Belcher, Hoosiers drop chance at victory
Indiana Hoosier football fans erupted with glee as Indiana receiver Damarlo Belcher had his hands on a fourth-down pass in the end zone with less than 35 seconds to go in the game. The touchdown would have given Indiana a 19-18 lead over the No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes.
As Belcher came down, the ball began to slip out of his hands, and so might have Indiana’s last opportunity to gain bowl eligibility this season. The pass was ruled incomplete and the Hoosiers lost 18-13, dropping their record to 4-5.
“It’s definitely rough,” IU safety Mitchell Evans. “I saw everyone jumping up and down and I stopped looking when it hit his hands. I mean I guess that’s the way it goes, that’s football.”
The Hoosiers had kept the game close almost entirely throughout. Indiana was leading the Hawkeyes 13-9 in the fourth quarter until Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi hit receiver Marvin McNutt for a 52-yard pass and an 18-13 lead with 2:50 left. Stanzi finished the game completing 22 of 33 passes for 290 yards, with that touchdown and an interception.
“From my standpoint, just a very good quarterback and very good receiver that just ran a double move and got our guy,” Indiana coach Bill Lynch said.
Indiana responded by driving the ball down the field putting them in a spot to win the game. However, the Hoosiers failed to convert on fourth down on the pass to Belcher and it put the Hawkeyes back on the field to run the clock down and win the game.
“It’s tough,” said Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell. “When you lose like that it’s not easy.”
Indiana had several aspects of the game to be proud of. Chappell broke former Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis’s career completion record. Chappell finished with 222 yards on 27 of 46 passing with one interception and a rushing touchdown.
The Hoosier offensive line also performed well, holding Iowa’s strong defensive line - highlighted by top-10 NFL prospect Adrian Clayborn - to just one sack. Nonetheless, the team felt these accomplishments were overshadowed by the loss.
“It was a great football game,” Lynch said. “Our kids really battled and I thought they played very well in all phases. We got beat by what I think is a great football team in Iowa and we just came up a play short there at the end.”
On defense the Hoosiers prevented an Iowa team that scored 11 red-zone touchdowns prior to the game to just three field goals inside the 20-yard line. This season the Hoosiers had struggled with red-zone defense, allowing eight touchdowns in 14 attempts.
“That’s a mark of a maturing defense,” said Lynch. “When you play a team like Iowa they are going to gain yards, but if you can hold them out of the end zone and force field goals, then you have a great chance of winning the game.”
Iowa was not the only team that struggled to score in the red-zone. Indiana also was held to two field goals before scoring a touchdown with 42 seconds to go in the third quarter.
“We had some good drives,” said Chappell. “But obviously some of them did not end the way we wanted them to. I don’t know we were close.”
Indiana’s next game is against another ranked opponent next weekend as they take on the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, WI.
“They are going to battle no matter what happens,” said Lynch. “So, they come back, go to work on Monday, and get ready for the next one. That’s the kind of group of kids we have.”
