On Saturday, Big Ten turned out to have two meanings. The first being the name of the conference Indiana is affiliated with, and the second being the total amount of points the Huskies could put on the board.

For the second straight game the slowly improving Huskies were held to ten points, but managed to cut the opposition’s scoring nearly in half. It appeared they would be well on their way to their first victory thanks to some lucky breaks, but in the end, it was again penalties (7 for 46 yards) and mental breakdowns that led to Indiana’s 28-10 victory.

“We progressed quite a bit from last week,” said head coach Charlie Sadler. “We cut down on penalties (14 last week) and improved in our kicking game.”

On the first possession of the game the Huskie offense marched 71 yards and deep into IU territory, and they did it with more than just LeShon Johnson running the ball.

Johnson (26 carries for 129 yards), Brian Cotton and Brian Grimes shared rushing duties that possession, and Scott Crabtree (17-26 for 161 yards) completed four out of five passes to Johnson, Grimes, Raymond Roberts and Vaurice Patterson.

The drive ended when Cotton fumbled on the eight yard line and Indiana recovered.

That’s where NIU got lucky.

On their first play from scrimmage Indiana running back Micheal Batts fumbled and Tony Smith recovered for the Huskies to set up a first and ten on the 14-yard line. Two plays later wide receiver Otha Brooks ran 12 yards for the first touchdown of the game.

Indiana marched 76 yards on their next possession to set up a third and four situation on NIU’s four yard line. This time IU quarterback John Paci fumbled into the hands of NIU safety Eric Lacy to stop a potential scoring drive and preserve a first quarter 7-0 lead.

That would be all the points the Huskies would score in the first half, however. After the touchdown the next four possessions ended with Jamie Dobay punting the ball away.

Indiana scored twice in the second quarter on drives of 64 and 55 yards. The first capped by a five-yard Sean Glover run and the second by a 24-yard TD pass to Thomas Lewis with 16 seconds left in the half. NIU went into half time down 14-7.

The Huskies received another break in the third quarter when Paul McAndrews recovered another Paci fumble at IU’s 25-yard line. Four plays later Brian Steger kicked a 39-yard field goal to pull the Huskies to within four going into the fourth quarter.

NIU’s offense fell apart the second half. Five of their first six possessions ended in punts (the only exception was the field goal). One punt led to a 32-yard Indiana scoring drive capped by a Jermaine Chaney two-yard run, and the Hoosiers were up 21-10.

The Huskies sealed their own fate on their final two possessions of the game. After driving to IU’s 43, NIU was penalized for illegal procedure and on the next play Crabtree fumbled and Indiana’s Lamar Mills returned it 46 yards for the final touchdown.

In the final minutes the Huskies moved the ball 50 yards to IU’s 19 before Crabtree was intercepted and the Hoosiers ran out the clock for their second victory of the season.

“We had some mistakes that allowed them to have success, and that’s what’s upsetting,” said Sadler. “At least all of the things that happened to us today are correctable”.

The loss puts the Huskies at 0-2 going into their first home and conference game this Saturday. They will be facing Arkansas State in Huskie Stadium at 6:35 pm.