Bloomington Leader

Indiana Drops Contest to Purdue

Déjà vu stinks.
 
It hit Indiana like a sucker punch to the gut Saturday. Injury. Mistakes. Opportunity lost. Disappointment.
 
"You feel kind of snake bit," head coach Tom Allen said.
 
The Memorial Stadium clock hit zero on a 30-16 Purdue victory as Hoosier running back Josh Henderson scored a final touchdown, this one without celebration. None from the Cream & Crimson sideline, anyway.
 
"This hurts really bad," true freshman linebacker Kaiden Turner said. 
 
Veteran offensive lineman Matthew Bedford, one of those injured Hoosiers whose season ended far too soon, hugged freshman offensive lineman Joshua Sales Jr., whose career has so much promise.
 
There were other hugs as the Hoosiers trudged into the locker room, tossing gloves into the stands to imploring young fans.
 
"I feel for these seniors," Turner said. "You never want to lose your last college game."
 
A season that began with 3-0 promise ended in Old Oaken Bucket defeat and a strong sense of what might have been. IU (4-8) had more yards (421 to 388), more first downs (26 to 20) and more minutes of possession (38 to 22) than Purdue (8-4). It rushed for 215 yards.
 
It wasn't enough.
 
"We had a lot of red-zone opportunities," Allen said, "but not enough touchdowns."
 
Saturday's strong start vanished amid more injury misery.
 
A quarterback down. A stretcher. An ambulance. A hospital trip for evaluation.
 
IU has seen it before.
 
This time it was Dexter Williams II, growing into Big Ten, dual-threat dominance, out with a first-quarter injury suffered without contact. That followed a torn ACL that cost him all of last season.
 
In the aftermath, Allen called it a "devastating loss."
 
"The injury was freaky, non-contact. It's tough. I hate it for him. He's an amazing young man."
 
With Williams on Saturday, IU unleased an aggressive, creative rushing attack that produced 125 first-quarter yards against just five through the air. It had one touchdown (Jaylin Lucas rocked the Boilers with a 71-yard touchdown run. He took a pitch from Williams, got to the outside and outran the Boilers), and was driving to a second.
 
"I felt great about the game plan. It was working to perfection," Allen said.
 
Then Williams went down, and the offense never recovered. Replacement Connor Bazelak lacked Williams' dual-threat explosiveness and ability to stress a defense in conjunction with Lucas and fellow running backs Henderson and Shaun Shivers.
 
Lucas finished with 100 rushing yards. Shivers had 58. Henderson added 51.
 
"With Dexter, you have to watch both the run and the throw," receiver Emery Simmons said. "Purdue saw he could run, so you have Dex, you have Josh Henderson you have Shaun Shivers, and you have Jaylin Lucas.
 
"You've got all that in one backfield, it's hard to pick your poison. If you step up to Dex on the option, it's going to Jay Lucas, and you saw what happened with that."
 
For half the season, Bazelak had directed an up-tempo attack that threw as much as any team in college football. Leading a run-heavy offense that demanded a true dual-threat quarterback wasn't his strength, so IU adjusted to more of a passing attack.
 
Bazelak completed 24-of-42 passes for 201 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
 
"He gave us all he had," Allen said. "He battled."
 
Williams was the last of a series of key injuries that cost IU so much.
 
Bedford was one of them. Receiver Cam Camper was another. Linebacker Cam Jones was yet another. For this game, so was linebacker Aaron Casey, forcing Turner to start.
 
"I can't put into words how I feel with regards to the injuries we've had for two-straight years with key guys," Allen said.
 
Last year's multiple injuries caused Allen to bring in a specialist to see if they were caused by anything IU was doing or missing. In the end, it wasn't.
 
"We have an amazing strength and conditioning coach (Aaron Wellman, with years or NFL experience) who is phenomenal. We didn't have as many injuries this year, but they were to the wrong guys. They're part of the game, but it's tough. You've got to have guys step up."
 
Turner certainly did, leading IU in tackles with nine.
 
"I could have done better," he said. "It's never good enough. I have to continue to work."
 
Turner said he practiced with the starters last week, but as far as starting, it was "a game-time decision."
 
"The coaches told me, 'Ace can't do, so it's on you.' I was like, 'Let's go get it.'"
 
Added Allen: "Kaiden is a tough kid. You hate to throw him in that situation. I didn't know until after pre-game we were going to have to do that.
 
"Kaiden got a chance to start as a true freshman. He got thrown into the fire sooner than we'd like for him to. He's a tough, physical kid who cares. He'll be a good player for us."
 
Purdue opened the game with a field goal. IU countered with Lucas' TD run. After four minutes, the Hoosiers led 7-3.
 
They were driving deep into Boiler territory when Williams was hurt. Bazelak replaced him and the drive fizzled. Charles Campbell missed a 44-yard field goal and the lead remained at four until halftime.
 
Purdue opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive for a 10-7 lead. It attacked horizontally to spring holes vertically, and added a 27-yard Devin Mockobee TD run to go ahead 17-7.
 
Indiana capitalized on three Purdue penalties, added a 22-yard completion to Simmons and had a second Campbell field goal opportunity. This one was blocked. The 10-point deficit remaining.
 
The fourth quarter arrived and Bazelak began connecting on passes -- 23 yards to Donaven McCulley, 17 to Simmons. It led to Campbell's 26-yard field and a 17-10 score with 11:06 left in the game.
 
The Hoosiers still had a chance.
 
Then they blew a pass coverage. Purdue capitalized for a 60-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Jones and a 24-10 lead with 9:38 left.
 
The Hoosiers drove to the Purdue 16-yard line, but no further. Another drive ended in a Boilermaker pick-six for a 30-10 lead. Bazelak's TD pass to Henderson ended the game, and the Cream & Crimson season.
  
"There's no quit in these guys," Simmons said. "I know I have fighters with me. They come here and work. There's little stuff we have to fix, that I feel we'll get fixed."
 
Added senior outside linebacker Alfred Bryant: "These guys will be my brothers for life. I appreciate every minute with them." 

Original source can be found here.