Still Fighting – Old Oaken Bucket Win Comes Down to Finishing
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In some ways, Brendan Sorsby is living his dream. He’s battled his way to becoming not just Indiana’s starting quarterback, but a solid Big Ten performer with an impressive dual-threat future.
But the dream has a big hole -- IU is 3-8 and not eligible for a bowl.
Still, the Hoosiers’ performances the last four weeks -- pushing Top-10 Penn State to the final three minutes, beating Wisconsin, a play away from defeating Illinois and Michigan State -- indicate how close they are to becoming a good team, how strongly they refuse to give into disappointment as they prepare for Saturday’s season finale at rival Purdue (3-8).
“I’m most proud of our fight,” Sorsby says. “We’re always in it. We just have to learn how to finish. Our ability to respond to adversity is impressive.”
Impressive comes with this certainty: It’s not good enough.
“We have to finish games,” Sorsby says. “When you’re losing, it’s not good enough. We’ve come far, but we didn’t come this far to just come this far. We have to continue to improve and find a way to win.”
The margin between winning and losing remains razor thin.
“It’s a series of plays, a series of efforts,” head coach Tom Allen says. “It’s making sure we get our best players on the field and make sure on the calls we make, that our guys execute at a very high level.
“Obviously, we have not done that, and it’s been unbelievably frustrating and disappointing.
“We’ve got one more opportunity. We have to make sure it doesn’t happen this time.”
As far as the offense, the improvement under offensive coordinator Rod Carey suggests a bright future, and if it hasn’t delivered enough victories, it has boosted belief in the possibilities.
“I like the progression everyone is making,” Carey says. “I don’t like the results. That comes with progression. We’ve got to hurry that progression up this week to get the result we want.”
Sorsby sees the potential.
“We’ve got some great pieces. I’m a big fan of what we’re doing. We have to continue to improve. We have to find a way to win this last one, build in the offseason, and see what happens.
“Maybe Coach Carey gets to install more of his own offense. Put some more pieces in place. We have a great group of guys. I’m excited to work with them."
It comes down to work and battling through the inevitable ups and downs, Carey says.
“The grind is the grind,” he says. “If anybody says they enjoy it 100 percent of the time, they’re lying to you. You call it a grind for a reason.
“Coaching is what I know, what I’ve done for 30 years. I understand it. Parts of it are super exciting.”
Excitement includes seeing Sorsby develop into a solid Big Ten starter. The redshirt freshman completes 57.3 percent of his passes for 1,356 yards, 12 touchdowns, and two interceptions. Not bad for someone who entered the season with just three completions on his resume.
“He’s grown with the game reps,” Carey says. “He started slow. He did some things well. Obviously, it wasn’t enough. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t have enough good things to get over the hump to get the win.
“Young guys are up and down. It’s getting to a point that he does have a good rep base. It’s still not a complete body of work. He has a lot to learn, but I like where we’re heading.”
Sorsby is learning to read defenses, which includes lots of film watching and then getting game reps.
“Those are huge,” he says about game experience. “I have a better understanding of the game, knowing where (defensive) guys are aligning. They are telling you what they’re doing.”
You just have to recognize it.
“Purdue does a great job of disguising stuff,” Sorsby says. “We have to attack them early like we have these past couple of weeks. I think we’ll be good.”
Carey is also pleased with the progress of sophomore running back Trent Howland, who has rushed for 77 and 72 yards with two touchdowns the last two games after the starting the season fourth on the depth chart.
“It’s nothing he didn’t earn,” Carey says. “You’ve got to earn it. He did with consistency. When you earn that opportunity to get into a game and get live reps, you have a steeper learning curve. Those live reps count for quite a bit more than practice reps.
“That’s the challenge -- you’ve got to earn time with practice reps, then make the most of the game reps. He has done that.”
Ultimately, it comes down to regaining the Old Oaken Bucket. Purdue has won the last two meetings. Allen says this week’s practice has the Hoosiers ready for a special Saturday.
“It was very intense. High energy. We had our best (Tuesday practice) of the year. (Wednesday practice) was similar. Guys understand what we’re playing for. There’s a lot of passion toward the Bucket game and what it means to so many people currently, in the past and moving forward.
“Guys have to be pros, put in the work, show up with great energy, and practice really hard. We have to bring our very best.”