Indiana Football 2017 Post Mortem

 Indiana Football 2017 Post Mortem

 So Close and So Far

The season has ended; as the first year coach Tom Allen exclaimed it has been "disappointing".

Yup. I saw it more or less, followed it, and I can explain how this was.

It was entertaining and even promising till the last quarter, of the last game against arch rival Purdue, at least. That is part of the sheer disappointment: this IU team had talent and potential to have a really special season, unlike so many others of the past. They came tantalizing close to making this season a really successful one.

This is definitely not a given for Indiana University on the grid iron, year in and year out.

Indiana has the most Division 1, or Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) losses of all time. We Hoosier fans have known our share of disappointing and even heart wrenching seasons. We have been close to victory in the past and not reached it, but that is for another post. This is about this year, 2017.

This year has its own pathos and explanation. We have had an established good offense the last 5 years under dismissed head coach Kevin Wilson, and now the new defensive coach is under the helm.

The very first game attracted a featured ESPN crew and the attenuating excitement, and if won would have been, in the coach's words, the "biggest win in the program's history".

Big hopes, came up short. One game, no problem.

We lost to Ohio State the very first game of the season back in August, but we gave them a fight until the third quarter. And the Buckeyes were considered number one in the land. Not bad.

We beat the non-conference teams that we were supposed to, even one that was unexpected due to a Florida hurricane. (It was swapped in September for a later week in October when the original Florida school cancelled). Virginia was an exceptionally good non-Big Ten win (and a personal revenge game for me that I was there in person for back in 2009).

The Big Ten schedule continued to be brutal, but showed promise: IU took Michigan to overtime for the second time in three years (and lost, like in 2015), and was leading Michigan State 9-3 in the fourth before blowing it, and while not competing well with Penn State, had a crucial good match up with Maryland in College Park. I was there with my wife.

And we lost by three in a crazy game where IU committed too many mistakes. Ouch. In 2015 IU beat them soundly to ensure an end of season two game win streak to go to a bowl. It was their first in eight years.

So now, Indiana had to beat the last three teams in a row, which was doable, but the the Purdue Boilermakers stood in the way after handling Illinois and Rutgers. And like at the end of any season some key players were banged up or lost for the season. This would be an unprecedented fifth Oaken Bucket victory in a row, which had never happened before.

And it did not yesterday. Too many dumb mistakes, similar to the needless loss to the Maryland Terrapins. Two dumb losses, and two from Michigan teams that got away.

And I forgot to mention playing and losing to the Big Ten West's and possibly the overall Big Ten's best team, Wisconsin, which also pounded the Hoosiers and beat them up.

So close! So close to having a good, or even great season.

Alas, the biggest loser, ever, in Division 1. Still. We hold the title.

However: there is reason to believe that the Hoosier football nation is improving. The coach is new and has improved them in defense, and the players are actually used to going to bowls, and competing against the big boys.

There is hope, Hoosier fans. This year was a disappointing finish. No bowl. They were good enough.

But the promise of 2018 awaits.

Go Hoosiers. Rest up and get healthy, get stronger and faster for next year.

The hump is ready to being overcome. We will get over it.

Opponents beware.

 

FIU, Virginia, Ball State, MSU, Rutgers, OSU, Iowa, PSU, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan, Purdue.