BRONX, N.Y. — Sophomore kicker Griffin Oakes and senior holder Erich Toth both watched IU's 38-yard field goal skim through the top of Yankee Stadium's uprights.
Or so they thought.
The official on the right-hand side signaled that the kick was no good. Duke players rushed the field, and the game was over. Duke had won the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl, 44-41 in overtime, ruining the Hoosiers' chances of a first winning season since 2007.
Oakes ripped off his helmet and pleaded with officials. Toth had his hands raised, signalling that he believed that the field goal was good. There was plenty of confusion across the IU sideline until head coach Kevin Wilson walked across the field to congratulate his counterpart, David Cutcliffe.
"You can sit there and look at it," Wilson said. "But when I saw the scoreboard, the ball travels outside the bar and hooks in on the other side of the goalpost. Bottom line, you don't win games with field goals or when you miss scoring opportunities. You don't blame anything else."
Duke converted its field goal on its opening overtime posession despite losing junior quarterback Thomas Sirk to injury on the second play of the drive. The Blue Devils gained just seven yards, but it was enough for senior kicker Ross Martin to convert the 36-yard field goal that ultimately made the difference.
IU took a 41-34 lead with 4:03 remaining in regulation, as senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld found junior receiver Mitchell Paige wide-open in the back of the endzone. There was enough time on the clock for the Blue Devils to counter, as junior quarterback Thomas Sirk led Duke to a 13-play, 78-yard drive that finished with Sirk diving into the endzone to tie the game.
The Hoosier offense allowed Oakes, the Big Ten Kicker of the Year, to attempt a 56-yard field goal that would have won the game. Due to a poor snap and hold, Oakes' kick sailed wide left as both teams subsequently prepared for overtime.
"It was weird," Sudfeld said. "I felt like we were a play or two away from breaking away. We just weren't able to hit that door down and we let them stay in it."
The Hoosier cause was plagued by critical errors and big plays by the Duke offense. Sudfeld threw a pair of first-half interceptions that ceased any momentum IU had gained early on. Paige was stripped of the ball during a punt return that led to a third-quarter touchdown and 27-24 lead. The Blue Devils rattled off three touchdowns of 73 yards and longer.
Junior receiver Simmie Cobbs Jr. dropped a fourth-quarter touchdown pass that forced the Hoosiers to settle for just a field goal; the touchdown would have given IU a 38-27 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining.
“Duke definitely brought their A-game,” Cobbs said. “They were a great opponent and a great team. Overall, they were ready to play, we were ready to play. They just made a couple more plays than we did.”
In the end, the Hoosiers again fell short to a monumental victory for a program that is vying for college football relevance. Nonetheless, IU gained a valuable experience, on a big-time stage, for a program that feels like they're on the brink of something special.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” Sudfeld said. “It’s been a trip of a lifetime and a bucket list trip to be in New York City at Christmas time. We really want to keep going to bowl games, I’m proud to say that the standard has been set. I expect the team to keep moving forward.”
IU had been preparing for its first bowl game since 2007 ever since the Hoosiers defeated Purdue for the third straight time in late November. Had IU pulled out the victory on Saturday night, Kevin Wilson's team would have secured its first bowl victory since 1991.
“It’s tough to lose one like that,” sophomore linebacker Marcus Oliver said. “You prepare for almost a month, so it sucked. I think it’ll motivate a lot of people. For me, it’s definitely going to be big to get other linebackers involved. We need more depth and we need to hold people more accountable.”
