Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO COLUMN – Even in Defeat, Indiana Finds Growth
10/6/2018 10:11:00 PM | Football
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Back down?
Are you kidding?
Tom Allen wasn't going there, and he sure as heck wasn't letting his Hoosiers do it.
A half an hour after Saturday's 49-26 loss at No. 3 Ohio State and Indiana's coach reverted to the passion he exhibited in the closing minutes, when the game was lost, but the aspirations weren't.
"We weren't going to back down from anybody," Allen said from an elevated platform at Ohio Stadium's visiting press room. "This program is working hard to be special!"
He smacked the table.
"That ain't going to change!"
Allen is driven to turn IU into a consistent football winner and if the results aren't there yet -- the Hoosiers haven't had a winning record since 2007 -- the foundation is in place.
Indiana's 4-2 record suggests some of that.
Pushing the 6-0 Buckeyes hard suggests more.
Allen's passion takes care of the rest.
"Our kids battled," he said, "but obviously this is not good enough."
In Allen's world, you play hard, smart and tough. You concede nothing.
Case in point -- offensive lineman Cory Cronk, all 309 pounds of him, busted his tail to blast through a blocker and prevent a Buckeye from returning an interception off an IU two-point conversion attempt into an Ohio State two-point score.
"Cory Cronk is tougher than nails," Allen said. "He's … a tough sucker."
In Allen's world, you learn from mistakes, and there will be mistakes when you play so much youth, especially on defense, with 14 freshmen or sophomores seeing significant action. Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, a Heisman Trophy candidate, burned the Hoosiers for 455 passing yards and six touchdowns.
"It's amazing how many young guys we have on defense," Allen said. "We have to keep growing and learning.
"This team has a chance to keep going. We'll be happy with the result if we stay the course."
Ultimately on Saturday, Ohio State was too fast, too strong, too gifted. Only top-ranked Alabama rivals Buckeye talent.
Plus, the Buckeyes had 104,000-plus fans driving them on.
And still the Hoosiers had a chance deep into the second half, although as Allen pointed out, "There are no moral victories. That's in the past.
"We're right there. We keep fighting. That's what our program does."
What does this mean for the rest of the Hoosier schedule?
In short, all things are possible.
Iowa (4-1) is next in Saturday's Homecoming game, and if you don't think the Hoosiers have a chance, you weren't paying attention on Saturday.
Ohio State had defensive vulnerability and IU took advantage in the first half when it totaled 317 yards and 20 points.
As for the second half, well, more works needs to be done. The Hoosiers had just 89 total yards and six points in the final two quarters.
"We left plays out there," Allen said.
Case in point -- IU missed a chance to really pressure Ohio State late in the third quarter after redshirt freshman safety Bryant Fitzgerald's first career interception gave the Hoosiers the ball at midfield trailing by nine points. They wound up punting, got the ball back inside the Buckeye 35-yard line and missed a 50-yard field goal attempt.
The Buckeyes took charge after that.
"We had momentum," redshirt junior linebacker Reakwon Jones said. "We were intense.
"It was mistakes. That got the best of us."
Or, as fifth-year senior defensive end Nile Sykes put it, "It's a matter of executing calls when we're supposed to. There were times we kind of beat ourselves."
Yes, redshirt sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey missed some open deep balls that he has to make, but he came back with some clutch passes thanks in part to creative play calling, good protection, big-time receiver play and his own tough-minded nature.
He hit Nick Westbrook (it was good to get him going again) for 38 yards, tight end Peyton Hendershot for 32 yards and J-Shun Harris for 30 yards to punish a Buckeye defense focused on man coverage.
Ramsey wound up completing at least one pass to nine different receivers for a career-high 322 yards and a career-high-tying three touchdowns.
Bottom line – the more deep balls Ramsey throws, the more accurate he's likely to get at it, which will stretch the defense, open more holes and generate the big plays IU needs to win down the stretch.
"Peyton is a tough, hard-nosed kid," Allen said. "I believe in him. He's really accurate. He throws a catchable ball. He's my kind of guy."
Ramsey had plenty of receiver help.
Harris had career-bests with eight catches for 104 yards. Westbrook had five catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
"We took advantage of some things that will help us in the future," Allen said. "We have a lot of guys who can make plays."
There was defensive excellence and inconsistency, which Allen takes personally given he's the defensive coordinator as well as the head coach.
The Hoosiers blew their coverage to start the second half – two players blitzed on 3rd-and-6 and no one covered wideout Parris Campbell -- and the result was Campbell's 71-yard Buckeye touchdown catch that had Allen in ultra-feisty form.
"They caught us," Allen said. "We made a mistake. We didn't get the check we were supposed to. We can't make those mistakes."
IU has to be better than that.
On Ohio State's next possession, it was better, forcing a punt, the Buckeyes' first of the game.
On Ohio State's possession after that, it was stopped on a fourth-down run.
On the possession after that, Fitzgerald got the interception.
You can build on a response like that, and the Hoosiers have to.
"We're growing," Allen said. "It's a process."
Early on IU outplayed an Ohio State.
The Hoosiers got a field goal on their first possession (it could have been a touchdown if not for two offensive penalties), forced a fumble on the Buckeyes' opening drive (defensive tackle Brandon Wilson forced it, husky Cam Jones recovered it) and seemed primed to deliver an upset.
IU missed on another touchdown opportunity when Ramsey overthrew an open Reese Taylor, who had his defender beaten by four steps.
The result – a potential 14 first-quarter points wound up as just three.
To win at Ohio State you have to maximize on every opportunity, and the Hoosiers basically did that with a 17-point second quarter.
The key, of course, is to sustain that for 60 minutes in the six remaining games.
If the Hoosiers do, they will be playing in December or January.
That's what matters most.
Are you kidding?
Tom Allen wasn't going there, and he sure as heck wasn't letting his Hoosiers do it.
A half an hour after Saturday's 49-26 loss at No. 3 Ohio State and Indiana's coach reverted to the passion he exhibited in the closing minutes, when the game was lost, but the aspirations weren't.
"We weren't going to back down from anybody," Allen said from an elevated platform at Ohio Stadium's visiting press room. "This program is working hard to be special!"
He smacked the table.
"That ain't going to change!"
Allen is driven to turn IU into a consistent football winner and if the results aren't there yet -- the Hoosiers haven't had a winning record since 2007 -- the foundation is in place.
Indiana's 4-2 record suggests some of that.
Pushing the 6-0 Buckeyes hard suggests more.
Allen's passion takes care of the rest.
"Our kids battled," he said, "but obviously this is not good enough."
In Allen's world, you play hard, smart and tough. You concede nothing.
Case in point -- offensive lineman Cory Cronk, all 309 pounds of him, busted his tail to blast through a blocker and prevent a Buckeye from returning an interception off an IU two-point conversion attempt into an Ohio State two-point score.
"Cory Cronk is tougher than nails," Allen said. "He's … a tough sucker."
In Allen's world, you learn from mistakes, and there will be mistakes when you play so much youth, especially on defense, with 14 freshmen or sophomores seeing significant action. Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, a Heisman Trophy candidate, burned the Hoosiers for 455 passing yards and six touchdowns.
"It's amazing how many young guys we have on defense," Allen said. "We have to keep growing and learning.
"This team has a chance to keep going. We'll be happy with the result if we stay the course."
Ultimately on Saturday, Ohio State was too fast, too strong, too gifted. Only top-ranked Alabama rivals Buckeye talent.
Plus, the Buckeyes had 104,000-plus fans driving them on.
And still the Hoosiers had a chance deep into the second half, although as Allen pointed out, "There are no moral victories. That's in the past.
"We're right there. We keep fighting. That's what our program does."
What does this mean for the rest of the Hoosier schedule?
In short, all things are possible.
Iowa (4-1) is next in Saturday's Homecoming game, and if you don't think the Hoosiers have a chance, you weren't paying attention on Saturday.
Ohio State had defensive vulnerability and IU took advantage in the first half when it totaled 317 yards and 20 points.
As for the second half, well, more works needs to be done. The Hoosiers had just 89 total yards and six points in the final two quarters.
"We left plays out there," Allen said.
Case in point -- IU missed a chance to really pressure Ohio State late in the third quarter after redshirt freshman safety Bryant Fitzgerald's first career interception gave the Hoosiers the ball at midfield trailing by nine points. They wound up punting, got the ball back inside the Buckeye 35-yard line and missed a 50-yard field goal attempt.
The Buckeyes took charge after that.
"We had momentum," redshirt junior linebacker Reakwon Jones said. "We were intense.
"It was mistakes. That got the best of us."
Or, as fifth-year senior defensive end Nile Sykes put it, "It's a matter of executing calls when we're supposed to. There were times we kind of beat ourselves."
Yes, redshirt sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey missed some open deep balls that he has to make, but he came back with some clutch passes thanks in part to creative play calling, good protection, big-time receiver play and his own tough-minded nature.
He hit Nick Westbrook (it was good to get him going again) for 38 yards, tight end Peyton Hendershot for 32 yards and J-Shun Harris for 30 yards to punish a Buckeye defense focused on man coverage.
Ramsey wound up completing at least one pass to nine different receivers for a career-high 322 yards and a career-high-tying three touchdowns.
Bottom line – the more deep balls Ramsey throws, the more accurate he's likely to get at it, which will stretch the defense, open more holes and generate the big plays IU needs to win down the stretch.
"Peyton is a tough, hard-nosed kid," Allen said. "I believe in him. He's really accurate. He throws a catchable ball. He's my kind of guy."
Ramsey had plenty of receiver help.
Harris had career-bests with eight catches for 104 yards. Westbrook had five catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
"We took advantage of some things that will help us in the future," Allen said. "We have a lot of guys who can make plays."
There was defensive excellence and inconsistency, which Allen takes personally given he's the defensive coordinator as well as the head coach.
The Hoosiers blew their coverage to start the second half – two players blitzed on 3rd-and-6 and no one covered wideout Parris Campbell -- and the result was Campbell's 71-yard Buckeye touchdown catch that had Allen in ultra-feisty form.
"They caught us," Allen said. "We made a mistake. We didn't get the check we were supposed to. We can't make those mistakes."
IU has to be better than that.
On Ohio State's next possession, it was better, forcing a punt, the Buckeyes' first of the game.
On Ohio State's possession after that, it was stopped on a fourth-down run.
On the possession after that, Fitzgerald got the interception.
You can build on a response like that, and the Hoosiers have to.
"We're growing," Allen said. "It's a process."
Early on IU outplayed an Ohio State.
The Hoosiers got a field goal on their first possession (it could have been a touchdown if not for two offensive penalties), forced a fumble on the Buckeyes' opening drive (defensive tackle Brandon Wilson forced it, husky Cam Jones recovered it) and seemed primed to deliver an upset.
IU missed on another touchdown opportunity when Ramsey overthrew an open Reese Taylor, who had his defender beaten by four steps.
The result – a potential 14 first-quarter points wound up as just three.
To win at Ohio State you have to maximize on every opportunity, and the Hoosiers basically did that with a 17-point second quarter.
The key, of course, is to sustain that for 60 minutes in the six remaining games.
If the Hoosiers do, they will be playing in December or January.
That's what matters most.
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
ATH
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DL
/ FootballFB: Spring Game - Postgame Press Conference
Thursday, April 23
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21