If you graze through Indiana University football's history books, chances are you won't be blown away.
You won't find a National Championship, many Rose Bowl appearances, or a Heisman Trophy winner. The names Trent Green, Adawale Ogunleye, and Anthony Thompson may not ring a bell.
What you will find is a freshmen year so spectacular, it would change the landscape of the the University to its present day strategy.
The Beginning of a Legend
In 1997, prized recruit Antwaan Randle El, an athlete by every sense of the word, had hit a crossroads. A senior at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill., his baseball skills had allowed him to be drafted by the Chicago Cubs 424th overall.
Despite being surprised he was drafted so high, Randle El chose college over Chicago. His college of choice was Indiana University, a Big Ten school known more for its basketball program, bicycle races, and Biz sinking than a football powerhouse.
Recruited for both football and basketball, Randle El was on his way to a starling four-year career at IU before hitting a speed bump.
Due to a low SAT score, he sat out his first full technical year at Indiana as a partial academic qualifier. However, thanks to his all-world athleticism, head coach Cam Cameron was willing to give Randle El a chance to take the field at Memorial Stadium immediately.
"Many of you are familiar with Antwaan, and he has a chance to win the starting quarterback job," Cameron said at Big Ten Media Day.
"We are going to play him somewhere and we'll find that out in the next four weeks. He could be our starting flanker, our punt returner or our starting wide corner. He could be a lot of things. We need him and Jay [Rogers] to play at a high level."
In the 1998 season opener, Randle El took the field, entering as a redshirt freshman and leaving a legend in the making. He completed 22 of 29 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns, while running for 82 yards on 23 carries and scoring three more touchdowns in a 45-30 victory over Western Michigan.
Best Clutch Performance—Oct. 17, 1998
After some sub-par performances the next few weeks, Randle El took his 2-3 Hoosiers on a wild ride in their homecoming battle with Iowa. The previous year, Randle El watched on the sidelines as Iowa stomped the Hoosiers 62-0 in Iowa City, but in 1998, he would get his chance to reverse the fortunes.
Trailing 14-0 in the fourth quarter, Randle El had his eyes set on history. As the quarter began, Randle El had his team backed up on its own one-yard line. Thanks to a key seven-yard rush on a third down, Randle El led his team to a 99-yard touchdown drive, but it ended with a missed extra point.
After Indiana intercepted a pass in field goal range, another kick was missed, keeping the Hoosiers down by a point. Taking over on their own 25 with 1:58 to go, the Hoosiers turned to their freshest face for help.
Driving his team down to the eight-yard line, Randle El looked up to see just 14 seconds left on the clock. He took the snap, ran around right end, and took it into the end zone.
His two-point conversion pass put the Hoosiers on top 14-7, and they would become the first team in Big Ten history to lose to a team by 60 plus in one season and beat them the next year.
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