There are two words in the Indiana University fight song, entitled “Indiana, Our Indiana,” that embody qualities such as perseverance and a fight-till-the-end spirit: “Never Daunted.” That said, if you went around the parking lot of Memorial Stadium in Bloomington before a Hoosier football game and asked the tailgaters about the nature of their fandom, they’d most likely tell you that being a supporter of this team can be a daunting proposition at times.
Indiana Continues to Lose Games in New, Innovative Ways
We are a hearty bunch, us fighters for the Cream and Crimson, continually in search of any semblance of IU pigskin glory. No matter how cautiously optimistic or faintly hopeful of the team’s prospects at the onset of a given season, oftentimes it doesn’t take very many games before a sense of cynicism sets in. We’ve become accustomed to seeing strong starts and halftime leads morph into fourth quarter death spirals and last minute losses against teams the Hoosiers are supposed to beat.
That unfortunate predicament was on full display on Saturday afternoon at Doyt Perry Stadium right off I-75 and nestled within the endless cornfields of Northwest Ohio. Indiana enjoyed an early 14-3 lead that was eventually whittled down to 14-12 by halftime after three consecutive Bowling Green field goals. The second half went back and forth as both offenses began to find the end zone with relative ease, but in the end crucial IU mistakes ensured their coming up on the wrong end of a 45-42 final scoreline.
It’s tempting to levy the brunt of the blame on an Indiana defense which reverted back to the porous ways that kept the team out of a bowl in 2013. After all, the Falcons were given a ton of help on their eventual game-winning drive by consecutive pass interference penalties that advanced the ball 29 yards and set it up on the Indiana 2-yard line. Bowling Green would score two plays later.
However, earlier in the final quarter Bowling Green was stopped on fourth down trailing 35-32 and Indiana began marching down the field looking to increase the lead to ten. With the Falcons’ defense struggling just as mightily as the Hoosiers, a two-possession lead about midway through the fourth might have sealed the deal for IU. Instead, running back Tevin Coleman, who had 178 yards and three touchdowns at the time, fumbled at the BGSU 15. A potentially insurmountable 42-32 lead for Indiana became a 39-35 deficit ten plays later.
So far, Coleman’s rushing stats are overwhelmingly impressive. He currently leads the nation in rushing yards per game (218.5) and his 437 total yards is fifth in FBS despite being the only back in the top-12 nationally not to have played three games. Context is important when analyzing these kinds of statistics, though, and fourth quarter red zone fumbles in one possession games have a tendency to put a damper on big numbers, especially when a loss ensues.
The kicking game, so often a strength for the Hoosiers recently, has clearly become a liability with the departure of Mitch Ewald. Redshirt freshman kicker Aaron Del Grosso has missed both field goals attempted so far this season, including a 37-yarder on Saturday in a game Indiana lost by three.
There has been an alarming pattern with the Indiana program as it relates to how often this team comes up short in close games. Over the course of the current bowl drought which started with the 2008 season, the Hoosiers are 6-15 in games decided by under 7 points. In games that came down to a field goal or less, IU is 4-11 over the same period.
The manner in which these games are thrown away boggle the mind. You have the backwards screen pass against Minnesota in the red zone last year that was ignored by Coleman and promptly picked up as a fumble by the Gophers with 14 seconds left, sealing the 42-39 defeat.
In 2009, with IU leading fourth-ranked Iowa 21-7 in the third quarter and about to score once again with the ball inside the five yard line of the Hawkeyes, one of the most bizarre pick-six interception returns in college football history would transpire, cutting the Indiana lead to 21-14. The game would almost immediately turn in Iowa’s favor and they would eventually run away to a 42-24 win.
Whether it’s bad defense, bad offensive decision-making, bad luck, bad…whatever, fans of Indiana football must continue to wonder whether or not every possible method for losing a game has been exhausted by now. If there’s one thing for sure, though, you can expect them to have an above-average sense of humor over the myriad travails the team endures. They say that hope springs eternal, but it usually doesn’t take long before the cynic in many Hoosier sports lovers takes over and the oft-repeated verse of “when does basketball season start?” becomes an annual Bloomington punchline once more.
As I conclude, continue to read on below to check out some of the comedic banter on Twitter regarding Indiana’s latest football flub.
https://twitter.com/LWOS_JB3/status/510894702854696961
https://twitter.com/RyanFeasel/status/511132796791058432
Bowling Green QB James Knapke is MAC offensive player of the week. Like clockwork: You play Indiana, and you have offensive POW. #iufb
— David Woods (@DavidWoods007) September 15, 2014
Late on this here, but #iufb is likely not going bowling. They instead got Bowling'd. Call them Iniana #NoD
— Adam Reinhart (@AdamReinhart1) September 13, 2014
I think I need to see Kevin Wilson: Marriage Counselor about my relationship with #iufb. We're on the rocks.
— babar (@babaresq) September 13, 2014
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