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Bloomington, IN (Sports Network) – Ben Chappell threw for 382 yards and four touchdowns, as the Indiana Hoosiers survived with a 36-34 victory over the Arkansas State Red Wolves in non-conference action at Memorial Stadium.
Chappell threw for nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns in the second half alone, as IU (4-2) ended a two-game slide and also completed a sweep of its four non-conference opponents. Tandon Doss caught eight passes for 103 yards and a TD, while Damarlo Belcher finished with 121 yards on six catches.
Arkansas State (2-5) quarterback Ryan Aplin completed 33-of-44 passes for 275 yards, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another two in the loss. His 33 completions were a school record, while Dwayne Frampton set an ASU single-game record with 12 receptions. He finished with 93 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Red Wolves got on the board first, as Aplin capped a 12-play, 85-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge.
IU cut the deficit to 7-3 following a 20-yard field goal by Mitch Ewald with 20 seconds to play in the opening quarter.
Ewald added three more points on a 34-yarder at the 6:15 mark of the second quarter.
Arkansas State answered with another touchdown drive, as Aplin scored his second TD of the day on a four-yard run to make it a 14-6 game.
But Chappell marched the Hoosiers right down the field, and he found Doss for a seven-yard scoring strike. However, the Hoosiers were not able to convert the two-point attempt as they still trailed, 14-12.
IU grabbed a 19-14 lead at the 4:08 mark of the third quarter, as Chappell hooked up with Terrance Turner for a 27-yard touchdown pass.
Ewald pushed the Hoosiers’ lead to 22-14 on a 46-yard field goal with 13:19 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Red Wolves answered with a quick scoring drive, as Sirgregory Thornton scored on a six-yard run with 11:39 to play. They went for two but could not convert, and the score remained 22-20.
IU responded with a five-play, 60-yard drive, capped by Chappell’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Max Dedmond to extend the Hoosiers’ lead to 29-20 with 10:04 remaining.
The seesaw battle continued on ASU’s next possession, as Aplin hooked up with Frampton for a five-yard touchdown pass to once again make it a two-point game.
But the Hoosiers struck again on the very first play of their next drive, as Chappell found Belcher for a 65-yard scoring strike to push IU’s lead to 36-27 with 7:46 remaining.
The Red Wolves refused to go away, and Aplin threw a late 22-yard touchdown pass to Thornton with 47 seconds left, but the onside kick traveled out of bounds and IU ran out the final seconds.
Hoosiers’ running back Trea Burgess, starting in place of the injured Darius Willis (knee), ran for 96 yards on 19 carries.
Ben Chappell tossed a 27-yard TD to Terrance Turner in the third quarter, giving I.U. a 19-14 lead after the PAT. In the fourth, I.U. has taken on a 46-yard Mitch Ewald FG. Indiana is up over Arkansas State 22-14.
With 46 seconds before halftime, I.U. QB Ben Chappell Ben Chappell connected with Tandon Doss down the middle for 8-yard TD to pull Indiana within two points of visiting Arkansas State. The Hoosiers failed on the two-point conversion.
Chappell is now 15-23 for 185 yards and a TD. Hoosiers trail Red Wolves 14-12 at the half.
Indiana QB Ben Chappell is 9-17 for 109 yards and no TDs in the first half so far. He’s also bee sacked twice. With their defense giving up long, sustained drives to the Red Wolves, the Hoosiers offense can only muster up two Mitch Ewald FGs.
Losing RB Darius Willis for season last week could be affecting I.U.’s offense. They are only averaging 2.7 yards a rush.
Arkansas State jumped out to a 7-0 lead after a twelve play, 85 yard drive that consumed 5:25 of clock. The drive was capped by a one-yard TD run by QB Ryan Aplin. Aplin accounted for 66 passing yards in that 85-yard drive.
This is Arkansas State, folks. They are 2-4. I.U.‘s defense was bashed and battered last week by the #1 team in America. This week, they can’t even seem to stop a 2-4 team from the Sun Belt Conference.
Hoosier Football: Indiana Hosts Arkansas State
FACTS & STATS: Site: Memorial Stadium (52,929) -- Bloomington, Indiana. Television: ESPNU. Home Record: Arkansas State 1-1, Indiana 2-1. Away Record: Arkansas State 1-3, Indiana 1-1. Neutral Record: Arkansas State 0-0, Indiana 0-0. Conference Record: Arkansas State 2-2, Indiana 0-2. Series Record: First-ever meeting.
GAME NOTES: The Indiana Hoosiers try to bring an end to their two-game skid as they play host to the Arkansas State Red Wolves in a non-conference bout at Memorial Stadium.
The Red Wolves put an end to a two-game winless streak of their own after defeating the Mean Green of North Texas, 24-19, on the road last weekend. The victory brought Arkansas State's conference record to an even 2-2 in the Sun Belt, but still the squad is just 2-4 on the season overall.
After starting the season 3-0, Indiana has fallen twice against a couple of very notable opponents in the Big Ten Conference. After only losing by seven points to nationally-ranked Michigan two weekends ago (42-35), the Hoosiers were up-ended 38-10 on the road by the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday in Columbus.
This matchup marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
The Red Wolves' offensive attack is relatively well-balanced thus far in the 2010 campaign. The running game has averaged 144.3 ypg through the first six outings, while the passing game garners a respectable 269.3 yards per contest. That presence through the air is led by sophomore quarterback Ryan Aplin who has thrown for 1,579 yards this season with 10 touchdowns and a 134.63 passer efficiency rating. On top of that, Aplin has rushed for 207 yards on the year while finding the end zone four times with his legs as well. In total, Aplin finds himself ranked 15th in the nation, racking up an average of 296.8 yards of total offense each time out.
The Arkansas State defense is allowing opponents to put up an average of 31.8 points per game so far this season, an effort that has the group ranked seventh in the conference and 100th in the nation this week. The Red Wolves need to improve its defense against the run in particular, letting up 230.5 yards on the ground each game, and that has the squad ranked last in the league and 115th among Football Bowl Subdivision members. In last week's 24-19 victory over Sun Belt Conference foe North Texas, ASU allowed the Mean Green's running game to muster 234 yards and one score. The team has shown some occasional signs of hard play on defense, but averaging just 1.5 sacks per outing and 5.3 tackles for loss just isn't good enough.
Indiana's offense has been explosive through air as fifth-year senior quarterback Ben Chappell has helped the Hoosiers put up an average of 306.8 ypg, ranking them first in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation entering the week. Indiana notched at least 35 points in its first four contests this season, the first time since 1990 that a Hoosier team has done that in four consecutive games, but the streak ended last weekend when the team tallied a mere 10 points against what is now the top-ranked program in the nation. Chappell is making some legitimate noise on the national stage, ranking sixth in the country in completion percentage and completions, hitting at 70.2 percent and averaging 26.4 conversions per contest. Chappell has thrown for 1476 yards already including 12 touchdowns while getting the ball picked off just three times.
In last week's setback against the Buckeyes, the defense for the Hoosiers showed promise while setting season highs in multiple categories, including sacks (three) and tackles for loss (eight). Indiana allows its opponents to garner 413.4 yards of total offense per game so far this season, with 191.6 of those yards allowed via the run. Opponents run for an average of 5.9 yards per carry and have found the end zone a total of seven times. The pass defense has allowed 11 touchdowns on 221.8 yards per contest and 13.9 yards per catch. The bottom line for Indiana is that there is plenty of improvement to be made in the secondary now that the pass defense has an efficiency rating of 153.81, ranking them 10th in the conference and 109th in the nation at the moment.
The Red Wolves come to town hoping to pick up a big victory in Indiana, but Arkansas State's defense will struggle against a very sound and talented Hoosier offense led by Chappell. Expect Indiana to have a relatively easy time of it at home this weekend.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Indiana 41, Arkansas State 20
Saturday, October 16th, 12:00 p.m. (et)
Oct 17 10:04a by Brad Wells - 0 comments