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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Antwaan Randle El can catch the ball,
too.
The Indiana quarterback rushed for a career-high 210 yards and
two touchdowns, passed for 263 yards and two more scores and set up
Levron Williams for three TD runs.
|  | | De'Wayne Hogan scored on one of two TD passes from Antwaan Randle El. |
But it was his recovery of a Minnesota onside kick with less
than two minutes to go that preserved the Hoosiers' 51-43 victory
over the Gophers (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) on Saturday.
"I wanted the ball kicked to me so I could get the ball in my
hands and cover it up," Randle El said. "If we don't cover it up,
they have a chance."
The two teams combined for almost 1,100 yards total offense,
including a career-high 473 by Randle El. Both of his touchdown
runs came late in the fourth quarter, then after the final
touchdown by the Gophers, Randle El recovered the onside kick and
Indiana (3-4, 2-2 Big Ten) ran out the clock.
"Unreal, wasn't it?" Indiana coach Cam Cameron said. "Right
to our man there. You just take your best 11 guys on the team, your
11 best hands-guys you have, put your best hands-guy right where
you think they're going to kick it.
"That ball takes some funny bounces, but it's ironic that it
goes right to No. 11 (Randle El) and he catches it like that. And
it wasn't an easy catch."
Minnesota (5-3, 3-2) rallied from a 24-6 deficit to 37-35 with
just over nine minutes to go. The Gophers had a chance to take the
lead after Randle El fumbled on the next possession, but Indiana
got the ball back three plays later on an interception by Sharrod
Wallace.
Randle El rushed four times, including once for 35 yards to the
Minnesota 6, and two plays later he scored from the 3 for a 44-35
lead. Indiana got the ball back seconds later when Minnesota's
Travis Cole was sacked by Justin Smith and fumbled at the Gophers'
29.
Randle El then passed 17 yards to Versie Gaddis, and four plays
later Randle El scored from the 1 for a 51-35 lead.
Asad Abdul-Khaliq replaced Cole, who was shaken up on the sack,
and took Minnesota 62 yards in 52 seconds, scoring from the 2 for
the final touchdown.
"We did a variety of things to try to keep Randle El
off-balance. Obviously, it didn't work," Minnesota coach Glen
Mason said. "He makes a lot of guys miss one-on-one. He's a
rarity. He's a really exceptional football player.
"Indiana ran a lot more options today than they had been
running, but anytime you line up against a quarterback like Randle
El, you have to be prepared for the option. I don't want to take
anything away from him, but we didn't do a good job tackling."
All three of Williams' touchdowns -- runs of 24, 36 and 13 yards
-- came on option laterals by Randle El.
"They have to cover the pass and the run, and to be able to run
the ball and make plays like I did today kind of put them in a
bind," Randle El said. "They didn't know whether it's a pass or a
run."
Indiana led 24-16 at halftime, but Minnesota's Jermaine Mays
scored on a 100-yard second-half kickoff return, and a 4-yard run
by Cole four minutes later gave the Gophers their only lead at
29-24. Indiana regained the lead late in the period on the second
of the three TDs by Williams, who finished with 134 yards rushing.
Tellis Redmon rushed for 103 yards -- his fourth straight game of
100-plus yards -- and scored on an 18-yard pass from Cole in the
fourth quarter.
Indiana's defense, notorious for allowing big plays, twice held
Minnesota to field goals from inside the Hoosiers' 10 as the
Hoosiers took a 17-6 lead in the second quarter.
Gaddis, who caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Randle El on
the game's opening drive, had a 41-yard reception to the Minnesota
38 and picked up 12 more two plays later to the 24. Randle El then
faked a run and pitched to Williams for a touchdown and a 24-6 lead
with 4:44 left before halftime.
Once again, though, Indiana couldn't hold onto the big lead.
On the first play after the kickoff, Cole hit Ron Johnson for 82
yards and a touchdown to pull the Gophers within 24-13. Indiana
went three-and-out on the next series, but a punt by Ryan Hamre was
blocked by Clorenzo Griffin and Minnesota recovered at the Indiana
15.
The Gophers reached the Indiana 2 before Dan Nystrom kicked his
third field goal, a 20-yarder with 38 seconds to go, to cut the
lead to 24-16 at halftime. It was Nystrom's 13th consecutive field
goal, one short of his own school record. He missed a 35-yard
attempt late in the third quarter.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
Indiana Clubhouse
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