BIG LOSS

Shocked. \nThat was the word IU coach Terry Hoeppner used to describe Saturday's 52-17 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers. \n"I can't think of a better word to describe how I feel about it than shocked," Hoeppner said after the game. "I'm shocked. I cannot believe that we played like this." \nAs Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger watched from the sidelines, Wisconsin jumped all over the Hoosiers in the first half. The Badgers took a 35-0 lead to the locker room at halftime and held a 52-0 lead before IU scored on an Austin Starr field goal early in the fourth quarter. \nAll five of Wisconsin's first-half touchdowns came on five consecutive possessions. \nRoethlisberger spent Saturday watching Hoeppner -- who coached him at Miami University of Ohio -- and spent much of the game on the sidelines in conversation with IU men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. \nWisconsin dominated the opening half thanks to a balanced offensive attack. Freshman running back P.J. Hill rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, and senior quarterback John Stocco threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns. \nHill finished with 129 yards and three touchdowns after sitting out much of the second half. Stocco was 15-for-17, passing for 304 yards and three touchdowns before giving way to backup Dustin Sherer in the second half. \n"It was everything we expected pretty much," senior safety Troy Grosfield said after the game. "It was all the stuff we've seen all week long with the scout team. It wasn't anything we weren't prepared for." \nWhile Wisconsin's offense racked up 543 total yards, the IU offense struggled again. Freshman Kellen Lewis started at quarterback but was only able to orchestrate one scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. \nThe first offensive drive of the game started out promising for the Hoosiers. Sophomore running back Marcus Thigpen rushed for 22 yards on the second play of the drive, and a 15-yard personal foul on Wisconsin moved the ball into Badger territory. Three penalties -- a hold, a personal foul and a false start -- would eventually stall the drive, and IU was forced to punt. \nAfter that first drive, Wisconsin snatched the momentum with its first touchdown, and IU was never able to recover. \nWisconsin came out after halftime and stretched the lead to 52 behind another Hill touchdown, a Taylor Mehlhaff field goal and a Lance Smith rushing touchdown following a Thigpen fumble. \nIU scored its first touchdown immediately after Starr put the team on the board with a field goal. Wisconsin return-man Josh Nettles fumbled the kickoff after Starr's field goal. Grosfield scooped up the ball and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown. It is the second consecutive week IU has scored a special teams touchdown. \nWith most of Wisconsin's starters sitting the final quarter out, IU scored its first offensive touchdown in nearly two games when junior fullback Josiah Sears rushed for an eight-yard touchdown to cap a 94-yard drive. \nSears finished the game with 100 yards rushing and one touchdown but was unable to take anything good away from the performance. \n"We got beat 52-17. It doesn't feel that good," Sears said after the game.