Chappell leads Indiana past Illinois 27-14

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Ben Chappell knocked out Illinois with two quick scoring flurries Saturday.

He may have saved Indiana's bowl hopes too.

The junior quarterback threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs, and led the Hoosiers to a 27-14 victory over the Fighting Illini -- a win Indiana desperately needed after back-to-back blowout losses.

"It was pretty close to a must-win," Chappell said. "We knew we were going to have to play well to win. We need to finish drives better, there's things we can improve on, but we played well as a team."

Chappell was better himself.

After struggling the last two weeks, Chappell repeatedly took the Hoosiers (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) down the field, finishing 23 of 33 and producing 317 yards of offense in the first half and 482 in the game. Indiana was so efficient it punted just three times -- and one was a muff that Indiana recovered.

The victory, over a foe that had won 12 of the last 17 in this series, ended Indiana's three-game losing streak and a five-game skid in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers now need two wins in their final five games to become bowl-eligible for the second time since 1994.

Indiana couldn't have scripted it any better.

"We had a couple of weeks where we didn't play to our ability, and now we're back to being the kind of football team we thought we were after we got back from Michigan," coach Bill Lynch said. "And ... I think we got a little juice going again."

Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini's season is quickly running out of Juice.

Illinois (1-5, 0-4) has lost four straight overall and five straight Big Ten road games. Even inserting quarterback Juice Williams back into the starting lineup didn't help, and it arguably proved Illinois' undoing.

Yes, Williams was better through the air, going 22 of 37 for 258 yards with two TDs, and he had 15 carries for 54 yards. At times he resurrected the brilliant images of seasons past, but he also lost two second-half fumbles, both of which Chappell turned into scores to seal Illinois' fate.

"We're better than we're playing, and why we're not productive, I don't know," Illinois coach Ron Zook said. "Obviously, we know you can't have turnovers, and it's the first serious problem we had with turnovers this year. The only thing I know is we've got to keep pounding away. If we need to change people, we'll change people."

Worse than the loss was the scare Illinois got in the first half, when safety Donsay Hardeman felt numbness in his arm after making a tackle. Zook didn't identify which arm it was, but trainers immediately called for a golf cart, cautiously strapped the senior to a backboard and took him to a local hospital. Hardeman had neck surgery late last year.

"They've done a couple of tests, and everything so far has come back good," Zook said. "The big thing was that he had some numbness in his arm, and because of the previous situation, it was more of a precautionary thing."

The victory didn't come as easily as Indiana could have made it.

The Hoosiers missed two makable field goals in the first quarter, then took their first lead in more than 144 minutes of playing time when Nick Freeland finally connected on a 35-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.

They didn't keep the lead long. Williams hooked up with A.J. Jenkins for a 30-yard TD catch on the ensuing series to make it 7-3.

That's when Chappell delivered his first flurry.

In the final minute of the first half, Chappell threw a 29-yard TD pass to Damarlo Belcher and set up Freeland for a 37-yard field goal to give Indiana a 13-7 halftime lead.

"That was a great play by him," Chappell said. "He came back. I overthrew him on the first drive and missed him another time, and he kept playing and made a great play."

When Williams fumbled at the Hoosiers 6, Chappell made it quick again. Five plays after the Hoosiers recovered, Tandon Doss beat the Illinois secondary by two steps and Chappell put the pass perfectly on Doss' fingertips for a 44-yard score and a 20-7 lead.

Williams' second fumble came deep in his own territory and three plays after that, Chappell connected with Troy Wagner for a 13-yard score and a 27-7 lead.

Game over.

"This is definitely more our football team," Chappell said. "Defense played great, the line blocked, played great. We ran the ball and hit some play-action on them, so this was definitely more our football team."