Indiana Football: No positives for IU if season canceled
By Adam Childs
The Indiana football team has built up for the 2020 season and it would be a shame if it gets canceled.
No one wants the college football season canceled. I think we can all agree on that. Football drives the fall and supplies funding for almost every school in the country. It will be a huge hit if they have to cancel.
It already stinks that the season has been reduced to just conference games, but at least it still signals that we could have football. That could change by the end of the month, but for right now we are clinging to that hope.
There are so many questions that come up with the possibility of the season being canceled. Will players get another year of eligibility? How will that affect scholarships? Will players be able to transfer without any penalty so they can find a school that fits them with new recruits coming in? Too many to answer honestly. Simply put, it will be a mess.
It isn’t a good situation for any team to be in, but a team that has a new coach that might not have been great this year will have another year to work on things and could be even better next year without having a bad year on the field. Most teams probably won’t think that way but there is probably a handful out there.
But for some teams, it could be devastating. Not just financially but because they had a promising team coming back trying to prove something. The Hoosiers are a great example of that. Indiana, as we have stated numerous times, is coming off a breakthrough season of sorts and has been looking forward to this year for a while.
Will they be better in the future? Hopefully, they will, but this year had the makings to be something Hoosier fans haven’t seen in a long time if ever. With a full season, 10 wins weren’t out of the realm of possibility. They would have had to pull off some upsets, but they had the team to do it.
Indiana Football: No positives with canceled season
With the shortened 10 game season and the loss of non-conference games, it took away what looked like three guaranteed wins. They could pick up a game that is very winnable with the 10th Big Ten game, but it still takes away wins. For a team trying to build up their program that is huge.
That isn’t the only negative. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is returning from injury and is chomping at the bit to get back on the field. Without the season it is a much longer wait to show off his skills and get back into a groove. Yes, every school will be in the same situation, but for an immerging talent like Penix, it is a tough pill to swallow.
The biggest thing that Hoosiers may miss out on, though, with a canceled season is that we may never get to see Whop Philyor on the field again sporting an IU jersey. Philyor exploded on to the scene last year and is one of the best-returning receivers in the conference and possibly country. He will be drafted, and with a lost season he will graduate and likely head to the NFL without playing another down for the Hoosiers. It would be an absolute shame for Philyor to lose his senior season.
Even if the NCAA ruled that they wouldn’t lose a year of eligibility, it would be tough for him to come back. Losing a year already and then delaying the NFL one more year would probably not be a great decision for him.
I know we will miss a lot of players if the season is lost but to not get to see Philyor fill up a stat sheet again would be horrible.
The coaches will say the right things and the players also if the season is canceled. What else can they do, but there are no positives to the season being lost.
This is the season so many Hoosier players and fans have been waiting for and to lose it would just be another hit to an already tough 2020. So we will hold out hope that the season doesn’t get canceled.
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Please let us see the Hoosiers run out and rub the rock. And let us witness a Penix to Philyor touchdown, or Stevie Scott jumping over the line for a touchdown. Let us watch the Hoosiers defend the Old Oaken Bucket. It’s not too much to ask. There are lots of positives if they play and none if they don’t.