IU Falls To Duke In OT In Pinstripe Bowl

Saturday, December 26

Bronx, N.Y.

3:30 p.m.

Indiana University

6-7

Duke

8-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Indiana

Duke

12/26/2015 7:38:00 PM | Football

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - Duke kicker Ross Martin kicked a 36-yard field goal in overtime that Indiana wasn't able to match to give the Blue Devils a 44-41 victory in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

The bowl win was the Blue Devils' first since 1961 and snapped a streak of three consecutive years with a postseason loss.

For the Hoosiers, it was another near-miss in a season of close calls that ended one score short.

"Bottom line, you don't win games with field goals," Wilson said. "You don't win games when you miss five scoring opportunities. To me, you don't blame anything else. If it's good, it's good. It wasn't."

The back-and-forth game featured nine lead changes and three ties. It also saw numerous offensive records set and six turnovers combined in a game where momentum seemed to be hanging in the balance throughout.

"It was weird," senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld said. "I felt like we were a play or two from really breaking away. It felt like we were knocking on the door of really putting a lot of points on them in a quick amount of time. We just weren't really able to knock that door down."

Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk scored on a 5-yard touchdown run up the middle with just 41 seconds to play in regulation to tie the game at 41-41. The Hoosiers drove down the field in the little time they had left, setting Griffin Oakes up for a 56-yard field goal try that missed wide left after a poor exchange on the snap at the end of regulation.

It all set up a flurried end to a flurried game.

Indiana struggled to find its offensive footing early on, failing to score on its first five possessions, but found its scoring gear midway through the second quarter and didn't slow down the rest of the game behind a career-best day by sophomore running back Devine Redding, who finished with 227 yards on 35 carries.

The Hoosiers' problem was that the Blue Devils' kept up, trading scores and never allowing one team to hold momentum long enough to make a game-winning stand. Sirk accounted for the majority of the damage, passing for 163 yards and a touchdown and adding another two scores and 155 yards on the ground.

Duke scored 10 unanswered points to begin the game, but after the Hoosiers responded with their first touchdown midway through the second quarter, neither team would ever lead by more than one possession.

"They made one more play," redshirt sophomore cornerback Rashard Fant said. "We competed right there to the very end with them."

In the Indiana locker room, Wilson told his players not to dwell over one play, one call or anything particular in the loss to Duke. The game didn't end the way the Hoosiers wanted, he said, and there was nothing else to add.

As Indiana's players made their way through the locker room, Wilson made a point to stop them in the open where he could see them clearly.

He wanted to see their eyes.

He wanted to tell them to keep their heads up and stay confident.

And he already wanted them to move on.

"They battled, very resilient," Wilson said. "They don't feel very good, but at the same time, it's a tremendous group of seniors. Thy kind of left a positive landmark that we can move forward with. I'm not into any moral victory. We didn't play well enough to win."