Indiana Stuns No. 24 Minnesota 30-21

By

Posted 7:08PM on Saturday, October 30, 2004

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Indiana's Will Lumpkin returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown and Matt LoVecchio threw for two scores as the Hoosiers scored 23 unanswered points and upset No. 24 Minnesota 30-21 on Saturday. The victory ended Indiana's five-game losing streak. It marked the first time since 1987 that Indiana (3-5, 1-4 Big Ten) has beaten two ranked teams in the same season and was the Hoosiers' seventh straight win over Minnesota in Bloomington. Indiana's last win before Saturday was at then No. 24 Oregon. Minnesota (6-3, 3-3) lost for the third time in four weeks. LoVecchio led a mistake-free offense by going 13-of-26 for 161 yards with two touchdowns. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, his second 100-yard game this season. The Hoosiers' run defense was an even bigger surprise. It held the nation's No. 3 rushing team to 169 yards, more than 100 yards below its season average of 278. Laurence Maroney led the Gophers with 16 carries for 89 yards and one touchdown. Early on, it appeared the Golden Gophers would dominate. They grabbed a quick 14-0 lead behind Maroney's 4-yard touchdown run and a 1-yard TD pass from Bryan Cupito to Matt Spaeth. Maroney now has 1,030 yards this season and joined Darrell Thompson as the only Gophers to top the 1,000-yard mark in their first two seasons. But when Minnesota changed directions, Cupito made a mistake that turned the game around. His second pass into a gusty wind was read perfectly by Lumpkin, who jumped in front of Ernie Wheelwright and raced untouched for the score. The Hoosiers botched the extra point with a bad snap but closed to 14-6. On Indiana's next possession, David Lewis reached over a Minnesota defender and made a spectacular one-handed grab for a 35-yard gain on third-and-10. Three plays later, LoVecchio hit Courtney Roby for a 13-yard touchdown. The conversion run failed. LoVecchio took charge again with 1:44 left in the half. He needed just five plays before finding Chris Rudanovic for a 6-yard score and then hooking up with Lewis on the 2-point conversion to make it 20-14 at halftime. Indiana extended the lead to 23-14 when Bryan Robertson made a 23-yard field goal to open the second half. Minnesota countered with a five-play, 80-yard drive that included a 47-yard completion from Cupito to Spaeth and ended with Spaeth's second TD reception of the day - a 3-yarder. But the Gophers failed to take the lead when they had a chance. Jared Ellerson dropped what would have been a 42-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and on the same drive had what would have been a 32-yard TD pass broken up by freshman Leslie Majors on fourth-and-9. Indiana made Minnesota pay when Green-Ellis found a big hole in the middle, cut outside and sprinted down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 30-21 with 13:16 left. Cupito was 11-of-30 for 182 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Marion Barber III ran 20 times for 65 yards for Minnesota.