Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Yearns To End As Winners
12/25/2015 10:44:00 AM | Football
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
NEW YORK - Perception can be a cruel thing.
What a team is ultimately remembered for too often comes down to how a season ends.
It's the Super Bowl winners that are remembered, not their records.
It's the driver who crosses the line first that gets crowned, not whoever led the most laps.
Saturday's New Era Pinstripe Bowl is one final opportunity for Indiana to script its season the way the Hoosiers want it. A victory would assure them not only a bowl win, but a winning season as well—the kind of year worth remembering.
"It will definitely have more of a positive outlook if we're able to pull out the win just because that's sort of what you're working toward," senior defensive end Nick Mangieri said. "That's obviously been our goal because when you get to a bowl you want to win the game. It will make it a lot more memorable."
The difference between a winning and losing season in Indiana's case is literally one game. The perception walks a fine edge in the record book where winning percentages don't take it account Indiana's near wins or six-game losing streak.
But that's part of what makes senior left tackle Jason Spriggs and his teammates more excited about Saturday's game. It builds more energy into what they do and feeds into their ultimate goal of winning as many games as possible.
"We go into the season wanting to win as many games as we can, and every week that's going to change," Spriggs said. "Right now, that's one more. That's what we're going to try to do. That's what we hope to do. That's our one goal, and anything we can do to make that happen is what we're going to do and hopefully leave here a winning team."
The "winning team" label can go a long way, as can a bowl victory. Just go ask the opposing Blue Devils.
Duke has appeared in three consecutive bowl games but has no wins. There's a certain sting about it that takes the team a while to shake off, Duke senior center Matt Skura said. It can sometimes make the first few weeks of the offseason feel like more work than it should be.
While Indiana hasn't been to a bowl game as recently as Duke, the Hoosiers understand the difference a win would make. The coaching staff has tried to make it clear by time after time reminding the players they've come to New York to be bowl winners, not bowl participants.
Because a win wouldn't just benefit this year's team. It would drive recruiting and spark even more interest around Indiana's program.
It all comes back to perception.
"For us, I think a win would be huge momentum going into the offseason," offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said. "Obviously it would help with recruiting a lot. It would help just that positive momentum that we think we have in that building. We're going to have a lot of guys returning to next year's team, so we'd like to springboard this game, hopefully this win, into next season."
That growth exists beyond the George M. Steinbrenner trophy and the other spoils that go to Saturday's winner. Johns said the program's long-term success is ultimately what everyone has in mind, but that future success is dictated by what's done in the present.
Right now, Indiana heads into Saturday's game confident knowing it controls its own destiny. Qualifying for a bowl game was already a noteworthy accomplishment for a program that says it's building something in Bloomington, however the coaches want to keep the players focused on winning.
But adding a bowl win, a seventh win, to the 2015 season would be an ideal way to end a season, Mangieri said. Ending on a three-game winning streak would help erase IU's six-game losing streak all while giving seniors like him something to look back at for years to come, all centered around 60 minutes of football the day after Christmas.
"It would sort of be the perfect ending," Mangieri said. "There's a lot of what-ifs in the season. Obviously there was that six-game skid, but winning this one would make it all worth it."
That's the value of perception.
IUHoosiers.com
NEW YORK - Perception can be a cruel thing.
What a team is ultimately remembered for too often comes down to how a season ends.
It's the Super Bowl winners that are remembered, not their records.
It's the driver who crosses the line first that gets crowned, not whoever led the most laps.
Saturday's New Era Pinstripe Bowl is one final opportunity for Indiana to script its season the way the Hoosiers want it. A victory would assure them not only a bowl win, but a winning season as well—the kind of year worth remembering.
"It will definitely have more of a positive outlook if we're able to pull out the win just because that's sort of what you're working toward," senior defensive end Nick Mangieri said. "That's obviously been our goal because when you get to a bowl you want to win the game. It will make it a lot more memorable."
The difference between a winning and losing season in Indiana's case is literally one game. The perception walks a fine edge in the record book where winning percentages don't take it account Indiana's near wins or six-game losing streak.
But that's part of what makes senior left tackle Jason Spriggs and his teammates more excited about Saturday's game. It builds more energy into what they do and feeds into their ultimate goal of winning as many games as possible.
"We go into the season wanting to win as many games as we can, and every week that's going to change," Spriggs said. "Right now, that's one more. That's what we're going to try to do. That's what we hope to do. That's our one goal, and anything we can do to make that happen is what we're going to do and hopefully leave here a winning team."
The "winning team" label can go a long way, as can a bowl victory. Just go ask the opposing Blue Devils.
Duke has appeared in three consecutive bowl games but has no wins. There's a certain sting about it that takes the team a while to shake off, Duke senior center Matt Skura said. It can sometimes make the first few weeks of the offseason feel like more work than it should be.
While Indiana hasn't been to a bowl game as recently as Duke, the Hoosiers understand the difference a win would make. The coaching staff has tried to make it clear by time after time reminding the players they've come to New York to be bowl winners, not bowl participants.
Because a win wouldn't just benefit this year's team. It would drive recruiting and spark even more interest around Indiana's program.
It all comes back to perception.
"For us, I think a win would be huge momentum going into the offseason," offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said. "Obviously it would help with recruiting a lot. It would help just that positive momentum that we think we have in that building. We're going to have a lot of guys returning to next year's team, so we'd like to springboard this game, hopefully this win, into next season."
That growth exists beyond the George M. Steinbrenner trophy and the other spoils that go to Saturday's winner. Johns said the program's long-term success is ultimately what everyone has in mind, but that future success is dictated by what's done in the present.
Right now, Indiana heads into Saturday's game confident knowing it controls its own destiny. Qualifying for a bowl game was already a noteworthy accomplishment for a program that says it's building something in Bloomington, however the coaches want to keep the players focused on winning.
But adding a bowl win, a seventh win, to the 2015 season would be an ideal way to end a season, Mangieri said. Ending on a three-game winning streak would help erase IU's six-game losing streak all while giving seniors like him something to look back at for years to come, all centered around 60 minutes of football the day after Christmas.
"It would sort of be the perfect ending," Mangieri said. "There's a lot of what-ifs in the season. Obviously there was that six-game skid, but winning this one would make it all worth it."
That's the value of perception.
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