have had the ball with two timeouts and momentum.

Scott Tolzien avoided the Hoosiers’ pass rush to hit Nick Toon on a 17-yard pass near the sidelines and the Badgers ran out the clock.

Indiana coach Bill Lynch said he didn’t want to sit in a soft zone on that play, but wanted to get after the quarterback.

“Probably the play of the day was the play at the end, where I thought it was critical to get the throw to Nick Toon. We thought we’d get the one-on-one coverage. Big time throw, big time catch, big time call,” Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said.

Ben Chappell, who may have had his finest game in his career with 323 yards passing to eight different receivers and three touchdowns, could only stand on the sideline and watch as Wisconsin ran out the clock.

“We believed the whole game that if we could just get a break or two here, we knew we could move it on them,” Chappell said. “We were throwing it very well, so we just wanted to get the ball as much as we could.”

But make no mistake, Indiana was playing for the victory. Indiana converted all three fourth down attempts it tried, with none more important than the last one.

On fourth-and-goal from the Wisconsin 2 yard line with 4:01 remaining, the Hoosiers had a choice. Down 31-21, they could kick the field goal, hope to get the ball back and go for the tie.

But Lynch kept his field goal team on the sidelines and Trea Burgess cut through the middle of the line to score standing up and cut the score to 31-28.

“That was really dumb wasn’t it?” Lynch said with sarcasm dripping from his voice. “We came to win the game ... we weren’t trying to make the game close.”

Down 17-7 midway through the second quarter — the lone IU score came after David Gilreath muffed a punt and the ball sailed right into Colin Taylor’s hands — Indiana’s offense found its groove.

Chappell hit Terrance Turner on a 33-yard pass and two plays later found Tandon Doss for a 46-yard score. The Hoosiers would find the Wisconsin red zone on three of their final four possessions of the game.

Wisconsin standout running back John Clay had 134 yards on 15 carries in the first half, but didn’t play in the second half due to what

Bielema deemed to be a “slight” concussion. But that didn’t prove to be much of a break for the Hoosiers as true freshman Montee Ball had 25 carries in the second half for 113 yards and a touchdown.

“They were almost identical,” defensive end Jammie Kirlew said. “You would think you had them tackled and they would slip through a crease for a few more yards. They kept getting extra yards.”

In order to qualify for a bowl game, the Hoosiers must win at No. 11 Penn State and against a Purdue squad that may also be playing for bowl eligibility. Senior linebacker Will Patterson stood up in the post game lockerroom and made it clear to his teammates that everything hinged on the next two weeks.

But in an odd way, the four close losses give the Hoosiers hope.

“It’s not like we have to play the best game of our lives to win the next two games. We know we can do it,” said senior running back Bryan Payton.

• Notes — Chappell is now tenth on the school’s career passing yards list with 3,392. … Tandon Doss has 65 catches this season, third-most in school history. … Bryan Payton had eight carries for 48 yards after running back Darius Willis went down with an injury. Lynch did not know Willis injury or his prognosis. … If the Hoosiers had won, it would have been their first victory over a ranked team since beating No. 24 Northwestern last season. … Indiana has not beaten Wisconsin since its 32-29 win in 2002.



No. 24 Wisconsin 31,

Indiana 28

Wisconsin 7 17 0 7 — 31

Indiana 7 7 0 14 — 28

Ind—Doss 11 pass from Chappell (Freeland kick), 10:44. 1Q

Wis—Anderson 18 pass from Tolzien (Welch kick), 8:24. 1Q

Wis—FG Welch 26, 12:56. 2Q

Wis—Ball 1 run (Welch kick), 6:10. 2Q

Ind—Doss 46 pass from Chappell (Freeland kick), 2:32. 2Q

Wis—Clay 14 run (Welch kick), 1:06.

Ind—T.Turner 6 pass from Chappell (Freeland kick), 12:00. 4Q

Wis—Ball 3 run (Welch kick), 8:18. 4Q

Ind—Burgess 2 run (Freeland kick), 4:01. 4Q

A—36,611.

Wis Ind

First downs 24 17

Rushes-yards 52-294 26-63

Passing 194 323

Comp-Att-Int 11-20-0 25-35-2

Return Yards 3 27

Punts-Avg. 4-44.3 4-37.8

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards 5-56 4-27

Time of Possession 33:45 26:15

Individual statistics

Rushing — Wisconsin, Clay 15-134, Ball 27-115, Brown 4-18, Tolzien 4-12, Toon 1-9, Gilreath 1-6. Indiana, Payton 8-48, McCray 1-7, Burgess 4-7, Willis 6-6, Doss 1-1, Chappell 4-0, Evans 2-(minus 6).

Passing — Wisconsin, Tolzien 11-20-0-194. Indiana, Chappell 25-35-2-323.

Receiving — Wisconsin, Toon 5-123, Anderson 3-43, Ball 1-11, Clay 1-10, Kendricks 1-7. Indiana, Doss 6-92, T.Turner 6-68, Belcher 5-83, Evans 3-32, Willis 2-12, Ernest 1-21, Wagner 1-13, Dedmond 1-2.