Indiana Football: Even in loss, Hoosiers prove they belong
By Adam Childs
The Indiana Hoosiers came up short against Penn State on Saturday in Happy Valley. But even in their loss, they proved they belonged with the big boys.
It had been a long time since an Indiana football team had been in this position. A record of 7-2 and a ranking in the polls for the first time since 1994. But they were heading up to Happy Valley to play a top-10 Penn State team fresh off a loss to Minnesota.
The game was ripe for a blowout. A very good Nittany Lions team trying to stay alive in the Big Ten and playoff chase was waiting for the Hoosiers in front of over 110,000 fans. They were coming off a tough loss and were looking for a big bounce-back game, and the Hoosiers were their victims.
Indiana, though 7-2, hadn’t beat a notable opponent and they were a big underdog. The experts were picking Penn State to blow the doors off the Hoosiers, but then a funny thing happened. Indiana stayed right with them and trailed just 20-14 at halftime.
Penn State would score to go up 27-14, the start of them pulling away, right? Well, again Indiana had other plans and clawed their way back to 27-24 with about 10 minutes left to play in the game. And had it not been for a sure touchdown pass dropped they would have been winning.
The undoing was a drive by Penn State that lasted just over nine minutes and resulted in a touchdown to put the Nittany Lions up 10. Indiana still wouldn’t give up as they drove down to inside the five before kicking a field goal to give enough time for an onside kick. It came up short and so did the Hoosiers but not for a lack of effort or because they didn’t belong.
Indiana is no longer ranked in the coach’s poll or the AP Poll and will probably still be off the board of the committee, but they showed that they are worthy of a top 25 ranking. This is a good Indiana team that will get another shot at a big-time win when they host the red hot Michigan Wolverines next Saturday.
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On a day when teams ranked ahead of them got blown out or had bad losses, the Hoosiers went up to Happy Valley and could have won the game. Not because Penn State played poorly but because Indiana played well. Take a couple of mistakes away and the Hoosiers would have been hosting Gameday this weekend.
Indiana is building something in Bloomington and they put the league on notice on Saturday. They may have come up short, but they belonged and Penn State knows it, so the rest of the country better catch on.