Sept. 18, 1999
By STEVE HERMAN
AP Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Dusty Bonner made Indiana forget about Tim Couch ina hurry.
Bonner, who became Kentucky’s starter when Couch left early for the NFL,passed for 304 yards and five touchdowns, two of them to Dougie Allen, as theWildcats beat Indiana 44-35 Saturday.
Antwaan Randle El ran for three touchdowns and passed for one TD for theHoosiers (1-2), but had three passes intercepted, two in the closing minutes.
Randle El’s 34-yard scoring pass to Levron Williams pulled Indiana within atouchdown with 3:17 to go. The Hoosiers got the ball back on a fumble, but apass was intercepted by Eric Kelly. After Marc Samuel’s third field goal of thegame, a 34-yarder, Matt Layow intercepted another pass by Randle El and theWildcats (2-1) ran out the final 49 seconds.
Bonner, who was redshirted last year, was 24-for-31, and the career-highfive TD passes gave him 12 in three games this season.
Couch, the No. 1 pick in the draft by Cleveland, passed for 301 yardsagainst the Hoosiers last year, but had four intercepted in a 27-17come-from-behind victory. This time, a first-half interception was just aboutBonner’s only mistake.
He completed 12-of-14 in the first two quarters and ran for 25 yards to setup one touchdown after the Hoosiers took an early 14-7 lead. Bonner’s long runand a personal foul against Indiana on the play took Kentucky to the Indiana26. Two plays later, he passed 19 yards to freshman Brad Pyatt for the score.
On the next Kentucky possession, Bonner completed four straight passes,three to James Whalen for 10, 22 and 27 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. TheWildcats got the ball back a minute later after a bad snap on an Indiana punt.Anthony White ran 6 yards and Bonner passed 17 yards to Allen for a TD and a28-14 lead.
Randle El brought the Hoosiers within a touchdown on a 17-yard run early inthe third period. Kentucky kept the next drive going with a fake punt, settingup a 44-yard field goal by Samuel, and Bonner’s second TD pass to Allen, a17-yarder, put the Wildcats up 38-21 late in the third quarter.
Bonner’s first touchdown pass was in the opening period to Quentin McCord,who caught the ball between two Indiana defenders and ran in to complete a44-yard play. Derin Graham, who last year returned a kickoff 100 yards againstWisconsin, took the kick after McCord’s touchdown and ran 90 yards to tie thegame.
The only Indiana lead came after the next possession, when Mike McGrath madethe interception off Bonner. Randle El took the Hoosiers 58 yards in 11 playsand scored on a 3-yard run late in the first period.
Randle El, who passed for 201 yards and rushed for 115, increased his careerrushing total to 1,168, breaking the mark for an Indiana quarterback (1,083)set by Harry Gonso 30 years ago.
