Down the drain

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Add another year to the IU football team's postseason drought. The Hoosiers waved goodbye to any remaining hopes of becoming bowl eligible with Saturday's 26-22 loss to Illinois. \nFor the first five drives of the game, it was all IU. The Hoosiers rocketed out of the gates scoring on each of their first three drives while preventing Illinois from getting a single first down on the Illini's first two possessions. \nFacing a 19-0 deficit and what looked to be three consecutive three-and-outs, Illinois coach Ron Turner had different ideas as he called for a fake punt on 4th and 11. The play worked as junior punter Steve Weatherford kept the drive alive with a 12-yard scamper, jump starting the Illinois offense. The drive concluded with a score on the very next play with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Illini quarterback Brad Bower to Kendrick Jones, the first of two scores for Jones. \nFrom that point on, it was all Illinois as the Fighting Illini stole Saturday's game 26-22. \nIU coach Gerry DiNardo said the fake punt was the momentum shifter in the hard loss. \n"I thought the momentum change came when they faked the punt," DiNardo said. "We were in position, but we just didn't make the tackles. Otherwise, we would've put our offense back on a short field, which is what we were doing in the first half. We just didn't play well enough in the second half." \nTurner agreed that the punt was the main play of the game, however, he also gave credit to the 41,458 Illini fans on hand for the Hoosier loss. \n"We had folded several weeks ago after the Minnesota game. There are lots of opportunities to fold and to go out there without a lot of energy and fall behind 19-0," Turner said. "The crowd was great. After the fake punt they really got into it and helped us find our energy."\nWhile the team was unable to come up with the win, IU actually had control for most of the game. After a high-scoring first quarter that left the Hoosiers with a 19-14 lead and both teams with a combined 310 yards, the scoring essentially stopped for the next two quarters. \nIU reopened its scoring account when the team tacked on a Bryan Robertson 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to give the Hoosiers the 22-14 advantage. \nWith an eight-point lead, things looked good for the Hoosiers who needed to win their final three games to become eligible for a bowl. IU last appeared in postseason play in 1993's Independence Bowl under former IU coach Bill Mallory.\nHowever the injury bug bit the Hoosiers as senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio was hurt while running a quarterback carry. LoVecchio was stellar in the game leading up to his injury, an apparent concussion, with 209 yards and one touchdown after completing 15 of 17 passes. LoVecchio's touchdown pass came on the first play of the game as he completed an 80-yard connection to junior receiver Jahkeen Gilmore for a score.\nLoVecchio's loss proved to be especially tough on the Hoosiers as freshman backup quarterback Blake Powers threw two interceptions during his stint as the IU signal caller, including an interception that left Illinois on IU's 30-yard line with only a two point deficit with 4 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the game.\nSenior lineman Chris Jahnke said IU was prepared to play without LoVecchio, but were unable to carry out the game plan.\n"Any loss of any player is a tough one," Jahnke said. "But we all had faith in our backup. We knew he could come in because he's been practicing with us all week, but we just couldn't keep the system going."\nThe Hoosiers were rendered useless against Illinois as the Fighting Illini outscored IU 12-0 in the final quarter. The Hoosiers were able to keep the Illini at bay until 5:21 left in the game when sophomore running back Pierre Thomas ran for the 44-yard touchdown to place the score at 22-20 in IU's favor. \nAfter Powers' second interception, Illinois was able to whittle down the clock with Thomas rushing for 28 of the 30 yards the Illini needed to seal the victory. The final death blow to the Hoosiers came with 30 seconds remaining in the game when Illinois senior backup quarterback Jon Beutjer completed a two-yard pass to Jones who was all alone in the end zone, giving Illinois the 26-22 lead -- Illinois' only lead of the game. \nIU's close loss comes at an especially high price as the Hoosiers no longer have any chance at a postseason bowl bid. In order to reach a bowl, IU would have had to beat Illinois and the Hoosiers' next two opponents Penn State and Purdue. \nJahnke found the loss especially tough because he is now out of chances to make a bowl game. \n"A loss is a loss and they're always tough to swallow -- especially this one because it took us out of bowl reach," Jahnke said. "But there's really nothing you can do about it so we've just got to come back next week." \n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.