IU unable to hold on in double-overtime defeat

EVANSTON, Ill. — For the second straight year, IU and Northwestern needed overtime to decide the outcome. This time the location was Northwestern's Ryan Field. Unfortunately for IU, the result was the same, as the Hoosiers fell to the Wildcats 31-24 in double overtime.\nAfter taking a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter on senior kicker Bryan Robertson's 35-yard field goal, the Hoosiers (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) were looking to hold on to get their first conference win and in the process evening out their overall record.\nNorthwestern (3-3, 2-1 Big Ten) wouldn't have it, as they started on its own 36-yard line and moved the ball down field with ease to the IU 15-yard line.\nWildcats senior kicker Brian Huffman lined up for the game-tying field goal with 34 seconds left. Huffman missed his first two attempts, a 48-yarder and 27-yarder, earlier in the game. He appeared to have missed his third attempt on the day as the 32-yard attempt was shanked left, but ricocheted off the left cross bar and bounced through, tying the score at 17.\nForcing the defense to try and come up with another stop was a lot to ask, junior offensive lineman Adam Hines said.\n"In the four-minute drill we should have gotten a first down and taken a knee and the game would be over," Hines said. "We had a job to get done and we didn't do it, the defense shouldn't have even been out there. In the last two minutes you hate to put your defense on the short field and they did their best. You can't ask for any more."\nIn overtime, IU didn't waste any time as senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio hit junior Jahkeen Gilmore for a 25-yard touchdown pass, one of the three touchdown passes for LoVecchio on the day, giving the Hoosiers a 24-17 lead.\nBut the Wildcats' luck continued as Northwestern junior quarterback Brett Basanez was chased by Hoosiers' junior linebacker Kyle Killion outside the line of scrimmage. He was forced to throw a pass off his back foot from the 25-yard line, which landed in the arms of junior wide receiver Taylor Jones amongst a swarm of IU jerseys.\nNorthwestern continued its rushing assault on the Hoosier defense in the second overtime. On fourth down and one, Wildcats' senior running back Noah Herron scampered to the outside for a 16-yard touchdown giving Northwestern a 31-24 lead. On the day, Herron rushed for three touchdowns and 197 of the team's 247 rushing yards.\nIn IU's attempt to match the Wildcats' score, the Hoosiers tried a quarterback draw on fourth and three, but the play dissolved quickly leaving LoVecchio on his back and the Wildcats celebrating at mid-field.\n"It's devastating. Last year and this year were two really close games and we just couldn't find a way to win," LoVecchio said. "We had opportunities; they just passed us by. It is such an emotional game and a heartbreaking loss." \nDespite the emotional loss, many Hoosiers set personal or career marks. LoVecchio had a career-high in completions with 27 and yards with 329. LoVecchio's favorite target on the day was senior wide receiver Courtney Roby. Roby collected eight catches for 150 yards. Roby's final reception of the day made him IU's all-time leading receiver with 149 career receptions.\nDespite the Hoosiers' success through the air, the rushing attack experienced problems, managing just 100 yards, 57 which came from LoVecchio.\nBecause of the lack of a ground game it was important for everyone to step up their play, Roby said.\n"It is a team sport, if one side is lacking the other side has to pick it up, you got to balance it out," he said. "You have to have a short memory; we have the bye week and try to prepare for Ohio State that is our focus now."\nIn a first half that ended with score tied at 7-7, the theme for the third quarter was nine. Both teams put nine-play drives both of 90 yards or more for touchdowns.\nIU responded first with a 92-yard drive that ended on a Roby touchdown in which the Indianapolis native slipped through the grasp of a Wildcat defender and ran down the left sideline untouched 48 yards for the score.\nNorthwestern had its third quarter drive go 94 yards, and end on a Herron 49-yard run to square the game at 14-14 going into the final stanza.\nDespite the loss, the Hoosiers' fourth in a row, the team remains confident about the second half of the season, senior safety Herana-Daze Jones said.\n"We've just got to continue to believe and the only way you can do that is to keep playing," said Jones, who led the team with 15 tackles. "The season's not over, we've still got five games left."\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.