Spartan rushing attack spells defeat for IU

EAST LANSING, Mich. – On a cold night in East Lansing, Mich., the Michigan State Spartans handed the IU football team a 52-27 loss and a hard truth – the Hoosiers can’t stop the run.\nInstead of becoming bowl eligible, the Hoosiers saw a win slip away at the hands – and feet – of Spartan running back Javon Ringer, who ran through nearly every seam the Spartans exposed in the IU offensive line. \n“It’s one game,” IU coach Bill Lynch said. “Just like I’ve been saying all along, if we win one, it’s one win. That’s all.”\nLike Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall did to the Hoosiers on Sept. 22, Ringer made the IU defensive line look more than inept. Accumulating 203 yards and two touchdowns, Ringer’s rushing ability never allowed IU a chance to get back into the game.\nAs Ringer broke tackles up front, IU sophomore safety Austin Thomas suddenly found himself a part of nearly every play, finishing with 22 tackles by the end of the night.\n“Running the ball on us, that’s basically all they were doing,” Thomas said, “and we were having a tough time stopping. Hats off to them, they schemed us up pretty well.”\nWith the help of Spartan running back Jehuu Caulcrick, the Michigan State rushing attack gave a crowd of 73,449 more than enough to cheer about on homecoming. \n“That’s a pretty good one-two punch,” Lynch said. “I’m sure there were times when we didn’t have enough faces in the gaps. That’s all part of it when you give up that many yards.”\nRegistering 368 yards on the ground allowed the Spartans to control time of possession. Michigan State held the ball for more than 41 minutes, leaving playmakers like junior wide receiver James Hardy on the sideline, unable to do anything.\n“We didn’t have a chance to get going,” Hardy said. “They were running, pounding off of us trying to use up most of the time. We just couldn’t get in sync in the first half.”\nFrustration began to take over the once-confident football team that has been playing by the mantra, “Take one game at a time.” The jovial faces of a week ago turned into expressions of defeat.\nJust about anything that could go wrong for the Hoosiers did. \nThe pocket collapsed all night, the Hoosiers fumbled twice in their own territory and the Spartans converted continuously on third downs. The onslaught continued from start to finish, and sophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis felt much of the wrath.\nLewis felt constant pressure throughout the game and was sacked five times by the Spartan defense. Of his 13 completions, six went to Hardy, for a total of 121 yards.\nThe Hoosiers were unable to make the big plays when it counted and only ran 16 plays in the first half. Once the Spartans got the ball back, they continued to hand the ball off to Ringer and Caulcrick, chewing up plenty of clock in the process.\nHardy said IU is still growing as a team and remains focused on the goal of making a bowl game.\n“You’ve got to understand that this is a program that hasn’t taken this step in (14) years,” Hardy said. “It’s not just going to be handed to us. You have to go through struggles to feel the glory.”