Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
1-0
Southern Illinois
0-1
Hoosiers Top SIU, 48-47
9/5/2015 8:46:00 PM | Football
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson stopped his team right before they retook the field to start the second half Saturday to deliver a message.
The Hoosiers' locker room was too frantic facing an 11-point deficit. Wilson said he didn't like the vibe he felt as he was about to take the field again against Southern Illinois, so he spoke up about it.
"I said, can I just say something real quick?" Wilson said. "Would you just slow down? Play one play. Take a deep breath. You can't change what happened. What are you going to do next?"
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What Indiana did next was outscore Southern Illinois 27-15 in the second half to start the season with a 48-47 win, improving Wilson's opening-day record in Bloomington to 4-1.
Indiana opened the second half with 17 unanswered points to take a 38-32 lead with 2:34 left in the third quarter. Southern Illinois never regained the lead after that point, but the Salukis wouldn't go down without a late-game surge.
Southern Illinois scored a touchdown with just 18 seconds remaining to pull within one point. Instead of kicking an extra point to tie the game and likely force overtime, the Salukis opted to go for a 2-point conversion to potentially regain the lead.
Freshman cornerback Andre Brown, Jr., broke up the would-be score in the end zone, preserving Indiana's one-point lead. The Hoosiers went on to recover Southern Illinois' ensuing onside kick to clinch their first victory of the season.
By the time the final whistle sounded, the lead had changed hand seven times and was tied twice with Indiana coming out on top.
"We never panicked or got worried," sophomore running back Devine Redding said. "Coach told us to stay calm, and we did. We got the job done."
Redding combined with junior running back Jordan Howard to provide a steady one-two punch on the ground throughout the game. The two rushers combined for 202 yards and five touchdowns on 36 carries to pace the Hoosiers offense.
"Those running backs are really good," senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld said. He completed 19-of-32 passes for 349 yards and a touchdown himself.
Sudfeld also set Howard up for what proved to be the game-winning score with a 71-yard completion to redshirt junior Ricky Jones down the sideline. Wilson revealed afterward that the play was actually a redo of the one before that resulted in an incompletion.
The play proved to be worth the second chance.
"That was all Coach Wilson," Sudfeld said. "He called it again, so he did a good job."
Indiana's offense wouldn't have been in the positon to regain the lead had it not been for the defense settling down in the second half.
After Southern Illinois quarterback Mark Iannotti rushed for 113 yards in the first half, the Hoosiers held him to just three yards on the ground in the second half. With Iannotti slowed down, Indiana was able to limit the Salukis to just 15 second half points.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Marcus Oliver credited Wilson's halftime reminder to relax for making the difference.
"Honestly, it just felt like we were playing fast," Oliver said. "Like, too fast for it. We just slowed down and let the game come to us. We just played together and kept doing what we've been doing."
The win now behind them, Redding was already talking about next week's matchup against Florida International in the weight room. Sudfeld was discussing what he liked and didn't like, while senior defensive end Nick Mangieri was still dissecting the game himself.
But Wilson made a point to remind his players not to overlook Saturday's win. With one now in the books, they'll worry about next week's matchup when it comes.
"I think I told the team afterward, I was kind of concerned, like don't take victory for granted," Wilson said. "For what you did and the circumstances you were in, and to make some plays at the end, to get the victory is encouraging, something we are going to build on."
Team Stats
SIU 0, IND 7
IND - Redding, Devine 13 yd run (Oakes, Griffin kick), 7 plays, 68 yards, TOP 2:48
SIU 3, IND 7
SIU - Johnson, Austin 27 yd field goal 15 plays, 65 yards, TOP 6:22
SIU 11, IND 7
SIU - James, Kenny 0 yd blocked punt return (Findlater, Shaq pass)
SIU 11, IND 14
IND - Howard, Jordan 23 yd run (Oakes, Griffin kick), 7 plays, 71 yards, TOP 2:06
SIU 18, IND 14
SIU - Fuehne, Adam 68 yd pass from Iannotti, Mark (Johnson, Austin kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:11
SIU 25, IND 14
SIU - Carmien, Hans 1 yd pass from Iannotti, Mark (Johnson, Austin kick) 6 plays, 72 yards, TOP 2:03
SIU 25, IND 21
IND - Howard, Jordan 4 yd run (Oakes, Griffin kick), 7 plays, 79 yards, TOP 2:18
SIU 32, IND 21
SIU - Iannotti, Mark 1 yd run (Johnson, Austin kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:38
SIU 32, IND 28
IND - Jones, Ricky 57 yd pass from Sudfeld, Nate (Oakes, Griffin kick) 2 plays, 66 yards, TOP 0:37
SIU 32, IND 31
IND - Oakes, Griffin 45 yd field goal 8 plays, 19 yards, TOP 3:43
SIU 32, IND 38
IND - Redding, Devine 3 yd run (Oakes, Griffin kick), 10 plays, 90 yards, TOP 4:19
SIU 38, IND 38
SIU - Isom, Daquan 80 yd pass from Iannotti, Mark (Johnson, Austin kickfailed) 1 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:17
SIU 38, IND 41
IND - Oakes, Griffin 22 yd field goal 10 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:16
SIU 41, IND 41
SIU - Johnson, Austin 46 yd field goal 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:23
SIU 41, IND 48
IND - Howard, Jordan 1 yd run (Oakes, Griffin kick), 6 plays, 83 yards, TOP 1:39
SIU 47, IND 48
SIU - Jones, Jimmy 25 yd pass from Iannotti, Mark (Iannotti, Mark passfailed) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:40
