IU loses 13th consecutive game to Ohio State, 41-10

Saturday's version of "The Rock" couldn't have been what IU coach Terry Hoeppner envisioned.\nHoeppner and the IU football team were greeted by 52,866 Big Ten football fans Saturday, the sixth largest crowd in IU history, but an estimated 15,000 of those fans weren't clad in cream and crimson, but rather Buckeye scarlet and gray.\nThe IU coach said the bipartisan crowd diminished the Hoosiers' home-field advantage. \n"I think our team and our program still have a long way to go," Hoeppner said. "At that point (closing the score to 17-10 in the third quarter), home-field advantage needs to kick in. I am not pointing any fingers, but we didn't make plays to create an atmosphere we needed to create. We have a long way to go and the Buckeyes don't come back here for a long time. When they do, it needs to be a completely different atmosphere." \nThe atmosphere surrounding Memorial Stadium was created by the venue's largest crowd since 1979, a group that seemed to include almost equal parts Hoosier and Buckeye fans at times. \nThe stadium allowed for the sale of 15,000 tickets to Ohio State's athletics program, down from the 25,000 that were yielded to OSU fans in 2003 when the Buckeyes last visited IU. \nStill, Hoeppner said, there were too many Buckeyes in Hoosier territory.\n"I've never been here for an Ohio State game before, but I've said from day one this is a game as a program that we're pointing to," Hoeppner said. "There was still way too much scarlet and gray, and too much 'O-H-I-O.' I heard it."\nHoeppner wasn't the only one on the field aware of the crowd. Senior linebacker John Pannozzo was impressed with the environment the nearly 53,000 fans provided, however splintered it may have been. "You're aware of the crowd when you're out there," Pannozzo said. "We were aware of all the Ohio State fans as well (as the IU fans), but I thought the atmosphere was awesome and that our fans did a really great job of providing energy."\nIU junior linebacker and special teams player Jake Powers, who recovered the Hoosiers' pooch kick that was later called back because of an inadvertent whistle, said the entire weekend was marked by competition of Ohio State versus IU. \n"The stadium was just kind of like everything else this weekend," he said. "My friends told me that when they were out, Ohio State fans would challenge them in everything -- drinking games, anything. It's that competition that makes things fun." \nThe past weekend might be the last of its kind until 2009 or 2010, though. While IU travels to Columbus next year, the Hoosiers won't meet Ohio State in 2007 or 2008, and it is unsure which year will bring the Buckeyes back to Bloomington. Hoeppner said he wants the "Rock's" dynamic to be far different by then. \n"I think I've got until '09 to get that fixed with the team and with the program," Hoeppner said. "And we'll get it done. I can't wait"