Wisconsin slams door on Indiana’s chance at Big Ten title game

admin November 10, 2012 0

By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana started the day with dreams of clearing a path to the Rose Bowl.

Instead, Wisconsin ran all over those hopes in a historic performance.

Montee Ball and James White combined for 359 of Wisconsin’s school-record 564 rushing yards and the Badgers held Indiana to less than 300 yards of total offense in a 62-14 victory. Wisconsin (7-3, 4-2) clinched the Leaders Division’s berth in the Big Ten championship game.

Indiana (4-6, 2-4) felt deflated after a poor showing in its biggest home game in years.

We’re embarrassed, coach Kevin Wilson said. You cannot let a team run the ball down your throat. This game meant a little more and we didn’t handle it well.

Ball’s three touchdowns left him two shy of setting the NCAA career record. Ball scored on a 10-yard run in the first quarter and added TDs of 1 and 49 yards in the third quarter. He finished with 198 yards on 27 carries. Backup James White carried 14 times for 161 yards and two TDs.

Indiana needed a victory to stay alive in the race to represent the Leaders Division in Indianapolis, where the winner likely captures a trip to the Rose Bowl. Instead, the Hoosiers allowed at least 55 points to Wisconsin for the fourth time in their last five matchups.

We tried the best we could, defensive tackle Adam Replogle said. They just kept running. They’re big, physical. We missed tackles.

Cameron Coffman completed 25 of 46 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. He led the Hoosiers on a 69-yard scoring drive in the second quarter, hitting Ted Bolser on a 6-yard pass to pull Indiana within 17-7. That was as close as the home team would get.

Indiana punted five times and lost a fumble in eight first-half possessions. Wisconsin led 24-7 at halftime by running on 33 of 38 offensive plays. The Badgers started senior quarterback Curt Phillips for the first time in his career. Phillips was asked mostly to hand the ball off but did run for 68 yards and hit Sam Arneson on a 2-yard, play-action scoring toss that opened a 14-0 lead.

The plan was to not put a lot on Curt, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. That worked very, very well. Our offense put up record-breaking numbers today.

Indiana has now lost seven of its last eight against Wisconsin in Bloomington and failed to win three consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since 1993. The 62 points scored by Wisconsin were its second-most against Indiana.

This stinks, Indiana’s Will Matte said. The whole week with the chance at the Rose Bowl maybe affected our thought process. This was not a good day to not show our best.

The 564 rushing yards allowed by Indiana were the most by an opponent since Wisconsin rambled for 441 in 2008.

It’s tough, defensive tackle Larry Black said. I want to forget about it. That’s not our defense. That’s not what we represent.

Wide receiver Jared Abbrederis took a handoff and scampered 19 yards to midfield on Wisconsin’s first offensive play. Phillips then ran for 9 yards and 7 yards. On a third-and-2, Ball ripped off 21 yards to the Indiana 10 and scored on the next play to give the Badgers a 7-0 lead.

After a Hoosier punt, White ran 23 yards to the Indiana 17 to help set up Phillips’ third-and-goal pass to Arneson.

Indiana linebacker David Cooper stopped Phillips on a third-and-goal scramble, and Bielema settled for a 24-yard field goal on Wisconsin’s third drive.

With Indiana’s offense showing little signs of life in picking up just two first downs on its first four series, the Hoosier defense eventually stiffened, forcing three consecutive punts following Kyle French’s field goal.

In stark contrast to last week’s victory over Iowa, Coffman struggled to hook up with receivers Cody Latimer and Kofi Hughes. Latimer had five catches for 62 yards, many of which came after Wisconsin broke the game open. Coffman hit on a 7-yard pass to the back of the end zone early in the fourth quarter to Hughes, who beat Marcus Cromartie on the play. Hughes caught three passes for 14 yards.

Indiana’s running game was silenced for a second straight contest. Starting back Stephen Houston had 10 yards on six rushes and the Hoosiers averaged 2.7 yards per attempt – a stark contrast to the running-wild Badgers.

Our inability to run hurt, Wilson said. The drives we just threw, threw, threw were off.

Wisconsin did anything but throw, throw, throw – and the Hoosiers still couldn’t stop them.

Late in the first half, Bielema faced a third-and-16 at his own 31 and appeared content to get to halftime ahead 17-7. On a conservative running play, White burst through the line for a 69-yard TD. Indiana safety Greg Heban missed badly as White ran free into the secondary.

We had some guys who had to make a tackle and just didn’t make it, Wilson said.

Ball leaped in from the 1 to put Wisconsin ahead 31-7 on the opening series of the second half. He accounted for 45 yards on the 11-play, 75-yard drive.

After Indiana’s sixth punt in nine possessions, Ball went untouched up the middle for 49 yards to draw closer to the all-time record for career touchdowns. Travis Prentice, who played at Miami of Ohio in the late 1990s, holds the mark with 78. With Indiana behind 38-7 and 7:20 remaining in the third quarter, fans began filing out. At times Memorial Stadium seemed as quiet as the Hoosiers’ ground attack.

Now, Indiana closes the season with road games against Penn State and Purdue. The Hoosiers must win both to gain bowl eligibility for the first time since 2007.

We weren’t looking at this as a big game, Coffman said. We’re not going to go backwards. We’ve got a bowl game ahead of us.