‘Lot to Prove’ -- Top-Seeded Hoosiers Dialed In To ‘Ultimate Goal’
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The job isn’t finished. The Indiana Hoosiers understand that, are committed to that, receiver Elijah Sarratt says. Beating Ohio State for the first time since 1988, winning the program’s first ever Big Ten title game to earn its first playoff top seed is not the end game.
A national championship is.
Next up is a Jan. 1 Rose Bowl playoff quarterfinal showdown with ninth-seeded Alabama (11-3), with a possible semifinal game in Atlanta and then a national title game shot in Miami next if the Hoosiers (13-0) keep winning, which they very much plan to do.
“We understand we had a big win (against Ohio State),” Sarratt says. “We want more than that. Continuing to understand what our goal is will keep us humble. We understand what our ultimate goal is.”
To achieve it, tight end Riley Nowakowski says, means sticking to the “stay humble and hungry” mantra head coach Curt Cignetti pushes.
“We have a talented team,” Nowakowski says. “We trust our team. We know what we can do. Complacency kills. That’s important for us -- continue to get after it.”
Much like Ohio State, Alabama brings a national tradition few programs can match, including 16 official national titles, 13 starting with the Associated Press poll era, which began in 1936. Notre Dame (eight) and Ohio State (seven) are next since 1936.
For the record, Yale leads with 18, 15 coming before 1901.
With no national championships, IU has a much lower profile.
“We’re still a team people doubt and don’t believe in,” Nowakowski says. “We feel we haven’t proved what we need to prove. The goal has always been at the end of the year. As long as we keep that in the forefront of our minds, we’ll be fine.”
Anything that looks beyond Alabama, he adds, won’t be tolerated.
“We try to take it one day at a time. It’s great that we have a lot of opportunities coming up, but we have practice. That’s what I’m focused on. Try to get better every day.
“Get 1 percent better every day. When the opportunity comes, then we have a chance to celebrate. Until then, keep working.”
Still, the thrill of snapping Ohio State’s 16-game winning streak as well as a 30-game losing streak to the Buckeyes to win its first outright Big Ten title since 1945, remains strong.
“It was huge,” Nowakowski says. “It's something you dream of as a kid, right? The moment for me was the confetti shooting up. It was like, ‘Wow.’
“I went to the Vegas Bowl in my younger years (at Wisconsin) and we had the confetti, too, but this felt a little different. It had a little more meaning behind it. The red and white with the Big Ten logo coming down. It's been surreal. It's probably the most amazing thing I've done in my life so far.”
Nowakowski and Sarratt are part of one of the nation’s most prolific offenses. IU averages 41.9 points and 472.8 total yards a game, including 221.2 yards rushing. It also converts 56.0 percent of its third downs and 50 percent on fourth-down.
It will face an Alabama defense that allows 17.9 points.
The Hoosiers’ success, Nowakowski says, comes from high-level collaboration between offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and the players. The result is consistently getting the best play calls and best execution. The fact NCAA rules allow having iPads on the sidelines to receive instant insight has been a game changer.
“We're constantly trying to give feedback,” Nowakowski says. “It's really helpful that we have iPads on the sidelines, so we can look at stuff and diagnose it. We can say ‘Hey, this can work here or this might not work here.’
“What people don't realize is football is always a conversation. We're always talking, whether it's on the field or off the field. You're always trying to tweak things, and trying to make things right, and making sure you're talking to the right people.”
Shanahan’s willingness to listen and utilize player feedback is crucial, Nowakowski adds.
“Something I really admire about Coach Shanahan is that he's really great at listening to us and valuing our opinions, and then making the right play calls off of it.
“I might see something and say ‘This is what they're doing.’ I don't necessarily know what the best play call is to go off of that. Maybe I think I do, but that might not be the truth. Coach Shanahan is really great at getting us into a great call, whether it's to crease them or hit them over the top. I think it's part of that trust to believe us and value our opinions.”