Published: November 09, 2008 12:18 am         

Combo of QBs no help for IU football in 55-20 loss to Wisconsin

Bloomington — The most-telling statistic on Saturday for Indiana: the Hoosiers used four quarterbacks, two of whom their coach assumed would be too injured to play.

Trailing 21-20 with the ball inside of the Wisconsin 20-yard line, Ben Chappell fumbled on a vicious — and clean — hit by Jay Valai and laid motionless on the turf for a moment or two.

With Chappell unable to play, the Hoosiers used Kellen Lewis, Mitchell Evans and Teddy Schnell at quarterback to no avail in a 55-20 loss to Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium.

With the loss, Indiana (3-7, 1-5) ensured it would not be bowl-eligible this season.

“Losing Chappell was a big thing with everyone else banged up,” Evans said. “He's a key player in a leadership role. The offense was missing something [after the injury].”

After Chappell's injury, the Indiana offense managed 53 yards and went 2-for-14 passing the ball. Lewis, who has been battling Chappell for starts this season, went 0-for-5 passing and had one run for four yards before re-tweaking his ankle. Lynch doubted that he would be able to play this week.

In stepped Evans, who was battling a sciatic nerve injury and hadn't practiced at quarterback “for a while now.” The sophomore, who has also played safety and wide receiver the past two seasons, completed one pass for nine yards and had five carries for one yard rushing.

And with the outcome no longer in doubt, Schell stepped in for garbage time duty.

“We lost our players today,” said an uncharacteristically feisty Bill Lynch. “Our quarterback, who was playing awfully well, runs the ball, gets hit and loses the ball. He gets hit and we lost our quarterback and the ball. … I can't tell you how proud I am of our guys and how beat up they are.”

A reeling Indiana defense, which lost free safety Nick Polk for the season and saw cornerback Richard Council leave the game, gave up 601 yards of total offense to a Wisconsin (5-5, 2-5) team that had struggled offensively this season.

Wide receiver David Gilreath led all rushers with 173 yards on eight carries. P.J. Hill and John Clay each had 19 carries and combined for 240 rushing yards.

“They have great running backs and a big line and they did a good job running the ball,” Jammie Kirlew said. “It seemed like they had two running plays that we just couldn't stop.”

The first half saw the Hoosiers force three turnovers — two fumble recoveries and an interception by Donnell Jones — and only have one field goal to show for it. One of the fumble recoveries was negated by

Chappell's fumble and the Hoosiers gave the ball up on downs after the interception.

The Hoosiers travel to No. 3-ranked Penn State next week before closing their season with a trip to Purdue.



• Notes — Kirlew had two sacks, giving him 10.5 for the season, which is the fourth-highest single season total in school history. …

Wisconsin's 441 rushing yards tied a Memorial Stadium record. … Indiana has given up 40 or more points five times this season. … Demetrius McCray totaled 191 yards on eight kickoff returns, six yards shy of the school record.