Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO COLUMN – For IU, It’s All There For The Taking
10/20/2018 10:05:00 PM | Football
BY PETE DIPRIMIO
By IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Victory was there for the taking.
It was.
With a chilling wind warning of approaching winter, with dusk fading to night, Indiana was on the brink of a nationally televised victory.
Eighteenth-ranked Penn State was set to go down.
It was.
Forget the Iowa Homecoming debacle. This was what Indiana could do when it played to its potential.
Check that. This is what the Hoosiers (4-4) could do even when they didn't play to their potential. Despite a series of gut-wrenching mistakes, they still had a chance Saturday night right up until the time the Memorial Stadium clock hit zero.
The 33-28 final score didn't do justice to how close IU came.
Coach Tom Allen knew, just as he'd known from all the tough losses in the last season and a half when the Hoosiers entered the fourth quarter with a chance, and couldn't finish.
"We just have to play better in certain situations and times, in critical moments," he said.
And then …
"I promise you this team is going to keep fighting."
Allen is an emotional coach, and that emotion flashed through in a post-game-conference moment.
"Yeah, they're hurting. Yeah, they want to win these close games, and they will. I believe in this team. I believe in the way we're building it and the way we're working and the focus that we have. I believe in these kids."
You like numbers? Here are some for you. On Saturday the Hoosiers had more total yards (554-417), rushing yards (24-174), passing yards (330-243) and first downs (32-20) than a Penn State team known for its prolific offense. They won time of possession, 34 minutes to 26. They didn't blink despite self-inflicted misery and Nittany Lion big plays.
They won everywhere except where it mattered most -- the scoreboard.
At some point, you figure, the breakthrough will come.
It has to, if there is any fairness in the college football universe, a decade-plus of heartbreak be darned.
"We're going to keep doing the things that we're doing over and over and over and over again until we break through," Allen said. "It's going to happen."
Youth is sometimes an anchor, but not an excuse. Yes, IU plays nine freshmen on its kickoff coverage unit, which is risky until you consider the potential.
"They're good players," Allen said, "but they're young."
Still, poor kickoff coverage had the coach joking that, "If we could kick it out of bounds, we would, but that would be a penalty and give them the ball at the (40-yard line), so I'm not real fired up about doing that."
Penn State (5-2) is a very good team, a top-20 squad with top-10 talent, and the Hoosiers had victory in sight.
They did.
They blocked ferociously, tackled decisively, ran effectively. The quarterback combination of Peyton Ramsey and Michael Penix Jr. (he played for the first time in 6 games and threw for 94 yards, ran for 24 more before suffering a lower leg injury) had the Nittany Lions reeling. Ramsey went 26-for-36 for 236 yards and a touchdown. True freshman tailback Stevie Scott again evoked comparisons to Anthony Thompson with 138 rushing yards (his 3rd 100-yard effort of the season) and two touchdowns.
IU ran 100 plays, just one off the school record. It held Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley without a touchdown pass for the first time in his 34 career starts, something that Ohio State and Michigan State, among others, couldn't do.
Indiana had the lead late in the third quarter, for goodness sakes. It had a chance, on the game's last play thanks to recovering an on-side kick, to pull out a victory.
That it didn't, defensive back Marcelino Ball said, "Makes us stronger. It makes us want it more. It shows us that every play matters."
IU is so close to busting through that it hurts. It makes so many good plays, great plays, winning plays, and then does something to mess it up -- such as dropped passes, fumbles, a blown coverage, drive-killing holding calls, giving up a 95-yard kickoff return after taking that late-third-quarter lead that led to a huge Penn State touchdown.
"Our offense and defense played well enough for us to win," Allen said. "Special teams really hurt us. That, to me, was the glaring thing."
The good news -- it can all be corrected. If the Hoosiers want to be good, it has to be.
It won't take divine intervention, although that wouldn't hurt. It will take a little more focus. Catch passes that hit your hands. Stay disciplined on special teams. Don't fumble. Don't hold. Don't snap the ball when you're not supposed to.
Don't fumble.
And always, always, give maximum effort.
The Hoosiers know this, of course. Film doesn't lie. Numbers aren't a mirage. And the excitement that flowed from the fans who stayed to the end reflected the yearning Hoosier Nation has for a winning record it hasn't seen since 2007.
The Hoosiers so often match that excitement, and raise it. They work; they bleed; they sweat.
They just need to execute a bit better.
"It's hard," Ramsey said. "It's frustrating. But at the same time, you see glimpses of a good team. It's frustrating that we struggle to put in all together. We have to find ways to use each other's momentum. That's how you win games, when you play as a team."
The Hoosiers, Ball said, have every intention of doing that, starting next Friday night -- yes, Friday night -- at Minnesota (3-4).
"It's on to the next week. We're 0-0 going into Minnesota. The goal is to be 1-0 leaving Minneapolis."
IU remains two wins shy of bowl eligibility, with four games left – Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan and Purdue.
"We have time," Ball said. "We have games. We're going to make it happen."
He believes. Allen believes. If the rest of the Hoosiers join them, well, it's all there for the taking.
So take it.
By IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Victory was there for the taking.
It was.
With a chilling wind warning of approaching winter, with dusk fading to night, Indiana was on the brink of a nationally televised victory.
Eighteenth-ranked Penn State was set to go down.
It was.
Forget the Iowa Homecoming debacle. This was what Indiana could do when it played to its potential.
Check that. This is what the Hoosiers (4-4) could do even when they didn't play to their potential. Despite a series of gut-wrenching mistakes, they still had a chance Saturday night right up until the time the Memorial Stadium clock hit zero.
The 33-28 final score didn't do justice to how close IU came.
Coach Tom Allen knew, just as he'd known from all the tough losses in the last season and a half when the Hoosiers entered the fourth quarter with a chance, and couldn't finish.
"We just have to play better in certain situations and times, in critical moments," he said.
And then …
"I promise you this team is going to keep fighting."
Allen is an emotional coach, and that emotion flashed through in a post-game-conference moment.
"Yeah, they're hurting. Yeah, they want to win these close games, and they will. I believe in this team. I believe in the way we're building it and the way we're working and the focus that we have. I believe in these kids."
You like numbers? Here are some for you. On Saturday the Hoosiers had more total yards (554-417), rushing yards (24-174), passing yards (330-243) and first downs (32-20) than a Penn State team known for its prolific offense. They won time of possession, 34 minutes to 26. They didn't blink despite self-inflicted misery and Nittany Lion big plays.
They won everywhere except where it mattered most -- the scoreboard.
At some point, you figure, the breakthrough will come.
It has to, if there is any fairness in the college football universe, a decade-plus of heartbreak be darned.
"We're going to keep doing the things that we're doing over and over and over and over again until we break through," Allen said. "It's going to happen."
Youth is sometimes an anchor, but not an excuse. Yes, IU plays nine freshmen on its kickoff coverage unit, which is risky until you consider the potential.
"They're good players," Allen said, "but they're young."
Still, poor kickoff coverage had the coach joking that, "If we could kick it out of bounds, we would, but that would be a penalty and give them the ball at the (40-yard line), so I'm not real fired up about doing that."
Penn State (5-2) is a very good team, a top-20 squad with top-10 talent, and the Hoosiers had victory in sight.
They did.
They blocked ferociously, tackled decisively, ran effectively. The quarterback combination of Peyton Ramsey and Michael Penix Jr. (he played for the first time in 6 games and threw for 94 yards, ran for 24 more before suffering a lower leg injury) had the Nittany Lions reeling. Ramsey went 26-for-36 for 236 yards and a touchdown. True freshman tailback Stevie Scott again evoked comparisons to Anthony Thompson with 138 rushing yards (his 3rd 100-yard effort of the season) and two touchdowns.
IU ran 100 plays, just one off the school record. It held Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley without a touchdown pass for the first time in his 34 career starts, something that Ohio State and Michigan State, among others, couldn't do.
Indiana had the lead late in the third quarter, for goodness sakes. It had a chance, on the game's last play thanks to recovering an on-side kick, to pull out a victory.
That it didn't, defensive back Marcelino Ball said, "Makes us stronger. It makes us want it more. It shows us that every play matters."
IU is so close to busting through that it hurts. It makes so many good plays, great plays, winning plays, and then does something to mess it up -- such as dropped passes, fumbles, a blown coverage, drive-killing holding calls, giving up a 95-yard kickoff return after taking that late-third-quarter lead that led to a huge Penn State touchdown.
"Our offense and defense played well enough for us to win," Allen said. "Special teams really hurt us. That, to me, was the glaring thing."
The good news -- it can all be corrected. If the Hoosiers want to be good, it has to be.
It won't take divine intervention, although that wouldn't hurt. It will take a little more focus. Catch passes that hit your hands. Stay disciplined on special teams. Don't fumble. Don't hold. Don't snap the ball when you're not supposed to.
Don't fumble.
And always, always, give maximum effort.
The Hoosiers know this, of course. Film doesn't lie. Numbers aren't a mirage. And the excitement that flowed from the fans who stayed to the end reflected the yearning Hoosier Nation has for a winning record it hasn't seen since 2007.
The Hoosiers so often match that excitement, and raise it. They work; they bleed; they sweat.
They just need to execute a bit better.
"It's hard," Ramsey said. "It's frustrating. But at the same time, you see glimpses of a good team. It's frustrating that we struggle to put in all together. We have to find ways to use each other's momentum. That's how you win games, when you play as a team."
The Hoosiers, Ball said, have every intention of doing that, starting next Friday night -- yes, Friday night -- at Minnesota (3-4).
"It's on to the next week. We're 0-0 going into Minnesota. The goal is to be 1-0 leaving Minneapolis."
IU remains two wins shy of bowl eligibility, with four games left – Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan and Purdue.
"We have time," Ball said. "We have games. We're going to make it happen."
He believes. Allen believes. If the rest of the Hoosiers join them, well, it's all there for the taking.
So take it.
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