Won it for Hep

For a moment, it appeared as if Indiana State had a chance Saturday.\nNot only did the Sycamores win the coin toss, but junior kicker Austin Starr’s opening kickoff went out of bounds, automatically placing the ball on the 35-yard line. After an opening five-play drive, however, ISU’s momentary elation ended when sophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis and junior wide receiver James Hardy began playing catch – and connected three times for 153 yards and two touchdowns. The duo helped lead the Hoosiers to a 55-7 win and a debut victory for IU coach Bill Lynch. \n“It was a good win for our guys,” Lynch said. “It was an emotional period of time leading up to the game. These kids have really worked hard and they’ve endured a lot, but we kind of sensed all week that they were ready to play, and I’m really happy for them.”\nThough there were celebrations all around after the Hoosiers took the first step to “playing 13” – their mantra over the past two years referring to the team’s quest to make a bowl game – the team took a moment to honor late head coach Terry Hoeppner.\nIn a moving pre-game ceremony, IU President Michael McRobbie escorted the Hoeppner family to midfield amid applause and chants of “Ter-ry Hoepp-ner” erupted in honor of the Hoosiers’ late coach. Following a short moment of silence, Jane Hoeppner wiped away tears as she watched a video at midfield along with her family and a crowd of 34,715, highlighting the memorable moments of her husband’s two-year career at IU.\n“Before the game, it was very emotional,” said senior fullback Josiah Sears.\n“They showed us the tape last night, so we’d be prepared for it, but it was hard not to be emotional. But you know, I knew what to expect and, personally, once the emotional part was over, it was time to play football, and you had to re-adjust your focus.”\nIt didn’t take long for the IU offense to find that focus and give its fans something to cheer about.\nLewis, who completed 12 of 21 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns, exploited an Indiana State defense that allowed 45 points a game last season. As Lewis scrambled for yards and connected to receivers Hardy, junior James Bailey and sophomore Ray Fisher, all ISU coach Lou West could do was watch as his team fell to 1-22 since he became the head coach in 2005.\nAfter opening with a seven-play, 73-yard touchdown drive, Lewis decided to turn to the deep ball as he hit Hardy on a 58-yard strike to give the Hoosiers a 14-0 lead. On the ensuing drive, however, ISU scored its first and last points on a drive lasting just more than three minutes – mostly on runs and a shovel pass – that took advantage of holes in the Hoosier defensive line to cut the deficit in half.\n“They give you a lot of different looks and do a lot of different things,” Lynch said. “But I really think (after that) our defense set the tone.”\nFollowing the Sycamores’ touchdown drive, Lynch’s defense did settle down. The Hoosiers sacked ISU quarterback Reilly Murphy five times for 37 yards, while forcing two fumbles and picking off two of his passes – one of which caused senior safety Joe Kleinsmith to come up limping at the end of the play. IU, on the other hand, put the ball on the ground six times throughout the game, turning the ball over once.\n“They made excellent play calls to get that drive going,” said senior cornerback Tracy Porter. \n“But I think our coaches countered that, and they settled the defensive line down, settled the linebackers down, and they put us in the right position by making the right play calls, and we just went from there.”\nOn their first possession of the second half, Lewis and Hardy connected for their second touchdown of the night on another one-play drive. This time, however, Hardy scampered for 79 yards.\nIronically enough, Hardy said throwing deep wasn’t even a part of the game plan.\n“Actually, coming into the game, we thought we were going to go all short (passes),” Hardy said. “On the film, they were playing so far back that we honestly thought there was no chance of us getting any big plays, but it ended up happening.”\nThat was just the beginning of the Hoosiers’ route of the Sycamores. Starr would connect on 34- and 41-yard field goals, the latter coming at the end of the third quarter, while Sears rushed for a touchdown. Lewis then rushed for a touchdown, extending the lead to 38-7. By that point, Lynch had substituted in his second-team replacements with victory already assured.\nNow with a 1-0 record and an abundance of momentum, the Hoosiers will take their high-octane offense to Kalamazoo, Mich., where they will play a Western Michigan team that lost 62-24 at West Virginia on Saturday.\n“Now the Broncos really don’t have anything to watch but long plays,” Hardy said. “And we’ve been practicing with the short ones, so it’s really an advantage for us. It just happened like that.”