Seizing Saturday

Sophomore wide receiver James Hardy wanted the ball. Sophomore quarterback Blake Powers wanted to get him the ball. And IU coach Terry Hoeppner wanted a win in his first home game as the Hoosiers' coach.\nTen plays and 89 yards later, all three got their wishes Saturday.\nWith less than a minute left in the game, Powers completed a 7-yard pass to Hardy for the winning touchdown, giving Hoeppner and the Hoosiers a 35-31 home-opening victory over Nicholls State University.\n"(James) told me to throw him the ball because he thought he could make a play, and I knew that he would," Powers said. "I didn't care how many people were on him, I was going to throw him the ball. Great players make great plays when you need them, and that's what he did tonight -- twice."\nDespite early concerns last week that Nicholls State would be unable to play, Hoeppner remained confident throughout the week and said he and Colonels' head coach Jay Thomas, along with the players, were both excited and prepared for the game.\n"I got chills talking to him on the phone," Hoeppner said. "He was so excited. He said, 'Our players are so fired up, coach. I can't thank you enough.'"\nHoeppner said he was also excited about the student support Saturday and the new traditions starting for the team. The Hoosiers made "The Walk" for the first time, and on their way onto the field, each player touched a large limestone rock outside the tunnel, symbolic of Memorial Stadium's new nickname.\n"You just can't say enough about the students," Hoeppner said. "When we made that turn (to start the walk), it was just breathtaking. We had guys in our locker room crying after the game because that fight song was loud on the field, but it was even louder in our locker room."\nReeling from their march into Memorial Stadium, the Hoosiers scored on their first offensive possession. \nPowers hooked up with senior receiver Jahkeen Gilmore on a 43-yard touchdown pass to cap off a six-play, 68-yard opening drive for IU. However, less than five minutes later, a Powers pass was intercepted in the end zone, and the Colonels retaliated with a touchdown of their own. IU went into halftime with a 21-17 lead, a lead that diminished after Nicholls State scored two touchdowns late in the third quarter.\nThe Colonels' lead remained 31-28 for most of the fourth quarter until sophomore cornerback Tracy Porter forced a fumble to give the Hoosiers possession.\n"The whole time (Colonels' senior running back Anthony Harris) was running with the ball, I knew I had to strip it out of there somehow," Porter said. "We needed the ball back and I had to find a way to make that happen."\nAfter recovering the fumble, the Hoosiers capped off an 89-yard drive with a touchdown to seal the victory.\nDespite the loss, the Nicholls State offense tallied 408 rushing yards in the game on 65 carries out of the triple option offense. Three different Colonel running backs had more than 90 yards rushing and at least one touchdown. \n"We made adjustments all through the game," Hoeppner said. "The one thing we didn't do was stop their big fullback (sophomore Broderick Cole). That's a tough football team and they know how to run the football."\nThe Hoosiers will have one more non-conference game next weekend against Kentucky before entering Big Ten play.\n"Two weeks in a row we got a gut check," Hoeppner said. "We are 2-0 right now. There are a lot of teams that would love to be 2-0, and the Hoosiers are"