Hoosiers slip on national television

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Before the football team headed to Wolfpack territory, coach Cam Cameron and his players promised a "statement" would be made.\nBut before a sold out crowd of 51,500 Thursday at North Carolina State, the statement of an "improved team" was instead replaced by painful plays that bore strong resemblance to last season.\nThe Hoosiers had two late looks at the endzone, and fell to the Wolfpack 35-14. \n"I can't remember any point in time when we have made that many mistakes," Cameron said of his teams' turnovers. "I take full responsibility for our guys coming out and making mistakes. I think you can tell it wasn't from a lack of effort on their part."\nThe solo touchdown drive came from a nine-play, 70-yard drive that ended in junior quarterback Tommy Jones' 15-yard pass to junior tight end Kris Dielman. But the drive came with less than six minutes left in the game. Until that point the team only made it to NC State's 23-yard line. All despite senior Antwaan Randle El's jumps between wide receiver (30 yards on four catches), quarterback (1-for-2 for seven yards), punter (his kicks averaged 35 yards) and punt returner (three returns for 27 yards).\n"It was very frustrating," Randle El said. "We didn't execute. We didn't move the ball like we normally do." \nThe second touchdown came with 4:08 left in the game. With Wolfpack (1-0) reserves in, junior fullback Jeremi Johnson ran for a 17-yard touchdown. A failed on-side kick gave the Wolfpack the opportunity to wind down the remaining seconds of the game. \nThe question of who would play quarterback was answered by Cameron's yo-yoing of Randle El and Jones. Both took snaps at quarterback, and in the first half were equally ineffective, completing only 27 plays for 74 yards.\n"It's not where we wanted to be," Randle El said. "We have to correct that." \nThe rotating system showed little improvement in the second half as the Hoosier (1-0) offense punted once, fumbled on a quarterback sack and failed twice on fourth-down conversions.\n"No matter who the quarterback is, we jumped offsides and made mistakes," Cameron said. "We took a gamble."\nJones and Randle El divided time in the Hoosier's first second-half drive. But between Jones' passes and Randle El's option plays, the Hoosiers were unable to capitalize.\nWith IU struggling on offense, and the defense in the unfamiliar territory of increased field time, the Wolfpack ripped through holes and scored two consecutive touchdowns to increase the lead to 35-0 with 10 minutes left in the game. \n"I think (the defense) played better," senior linebacker Devin Schaffer said. "We still have some mistakes we have to eliminate. But that's our job to stop them, so we're not looking for any moral victory."\nDespite a 21-0 halftime deficit, the defense came out of the tunnel and had two consecutive stops on the Wolfpack offense before allowing the two scores. NC State was forced to punt twice before using good field position to find the endzone.\nAs expected, the Wolfpack attacked the Hoosier secondary on its first drive of the game. After IU deferred the kickoff, NC State and last year's ACC Rookie of the Year, quarterback Philip Rivers, came out throwing. Rivers, a major factor in a win over the Hoosiers last year, finished the game 22-for-33, gaining 243 yards and scoring three touchdowns.\n"He's a smart quarterback," Schaffer said. "I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on him, and making make some quick decisions. But he's only a sophomore and he plays like a senior."\nThe Wolfpack completed only one of its three passes during the first drive of the game, and the IU defense had its first stop of the season. But on River's second time out, he went 3-for-3 on third downs, orchestrated 11 plays and threw a touchdown pass to his senior tight end Willie Wright. The point after was blocked.\nKicking was a weak spot for both teams. Hoosier place kicker, sophomore Adam Braucher, saw his first attempt go wide left. Punter Ryan Hambre had one punt caught by a Wolfpack defender for a touchdown. His second attempt was blocked, and his third and fourth attempts went 12 and 17 yards respectively.\n"I'm especially concerned about our kicking game and mistakes offensively in the red zone," Cameron said. "But we can't panic. We just have to get back to work, and that's what we're going to do"