BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - For the last 48 seconds of the game, the remaining crowd inside Indiana Memorial Stadium was ready to celebrate a comeback win against Ball State.
But in the final second of the game, kicker Steven Schott silenced the eager crowd with a 42-yard game-winning field goal, sending Ball State rushing onto the field after sealing a comeback of its own.
And Schott doesn't even remember the kick that gave his team the 41-39 win.
"To be honest, I really don't remember much," Schott said. "It felt good. I just remember putting my hands up when it went through."
Even if he can't recall the kick, Ball State couldn't ask for a better way to beat "big brother" for a third straight time. But the win nearly slipped away from Ball State in the final minutes of the game.
Down by 13 with 4:23 to play, Indiana's offense finally showed life in the second half. It took just three plays for the Hoosiers to put the game within six points after a 70-yard touchdown pass by freshman quarterback Nate Sudfeld to wide receiver Cody Latimer.
On the next drive, which was plagued by three pass interference calls against Ball State, Sudfeld found Shane Wynn on a two-yard pass to tie the game. After the PAT, Indiana had a one-point lead with 49 seconds left. Indiana's comeback was complete.
At least that's what the Indiana players, coaches and crowd thought.
Starting from his own 31-yard line, Keith Wenning had 49 seconds and one timeout to get within Schott's kicking range. And he delivered with a pass on the left sideline to a diving Willie Snead at the Indiana 25.
As the catch was being reviewed, Schott got himself prepared for the game-winning kick.
"I thought [Snead] made the catch," Schott said. "I was just trying to focus and mentally visualize my kick. We had [Scott] Secor ready to kick a 60-yarder if we needed to. We were in pretty good shape."
Coach Pete Lembo thought so, too. He's seen Schott hit long field goals and sent him out on the field to make the game-winning field goal last season against Eastern Michigan.
But even in the tense moments leading up to the kick, he still tried to make light of it.
"I usually just joke around with [Schott]," Lembo said. "He's a regular guy. I trust him; I love how hard he works. He's made a lot of plays for us."
The set up on the kick was near perfect. From the snap to the hold and to the kick, it was near fundamental kicking that allowed Ball State to steal back the win from Indiana. The only complaint Lembo had of the kick was that it was low and an Indiana defender was able to get a finger on it.
"Obviously it had enough gusto to get through," he said.
Schott's kick sealed a third consecutive victory over Indiana dating back to 2008 and the second win in as many seasons for Ball State.
For wide receiver Jamill Smith, the win Saturday was just as enjoyable as the win last season, if not more.
"Indiana is supposed to be our big brothers," Smith said. "You know how you feel when you beat your big brother up for the first time? It's the best feeling in the world."
But as Schott stood on the field after the game calm as if the last 4:23 of the game didn't happen. He didn't give any comparisons between the two schools or praise himself for winning the game. Instead, he gave a simple explanation for his kick.
"I just block everything out," he said. "I focus on my target behind the upright and I visualize the ball going through the uprights every time. I was just fortunate enough to do it again tonight."
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