Randle El shoulders heavy load for football

It's not hard to guess who will end up with the ball when IU's football team is in a critical situation. \nJunior quarterback Antwaan Randle El's role goes beyond the typical responsibilities of the quarterback.\nNot only is Randle El responsible for barking instructions at the line of scrimmage and throwing the ball, but he also has to worry about carrying the ball. As Saturday's game against Kentucky progressed, Randle El ran the ball enough to fatigue a well-conditioned tailback.\nRandle El carried the ball 25 times in IU's 41-38 loss to Kentucky. Many of the running plays were by design, others were called on the fly by IU's creative quarterback. When Randle El was pressured by the Kentucky defense in the second half, he instinctively took off running.\n"It's not difficult carrying the ball a lot," Randle El said. "I'm pretty much used to it."\nRandle El created all four of IU's touchdowns, throwing for two and running for two more. He attempted 26 passes and combined with his rushing attempts, Randle El was involved in 74 percent of IU's offensive plays. His 83 rushing and 143 passing yards accounted for 60 percent of the Hoosiers' offensive yardage.\n"They play a lot of man coverages, and so you would like to create some matchups where he can carry the football," coach Cam Cameron said when discussing Randle El's number of rushing attempts. "Obviously he improvises with the passing game pretty well. You just got to do a good job of knowing when it's there and when it isn't and protect the football." \nWith the game close in the fourth quarter, Randle El made things happen for IU (0-2). Just two of IU's 20 fourth-quarter plays ' a one yard run by sophomore fullback Jeremi Johnson and a draw to junior tailback Levron Williams on a third-and-24 play ' didn't involve him passing or running.\n"I felt like we needed a spark more than anything," Randle El said. "I knew we needed something. I figured why not be the guy to do it."\nAfter the game, Randle El said he was disappointed that he fumbled away the game's decisive touchdown on a play where he was blindsided by Kentucky defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson. The fumble was Randle El's second of the game. The first occurred with less than a minute remaining in the first half. Three plays later Kentucky scored a touchdown, decreasing IU's lead to 26-21 heading into halftime.\n"The two fumbles were the turning points in this game," Kentucky defensive back David Johnson said. "The first fumble we recovered led to a score and the the second was the biggest play of the game." \nDespite the late-game fumble, Randle El recovered and led the Hoosiers down the field in the final two minutes, putting IU into position to score a touchdown. IU's hopes of tying the game ended when a Randle El pass dropped a few inches in front of senior wide receiver Versie Gaddis. \n"(Randle El) and I are very similar," Cameron said. "We are action-oriented people who want to go in there and do it all sometimes. Sometimes you got to realize that you don't have to do it all. I think he realizes that more than ever he'll adjust. Every good quarterback I've been around has had this happen to him"