Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Miss Opportunities Against Hawkeyes
10/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
October 19, 2002
Bloomington, Ind. -In what will go down as a game of missed opportunities, the Indiana football team lost a 24-8 decision to 15th-ranked Iowa (7-1 overall; 4-0 Big Ten) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The Hoosiers (3-4 overall; 1-2 Big Ten) put themselves in a position to succeed, but they just couldn't quite get over the top.
A dropped pass by Courtney Roby downfield in the first half.
An interception thrown by quarterback Gibran Hamdan in the endzone in the second quarter.
Another interception just before halftime.
Still, Indiana hung around.
Trailing, 17-0 at halftime, Bryan Robertson nailed a 45-yard field goal to get the Hoosiers on the board with 8:39 left in the third quarter.
Following a defensive stand, Indiana's offense got back on the field and Robertson then knocked in a 23-yarder to bring the score to 17-6 with 13:43 left in the game.
After a rocky start that saw the Hawkeyes race out to a 17-0 first quarter lead, the Hoosier defense kept Iowa scoreless throughout the second quarter and the third quarter.
A 50-yard kick return by Iowa's C.J. Jones following the second of Robertson's field goals gave the Hawkeyes excellent field position at the Indiana 44 to start a crucial drive, but a Damien Jones interception off a deflection by Herana-Daze Jones ended the Iowa threat.
IU then went three-and-out, and a 65-yard touchdown pass from Iowa quarterback Brad Banks to Maurice Brown on the very next play from scrimmage sealed Indiana's fate with 11:49 left in the game.
Despite the valiant comeback, the tone was set early, when Hoosiers couldn't get a defensive stand until the second quarter. Meanwhile, Iowa's defense held Indiana to only one first down through the first quarter and through the 10-minute mark of the second quarter.
Things looked a bit encouraging midway through the second quarter when Brian Lewis was able to have some success against the vaunted Iowa run defense. Perhaps the biggest turning point came when head coach Gerry DiNardo elected to go for it on fourth and one at midfield and Lewis converted.
Lewis was effective all game long, carrying the ball 25 times for 121 yards against an Iowa defense that ranked second nationally against the run by holding its opponents to 56.1 yards per game entering the contest.
The loss snapped Indiana's streak of six consecutive wins at Memorial Stadium.
Hamdan ended the day with 335 yards passing marking the first time since Steve Bradley in 1984 that and Indiana quarterback has thrown for 300 plus yards in consecutive games. Hamdan threw for 310 yards last weekend against then-No. 23 Wisconsin.
INDIANA HEAD COACH GERRY DiNARDO
"We had to start practice over three or four times this week. This isn't about our guys not working hard. They're hard-working guys. It's just a very difficult game to be good at. You can't practice the way we practiced this past week and expect come out and play the way you need to to beat a ranked team. It's a little bit of growing pain. We really grew when we beat Wisconsin. Now this week we have to go on the road and we haven't been very good on the road."
"We got what we deserved. We probably could have played better. We'll move on. We'll press on. We need to get ready for Illinois. It's like I tell them, after the wins and after the losses, we need to move on."
