Rush defense has long been a sore spot for the IU football team this season as the team gave up an average of 213.1 yards per game on the ground, ranking them next to last in the Big Ten. The situation was especially foreboding coming into Saturday's Homecoming game against a Minnesota ground game that averaged 278.4 rushing yards per game.\nComing into the game, Golden Gopher running backs sophomore Laurence Maroney and junior Marion Barber III averaged 117.6 and 102 yards per game, respectively. However, the IU defense stepped up to the challenge and limited Maroney to 89 yards and Barber III to a mere 65 yards. \nJunior safety Will Lumpkin said the turnaround was due to a larger amount of time spent in the film room studying the Golden Gopher scheme.\n"We really had a good scheme and the coaches did a great job," Lumpkin said. "We stayed after practice 30 minutes to an hour every day to get special film work in. Our guys were just really prepared so we could have a good showing for Homecoming."\nThe Hoosiers' overall defense also improved as the team, which had given up an average of 458 total yards per game, limited the No. 7 offense in the country to only 351 yards. Senior safety Herana-Daze Jones said the change in play was also due to pent-up frustration from last year's 55-7 manhandling when the Gopher rushing game gained 435 yards on the ground.\n"That's their bread and butter. If they can run, then they are just going to run down your throat, which is what they did last year against us," Jones said. "We knew we had to get in there and set the tone. You can't shut down their running game, but you can prevent them from getting the big play. Let them get bits and pieces every run, and if you can do that, you have a better chance of slowing their offense down."
HOOSIERS PLAY 4 QUARTERS OF FOOTBALL\nIU has been a team of habit this season, and one of the more annoying Hoosier habits has been the team's propensity to fall apart in the second half. After the season opener against Central Michigan University, IU had been outscored by its opponents 112-39 in the second half. \nThe Hoosiers' second half meltdowns were highlighted Sept. 25 against Michigan State, where IU took a 20-7 lead into the locker room only to be outscored 23-0 in the second half. Even IU's upset of the then-No. 24 Oregon Ducks (Sept. 11) featured Hoosier second half miscues as Oregon outscored IU 24-7 after halftime.\nHowever, the Minnesota game brought a change for the better as IU was able to outscore the Golden Gophers 10-7 in the second half. The Hoosiers also suffocated the Minnesota offense in the fourth quarter and did not allow a single first down in the final three offensive drives.\nIU coach Gerry DiNardo said he was especially impressed with the change of fortunes in the Hoosiers' second half play. \n"The obvious progress was the way that we played in the second half," said DiNardo after the Minnesota win. "We had been in this situation before and hadn't come out of it like we wanted. We had a halftime lead against Michigan State and we couldn't hold it. There have been other times when we haven't played as well in the second half as we did in the first half. To me, that was the big positive today."
OFFENSIVE LINE WOES ADDRESSED\nAfter an injury riddled season with numerous changes in the offensive line, the Hoosiers seem to have finally found some stability within the offensive line. During the Ohio State (Oct. 23) game, the Hoosier line allowed six sacks for the loss of 49 yards. \nPenalties also proved to be a problem for the Hoosiers as the team committed six false start penalties against the Buckeyes.\nHowever, IU seems to have righted its O-line ship as the Hoosiers were able to out gain their opponents for the first time this season against Minnesota. The IU line also gave up only one sack to the Golden Gophers and was instrumental in running out the clock in the final four minutes of the game with a rush offense. \nSenior quarterback Matt LoVecchio said the line gave him better protection and allowed him to get better looks at receivers. \n"Our offensive line did a great job pass protecting all day," LoVecchio said. "We had great time to throw the ball and to do what they did at the end of the second half and to take it in a four minute situation with no timeouts to end the game is a great feeling and a great effort on their part." \n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.
