Yesterday afternoon, watching my TV and listening to Don Fischer on the radio, the game clock on the Memorial Stadium scoreboard stopped at :19 sec, I resigned myself to the fact that IU had just suffered its second loss of the season. The Minnesota Golden Gopher place kicker, fifth-year senior Luke Drzwiecki, had just make a record-long 60-yard field goal to put Minnesota ahead 16-13. Holy cow! It was over. There were only 19 seconds left. IU couldn’t possibly pull this one out. They were toast!
The ensuing kick off put Indiana on its 25 yard line. On the first play, backup quarterback, Grant Wilson, dropped back and threw a perfect pass to an open CHARLIE BECKER who caught the ball on the Minnesota 40 just inside the right sideline. The clock had stopped at :02 seconds. Coach Cignetti decided to send in kick-off expert, Paddy McAteer, to try another 60-yard field goal. McAteer, from a town of 600 people in Ireland, stepped up and without flinching drilled another 60-yard kick through the uprights to tie the score at 16-16, with :00 sec on the clock. OVERTIME. Holy Cow!
Indiana won the toss to start the overtime and decided to take the ball first. On the first play from the 25, Grant Wilson found a wide open CHARLIE BECKER in the end zone for a touchdown to make it 22-16. The PAT was good. One play and IU lead 23-16.
Now, Minnesota got the ball on the 25 yard line and had four downs to score. They had to get a touchdown. A field goal wouldn’t do it. I can’t remember if Minnesota got a first down or not on that series, but IU’s defense held Minnesota out of the end zone and on fourth down sacked the QB—GAME OVER!
INDIANA WINS 23-16 to extend their record to 8-1, and are 6” from being 9-0. Indiana is now 35-3 under Curt Cignetti! AMAZING!
Yesterday’s game was ugly, and IU was lucky, but somehow the Hoosiers found a way to win….AGAIN. Two weeks in a row, IU pulledm out a win in overtime. Thankfully, next week, IU has a bye and gets a desperately-needed rest. This season has been filled with close games in which IU has often trailed. After two seasons of 30+ point wins, it’s nerve racking to see IU struggle so much to get a “W.” Offensive Frustrations, penalties galore, missed or blocked field goals, muffed snaps to the holder, and a quarterback who is either badly injured or is nowhere near as good as his predecessor.
Josh Hoover may have lost his job yesterday, either because of injury or poor play, but maybe whatever injury he has will get better during the bye. Early in the first half, it appeared he hurt his right shoulder being tackled on a quarterback keeper play. It has been noted that it seems to have hurt his right shoulder in the Ohio State game. His throwing accuracy has been awful since, as it was again yesterday.
I would like to see Coach Cignetti give Grant Wilson a chance to lead the Hoosiers because based on his second half performance yesterday, he certainly deserves the opportunity.
