Defense's inability to prevent big plays plague team

It was the same song, different day for the Hoosiers. \nThe Michigan Wolverines put away an IU team in the second half of Saturday's contest, 35-14. After threatening from the red zone three times and keeping the game within a touchdown in the first half, Michigan went on a 21-7 rout in the latter half to secure the 35-14 win.\nThe Hoosiers had a second half reminiscent of IU's meltdowns against Michigan State and Kentucky as the Hoosiers' last four opponents have now outscored IU 92-29 in the second half. \nHowever, DiNardo said he didn't feel as if IU had the same second-half problems that have plagued the Hoosiers throughout the season.\n"Our defense as a whole showed that this wasn't like last week. We did lose the second half, without question," DiNardo said. "But I don't think it would be fair to the team to say that this was the same. It was the same result but not the same attitude and not the same demeanor."\nThe trouble began in the second half right from the get-go as Michigan senior Grant Mason returned a kickoff for 97 yards to give the Wolverines the ball at the IU 3-yard line. The Hoosier defense made the best of a bad situation by stuffing the Michigan offense on the ensuing three plays, but were unable to stop running back Michael Hart's fourth-down touchdown dive.\nSenior defensive tackle Jodie Clemons said he was proud of the stand the Hoosier defense made on the goal line, but said the work was all for nothing because the Wolverines managed to punch the ball in the end zone.\nJunior linebacker Kyle Killion said it was a learning experience.\n"You can tell the team was still in the battle-back mode to try to win," Killion said. "We almost got the stop, but we didn't and all we can do is learn from that."\nMason's 97-yard kick return wasn't the only problem the Hoosiers had with special teams as sophomore Leon Hall also added a 76-yard punt return touchdown in the second quarter to place the score at 14-7 in the Wolverines' favor.\nThe Hoosiers stopped Michigan's ground game, limiting the Wolverines rush offense to a mere 93 yards. Unfortunately for IU, Michigan's pass offense more than made up for any troubles the Wolverines had on the ground as freshman quarterback Chad Henne completed 17 of 21 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns. \nHenne also proved to be a master of the long ball, as the shortest of his touchdown passes was a 38-yard pass to Braylon Edwards in the third quarter. \nHenne and Edwards proved to be the largest problems for IU. Edwards finished the game with eight catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns, including a 69-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.\nIU junior linebacker Paul Szczesny blamed Michigan's ability to stretch the Hoosier defense out with the long ball on poor pass rushing. \n"They hit us on big plays and there's nothing we can do about that," Szczesny said. "You can't win if you give up big plays like that and we didn't win because of that."\nOther than the long plays, IU had troubles with self-inflicted wounds as well. The first of which was a costly missed snap by Chris Jahnke over senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio's head from the Michigan 14 caused a 29-yard loss that eventually led to a punt and a missed scoring opportunity. The Hoosiers also suffered from an inability to convert third downs as IU finished 0-12 in third down situations while Michigan converted on 10 of 15. \nWhile the box score might lend itself to the notion that little has changed in IU's inability to execute in the second half, Szczesny said the Hoosier defense can play with anyone in the country if IU can contain the long ball.\n"We tried to come out strong in the second half and I'm very proud of the way the defense played," Szczesny said. "Our main focus was to stop the run and we did that. Now we've got to eliminate a few big plays and we're right there and we can play with anybody." \n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.