Charles Campbell Keeps the Hoosiers out of the Loss Column

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by Matt Smith

The Hoosiers came back from the dead at the end of the fourth quarter this Saturday against Western Kentucky. The Hoosiers struggled during their first drive of overtime, this led to Charles Campbell trotting out to attempt a 50 yard field goal for the win.

“He crushed it,” Tom Allen said during his postgame press conference. “It was going to be good from 60… I threw my headset, my call sheet, and I just ran.”

Campbell nailed the 51 yard field goal and immediately ran to the student section where he was picked up by his teammates and paraded around. The kick finished off the Hoosiers comeback victory against Western Kentucky by a score of 33-30 in overtime. 

“I’m just thankful I made it,” Campbell said postgame. “I was really excited and really happy, and really appreciative of the fans that stayed the entire game.”

Indiana’s offense stalled multiple times in the red zone throughout the game which brought out Campbell four times to put points on the board for the Hoosiers. 

Campbell is coming off last week where he missed two field goals. According to Allen, he was tough on Campbell throughout the week because of the misses and it paid off this week as Campbell saved the Hoosiers from a major loss.

“To be honest, coach Allen during the Idaho game when I missed my second one and they threw a flag, coach Allen looked at me and said he’s not afraid to bench me,” Campbell said. “I knew I wasn’t performing to my standard either, so the whole next week of practice I was super detail oriented.”

Campbell has been a special player for the Hoosiers throughout his entire career, in 2020 he was second team all Big Ten and interesting enough last year against Western Kentucky he won the Lou Groza star of the week award for his performance.

Campbell’s long career of having big kicks for the Hoosiers, helped him keep his cool while attempting the game winning kick.

“You’re always going to have butterflies when you’re running out there for a 50 yard game winner,” Campbell said. “It definitely helps your confidence because you know that you can do it and you’ve done it before.”

The former high school all-American is from Jackson, Tenn. and was able to nail kicks from any distance throughout the game. 

During overtime, the offense had one of their worst drives of the game that included a sack and two runs that didn’t get past the line of scrimmage, this made the game winning kick even harder for Campbell.

“I was not happy with how we set it up for him,” Connor Bazelak said. “We got to get him closer, but heck of a job. Great kicker.”

Cam Jones lives very close to Campbell as he is from Memphis, which means both of their parents are close as well. No one was prouder of Campbell when he made that kick than Jones. 

“Just being able to see him be at his best when it counts the most, something he does every single day with the game on the line,” Jones said. “I’m just so proud of him.”