The GOOD

The Hoosiers celebrated as if the game was over. \nThey raced off the field, led by an energetic coach Terry Hoeppner who pushed and shoved his defensive players in congratulations of their efforts.\nHoeppner described the locker room atmosphere as "electric."\nHeading into halftime of Saturday's game, IU led Minnesota 14-7 and had just stopped the Gophers on a goal line stand.\n"We could not wait to get back on the field," Hoeppner said. "I have not seen a team more excited, and we did not have to make many adjustments."\nJunior defensive back Troy Grosfield said the Hoosier defense remained optimistic after holding the Minnesota offense to just seven points.\n"In the first half, it was great," Grosfield said. "Everybody was flying to the ball and everybody was getting in the right position, doing things right at 100 miles an hour."\nWhile the Hoosier defense did its part to stop the Gopher offense, senior running back Chris Taylor and sophomore quarterback Blake Powers paced the Hoosier offense with touchdown runs. Taylor ran for 47 yards in the first half on 10 carries.\n"We were fired up," Taylor said. "We were up by a touchdown and ready to get back out there."\nThe Gophers established a running game in the first half with Gary Russell and Laurence Maroney combining for 107 yards, while fullback Justin Valentine added a touchdown. But it was nowhere near a fulfilling half for the Gophers.\n"I wouldn't say (the players) were angry, but I was angry," Minnesota coach Glen Mason said in a statement. "We have a pretty solid group, and they were resolved. I think they challenged each other."\nAfter stopping a Gophers' scoring threat on the Indiana 2 yard line, Hoeppner rallied the Hoosiers into the locker room at the end of the first half. He commended his team's attitude and enthusiasm.\n"If they would have said take five minutes and come back and play, we would have been ready," Hoeppner said. "We felt good coming out of the locker room. We knew it was going to be a 30-minute battle"