Indiana University Athletics
Indiana vs. North Carolina
9/8/1997 12:00:00 AM | Football
Indiana vs. North Carolina LAST WEEK -The Cam Cameron era at Indiana opened on September 6 with a stern test - a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a meeting with the 7th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. A solid effort by the defense, led by first-year defensive coordinator Jon Heacock, kept the Hoosiers in the game throughout, however, the Tar Heels managed to pull away late in the second half to post a 23-6 win before a Kenan Stadium record crowd of 57,800.
Indiana struck first. Senior captain FS Kywin Supernaw intercepted 1st-Team All-ACC QB Chris Keldorf (22-11-159-2TD-3INT) on the Tar Heels' first drive of the game and returned the ball to the North Carolina 18-yd.-line. Eight plays later, redshirt freshman K Andy Payne, who had won the place-kicking job during pregame warmups connected on a 35-yd. FG to give the Hoosiers a 3-0 lead. North Carolina answered back on the second play of the 2nd qtr. when senior RB Jonathan Linton (22-121-1TD-17LG) scored on a 3rd-n-goal from the IU-1 to give the Heels the lead, 7-3.
After a 22-yd. FG by North Carolina K Josh McGee increased the Heels lead to 10-3, Indiana QB Jay Rodgers (23-12-53-1INT) was intercepted by All-America CB Dre Bly on the first play of the Hoosiers' initial second-half drive. Bly returned the ball 10 yds. to the IU-26 and Keldorf connected with WR Octavus Barnes on a 26-yd. scoring strike just one play later to up the UNC lead to 17-3.
On the ensuing drive, first-year head coach Cam Cameron used the "shoestring play" to get Indiana back on the board. While it looked as if Rodgers was getting ready to tie his shoe near the North Carolina sideline, Indiana huddled on the line of scrimmage and freshman WR O.J. Conner snapped the ball directly to junior RB Jason Spear (29-120-53LG) and Spear went 53 yds. to the UNC-16 before being pushed out of bounds. Payne would add his second field goal of the day, this time a 32-yd. boot, to bring the Hoosiers to within 17-6 with 2:36 remaining in the 3rd qtr.
Carolina would add a late touchdown to seal the victory, 23-6.
Game Notes: Indiana's defense forced 3 turnovers (INTs by DT Damian Gregory, FS Kywin Supernaw, and CB Joey Eloms) The Hoosiers ran a total of 71 offensive plays and held a 33:22-26:38 advantage in time of possession.
SPEAR-HEADING THE OFFENSE: Junior RB Jason Spear rushed 29 times for 120 yards at North Carolina. He set career highs in rushing yards (120), carries (29) and long run (53). He is not a stranger to turning in big offensive efforts when given the opportunity to start. In Spear?s only other collegiate start at Michigan State on 11/9/96, he rushed 26 times for 103 yards. Versus Toledo in the 1996 season opener, Spear came off the bench to carry 13 times for 73 yards and 3 TDs. With 120 rushing yards at UNC, Spear had more yards on the ground than any back tallied against the Heels during the entire 1996 season.
THE GALL OF THAT KID: Junior FB Chris Gall caught 8 passes for 47 yards at North Carolina. His 8 receptions were the most by a Hoosier since Dorian Wilkerson caught 8 passes in the season opener vs. Toledo last season. Eric Matthews had 10 receptions at Penn State on 10/28/95 ... The eight receptions were the most by an Indiana running back since Sean Glover caught 9 passes at Michigan on 10/21/95.
WRAPPING UP THE UNC GAME: Cam Cameron quotes ...
After looking at the game film: "Offensively, we made too
many mistakes. I'm not sure why we made those mistakes. For a lot of guys it was the first time that they had
really played significantly, like Randy Maxwell, Bryan Bobay. It was Bryan's first time on offense and Randy Maxwell,
basically, had never played. Jason Spear has not played a lot. It was Craig Robeen's first start. It was Victor
Allotey's first start on offense and, obviously, O.J. is a freshman. I don't know if it was inexperience, or what,
but we've got a chance if we can get these mistakes corrected to really help ourselves. Defensively, our guys came up
with some big plays. But we're not going to be able to rely on three interceptions a week to get us through.
We've got to get better on defense and when we look at our special teams, we've got a lot of room for improvement.
There's no question we can learn a lot from this game and get a heck of a lot better before Saturday night."
On O.J. Conner being ruled out of bounds on a reception that game tapes revealed was actually a touchdown:
"Let me say this first. Officiating is a very difficult job. For me to think that a guy is going to make every call correctly
is unrealistic. I think Dick Honig and his crew, which is one of the best crews in the country, did an excellent job
of managing the game. In terms of commenting specifically, I was standing right there and I know what I saw. I think
that any comment further than that needs to come from someone else."
On conditioning: "Our biggest concern going in
was the heat and the fact that we're still trying to build depth. I think North Carolina probably played three players
to our one, but I was pleased with the conditioning of our football team. We were lucky. We had some heat during
two-a-days and we went hard during two-a-days. If we're going to be a good football team we've got to be in great
condition. We can't afford ever to come out of a game thinking that the other team was in better shape than we were."
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