Hoosiers fire it up in coach's memory

Fire it up!"\nOne of my best friends uses those three words about 100 times a day to express anything from cooking to lifting to studying.\nHe fires the grill up. He fires going to class up. He fires the fireplace up. He fires his girlfriend up. \nHe fires "fire it up" up more than anyone on the face of this earth.\nIt's not that annoying when he fires it up -- he's said it so many times he might have it patented -- but it is when everyone else within a two-mile radius starts firing it up.\nIt's catchy. Our neighbor once was in such a drunken stupor that "fire it up" was the only three words that came out of his mouth for about an hour. One of my roommates ("Mini fire it up," a smaller version of the original,) says it about 50 times a day. \nSaturday, the phenomenon of firing it up caught Memorial Stadium.\nThe Hoosiers fired it up for assistant coach Pete Schmidt, who passed away Friday, with a victory over Iowa.\nThursday, when the team was told Schmidt had a short time to live, senior Jerry Dorsey, among many other players, found the game of football to be the least of their concerns. \nFootball was only a game. Schmidt was a father figure. \n"Pete was like a father to not just me but to all the players who knew him very well," Dorsey said. "He was there to correct our mistakes on the field but also there to laugh and joke with us through good times and bad. \n"Pete will never leave my heart. I guess I am scarred for life because this is the first time someone close to me has passed away, and it hurts." \nWhen listening to coach Cam Cameron in press conferences, one cannot always be sure the coach is spinning the truth. When it came to Schmidt, one could see the tears Cameron fought back Saturday were as real as real gets. Neither Cameron nor any of the players will ever forget the man they loved deeply.\nFrom Iowa and onward, IU has dedicated and fired the season up to Schmidt.\nThe question mark defense to the unstoppable offense stepped up their play against the Hawkeyes.\nJunior Justin Smith, like a brick thrown through a window, broke through Iowa's offensive line easily and destroyed anything in his way for four sacks and 13 tackles, which included six for a loss. By the end of the game, Smith had tackled and hugged Iowa quarterback Jon Beutjer so many times that Beutjer probably thought the two were dating.\nThe fact the Hoosiers did not allow a touchdown in the first half was underplayed, because the defense allowed 30 points and Beutjer threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns in the second half. Almost as remarkable as a man walking on the moon, the Hoosiers' defense had held opponents touchdown-less for six consecutive quarters. \nNo dream lasts forever, so the Hoosiers' defense, as expected, would face reality again. \nJust as the first two weeks of the season, the crowd gasped when the Hawkeyes scored with 4:33 left in the game to put themselves within five points after IU led by as many 21 points.\nIn the end, Antwaan Randle El allowed the Hoosier faithful to sigh with relief with two rushing touchdowns to give him a ridiculous amount of rushing yards (187) on the day.\nRandle El in the end might be Batman saving the day, but Dorsey cannot be overlooked as he was Batman's sidekick Robin, who does not always get the superhero prestige, but always contributes to the butt whipping.\nAhead 31-26, the Hoosiers were confronted with a 3rd and 12 on their own 20-yard line. A failed conversion on the play would have forced the Hoosiers to punt and give Iowa the ball with only three minutes left in the game. Just like deja vu, the potential situation was way too familiar.\nWith good protection on the third down play, Randle El found Dorsey darting across the middle of the field. Dorsey spun from one tackle and then twisted again while he fought two defenders from putting him to the ground, then lunged his body backward, stretched the ball out as far as could and willed his way for a few more yards to get the Hoosiers a first down. The next play, Randle El scampered into the end zone after dashing 62 yards.\n"If we don't get that, we're stopped and everything," Cameron said. "But he caught the ball, got up field and made some twists and turns and got the first down. That was a big play for us and I went over to him on the sidelines and pointed to him and told him that was big.\n"We had some guys that just played with great emotion and this was our day. There were some guys who refused to let us lose that ball game."\nNo doubt, Schmidt would have fired it up on such a day.