SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

Bill Lynch sat at the podium as he began to search for a way to grasp the loss his team just suffered. He didn’t find anything.

Last year, playing a team like Iowa was business as usual. But as evidenced by the half-empty Memorial Stadium in the third quarter, the deflated IU sideline and the 45-9 loss on Saturday, the promise the program displayed in 2007 continues to quickly fade away.

“We have to play better,” Lynch said. “That’s what we’ll go back to working on.”
“You have to do something to turn it. You have to do something in the kicking game, go get a turnover, do something offensively. ... They beat us just about every way.”

Click here for a photo slideshow from Saturday's game

The boos started to come out as early as the first quarter, and halfway through the third, the fans had had enough. As the game got out of hand, the student section dissipated as quickly as Iowa running backs Shonn Greene and Jewel Hampton hit the gaping holes in the IU defensive line.

Greene and Hampton provided the force – the duo ran for 229 yards and four touchdowns – while quarterback Ricky Stanzi picked apart the IU secondary. Stanzi threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns while the Hoosiers displayed a penchant for giving up the big play.

“We just didn’t make the plays, and they were,” sophomore quarterback Ben Chappell said. “That’s really all it came down to.”

Junior linebacker Will Patterson attributed the defensive miscues to over-pursuing the Iowa players and missed assignments.

“We’re a fast defense,” Patterson said. “And when we try to get to the ball, a lot of guys are playing over the top instead of playing back.”

Iowa scored touchdowns of 12, 34, 20 and 10 yards – along with two one-yard scores – held the ball for 38:07 and converted nearly half of its third-down conversions. IU, on the other hand, managed two successful scoring drives on its five trips across midfield.

“I think our biggest problem is we just never got them off the field,” Lynch said. “They stayed in such down-and-distance situations. I mean, they hit a few third- and-longs but most of the time, they were first and second and not even in third down.”

Iowa dominated the first 20 minutes, taking a 17-3 lead before junior quarterback Kellen Lewis found junior wide receiver Ray Fisher in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown.

That was about it for the IU success as the Hawkeyes went on to score 28 straight points while the Hoosiers, who played without an injured Lewis, couldn’t sustain a drive longer than three minutes in the second half.

For the third time in the last four games, IU failed to score after halftime and has only scored 16 points in its past 10 quarters.

A year ago, the Hoosiers spoiled the Hawkeyes’ homecoming as IU rolled to a 38-20 win in Iowa City, Iowa. Fast-forward to 2008 and now it is an IU team dealing with a stunning loss.

The magic from last year’s run seems to be long gone.

“Not a happy (locker room),” Patterson said. “We’ve got a little soul-searching to do.”