Trey Lyles said he went to “six or seven” Indiana men’s basketball games this past season. And he watched a few more IU games on television.ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Damarlo Belcher made his way from the field up the Michigan Stadium tunnel, shaking his head no.
Indiana Hall of Fame running back Anthony Thompson came over and patted the wide receiver from North Side on his shoulder, a sign of appreciation for the team’s effort.
The Hoosiers had a record performance against Michigan. It still wasn’t enough for a win.
Tate Forcier completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Martavious Odoms with 2:29 remaining to lift the No. 23 Wolverines to a 36-33 victory in front of 108,118 fans.
Michigan wrapped up the game, and avoided a major upset, on the first play of Indiana’s ensuing drive. Officials ruled Donovan Warren wrestled the ball away from Belcher for an interception.
“I couldn’t see (the play),” said IU coach Bill Lynch, who argued with officials after the call was upheld on a replay review. “It, obviously from where I’m standing on the sideline looked like they both had it. That’s as far as I can go.”
Ben Chappell, who threw the pass, took a similar stance.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see it,” said Chappell, who completed 21 of 38 for 270 yards. “I’ll have to watch it on film. I’m not going to make any comments about that. We had plenty of opportunities on offense that we could have made better plays and probably would have won the game. I’m not worried about that (play).”
IU (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) established team highs for points and total yards (438) in the Michigan series, but still hasn’t won in Ann Arbor since 1967. Kicker Nick Freeland matched a school record with four field goals, but the Hoosiers said settling for three instead of seven proved costly.
“You can’t do that and win games,” Chappell said. “We’re going to have to work on that. A lot of that is on me. There were some guys open.”
Darius Willis rushed for a career-high 152 yards and two touchdowns for IU. His 85-yard score down the left side put the Hoosiers ahead 33-29 with 8:57 remaining.
Michigan (4-0, 1-0) faced a third-and-7 from IU’s 26 when Forcier completed the go-ahead touchdown to Odoms.
“I just got beat,” said safety Nick Polk, who defended on the play.
Forcier was 11 for 21 with 184 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown.
IU started its next, and final, drive at its own 26. Chappell attempted to find Belcher on a short pass. He and Warren fought for it, and the officials awarded the Wolverines possession.
“I feel bad for our guys in the locker room because they played their hearts out,” Lynch said. “We came up a play short somewhere in there.
“It’s one of those games that there are so many plays in it, it’s hard to put your finger on that was the key play. They came here to win a football game and they competed that way and played the entire way. I’m very proud of them.”
