Homecoming Heartbreaker

Five hundred and thirty-one yards of offense, four touchdowns and a pair of 130-plus yard rushers weren't enough for IU Saturday.\nOne interception in overtime was plenty for Northwestern.\nThe Wildcats picked off a Matt LoVecchio pass in the end zone in overtime to essentially end the Hoosiers' hopes of a Homecoming win. In a game in which IU rallied from a 17-point second quarter deficit to force the extra period, the team came up short.\n"It's disappointing of course," the junior quarterback said. "It's disappointing anytime you lose a football game. The game was right there for us to win in overtime, and our coaches put us in a position to win, and it's up to us as players to just go out and take it."\nAfter a 54-yard game-winning field goal attempt by junior Bryan Roberston fell short to end regulation, NU won the overtime coin toss and chose the second possession. IU began its drive at the Wildcats' 25-yard line and drove the ball inches shy of the first down marker on the initial set of downs. The Hoosiers went for the first, though, and LoVecchio quarterback sneaked the ball ahead for the conversion.\nTwo plays later, LoVecchio lofted the ball toward junior wideout Travis Haney on a fade pattern to the left side of the end zone. But as Haney went to make the catch, the ball was knocked up in the air by the Wildcat defender. Safety Bryan Heinz came away with the ball, taking with it any hopes of an IU win.\nFor the Hoosiers, that meant the team's sixth loss and third straight of the season after reeling off 24 unanswered points to take a touchdown lead with just under 12 minutes left in the game. IU coach Gerry DiNardo said the loss was tough on the team. \n"I would imagine it's pretty deflating to them," he said. "As you get later in the season and you lose, it gets harder and harder. But that's my job to get them back ... We'll get them back. That's what we do. We have no choice."\nIU overcame a first half in which it surrendered 299 yards of total offense and stopped the Wildcats on third down only once out of seven tries.\nAfter a field goal on its opening drive, NU got the ball back when LoVecchio threw his first interception of the game. Wildcat linebacker Pat Durr picked off the pass at midfield and returned it to the 26-yard line. Six plays later, tailback Jason Wright was in the end zone for his first score of the day and a 10-0 lead.\n"I started off the game slow," LoVecchio said. "I didn't complete my first pass, I missed the third down pass and then I threw a pick. I cost the team two potential touchdown drives, but we win as a team and we lose as a team. Today we lost."\nThe Wildcats scored through the air next. IU sophomore safety Buster Larkins went for an interception on a pass from NU quarterback Brett Basanez to wideout Brandon Horn and missed the ball. Horn caught it at the IU 45-yard line and ran untouched for a 77-yard score. \nIU then scored on a drive featuring only senior running back Brian Lewis. Lewis caught a 17-yard screen pass and ran the ball five times for 62 yards, including a 42-yarder and a 9-yard touchdown run. \nHowever, the IU defense couldn't hold NU. Wright ran the ball eight times on a 14-play drive, finishing it off with a 13-yard scoring run in which he broke three Hoosier tackles. \nAlthough freshman running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis scored on a one-yard run to close the half, the story of the first half was IU's defense, or lack thereof. The crowd even booed loudly when IU gave up a 68-yard touchdown on a third and 17 play which was called back by penalty, and then surrendered a first down on the next play, a third and 22.\n"The only side I know is the defense, and I tell you right now, we stunk the field up the first half of the game," senior safety Joe Gonzalez said. "Terrible. We played terrible on defense the first half. We just weren't playing assignment football. We started playing better in the second half. We didn't change our calls, we just played horrible the first half."\nIU forced NU three and out to open the second half and then scored a field goal after a 55-yard completion from LoVecchio to junior wideout Courtney Roby. Green-Ellis tied the game at 24 on the Hoosiers' next possession with a 27-yard rumbling touchdown run. \nThe teams traded punts before junior defensive lineman Jodie Clemons stuffed Wright on a third and two play to open the fourth quarter. Like Lewis before, Green-Ellis led his own scoring drive. The freshman caught a screen for 18-yards and ran the ball four times for 20 yards, his third touchdown of the day and the 31-24 lead. Green-Ellis and Lewis finished with 137 and 130 yards, respectively. \n"I think I played OK, but I've got to play better for us to come out with a 'W,'" Green-Ellis said. "I needed one more touchdown and 50 or 60 more yards to win this game. And I didn't get it, so I've got to work harder next week."\nAgain, the teams traded punts, but Wright took NU back into the end zone with 4:46 left in the game for his third touchdown and the tie. In overtime, after the interception, NU needed only to score to win the game. Starting from the 25-yard line, Wright ran the ball five of six times for 14 yards. The last was a four-yard touchdown run that ended the game, 37-31, and dropped IU to 1-6 on the year. \n"Two good quarters of defense isn't enough to win the game," Gonzalez said. "The offense scored 31 points. You should win the game if you score 31 points on offense in my opinion. It hurts to lose every game. This loss doesn't hurt more than the Michigan State loss or the Michigan loss. They all hurt the same in my opinion. It doesn't matter if you lose by 50 or you lose in overtime. They all hurt."\n-- Contact staff writer Gavin Lesnick at glesnick@indiana.edu.