Illinois ground game too much for Hoosiers

IU’s season-long goal to ‘play 13’ reached its first road block Saturday as the Hoosiers were defeated by Illinois 27-14.\n“I’m proud of our players,” U of I head coach Ron Zook said. “I thought they played extremely hard. It was a great game.”\nIt was the first conference game for both teams, and at the start, both IU and Illinois showed jitters. On the first drive of the game, the Illini threw the ball deep, and IU senior cornerback Tracy Porter came down with a one-handed interception. The Hoosiers quickly drove back down the field, only to have the drive end when junior running back Marcus Thigpen fumbled, giving Illinois the ball.\nThe Illini moved the ball well in the first quarter, but only had six points courtesy of two Jason Reda field goals to show for it.\nThe second quarter started like the first, with Illinois shredding IU’s defense and moving the ball 80 yards in just over four minutes. This drive, however, the Illini put the ball in he end zone.\nSophomore quarterback Isiah “Juice” Williams found Illinois tight end Michael Hoomanawanui for a short touchdown pass, giving Illinois a two-possession lead.\n“When you play a really good running team like they are, you want to stay within a score at least to put some pressure on them,” IU coach Bill Lynch said. “It seemed like we were always two scores down.”\nOn the ensuing drive, the Hoosiers’ offense started to gain momentum, only to lose it after sophomore wide receiver Ray Fischer fumbled, Illinois recovered the ball. The fumble was the second of four IU turnovers on the day.\nAfter stopping the Illini offense for only the second time in the half, IU finally got on the board with 2:04 left in the second quarter, Lewis found his favorite target, junior wide receiver James Hardy for a seven-yard touchdown strike to get the Hoosiers within six.\nBut as they did all game, the Illinois offense had an answer. The Fighting Illini scored another touchdown in just 1:20 when Williams found running back Rashard Mendenhall for a 15-0yard touchdown pass give Illinois a 20-7 halftime lead.\nAt the start of the second half, things break for Illinois, as they blocked senior punter Michael Hines’ punt, giving them great field position at the Hoosiers 25-yard line. However, Illinois was unable to score thanks to Porter’s second interception of the afternoon.\nBoth teams traded punts – but no points – through the rest of the third quarter, and the Fighting Illini held onto their 20-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.\nUnfortunately for the Hoosiers, the fourth frame was just like the first three.\nAfter Lewis found Hardy for a first down, the receiver fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Illinois. The Fighting Illini quickly capitalized with another Mendenhall touchdown, giving the Illini a 20-point lead with 12: 45 left in the game.\n“We had too many turnovers and had a punt blocked,” Lynch said. “Those are things that we know are going to come back and beat us.”\nTrying to claw back, Lewis found junior James Bailey, who willed his way for most of the 30 yards he covered for a touchdown to get the Hoosiers within 13 points.\nIn their last chance to bring the game within a score, a Lewis pass intended for Hardy was picked off in the end zone with just over a minute left in the game to seal the victory for Illinois.\n“You got to give Illinois credit,” Lynch said. “I thought they played a really good football game, and they’re a good football team.”\nThe star of the day for the Fighting Illini was Mendenhall, who finished with 214 yards on the ground.\n“He can get around the corner,” freshman safety Mitchell Evans said. “He ran well, he got up field and we had trouble stopping him.”\nBefore their next game, the Hoosiers have a week of practice ahead of them; the first week of practice after a loss.\n“We’re 3-1, we have a ton more games to play,” Porter said. “So we’re going to put that loss behind us just like we did with the three wins we had.”