Because There is No Other Choice, Hoosiers Move Forward After Tough Loss at Iowa

Indiana's players and coaches had a lot of heart-to-heart conversations after Saturday's disappointing 34-6 loss to Iowa, and now it's full steam ahead into the home opener against Idaho on Saturday night.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The postgame locker room was somber, and the plane flight home was even worse for Indiana's football team. Gut-wrenching 34-6 losses in a season opener will do that to teams, especially when a team enters the season with lofty expectations.

But come Sunday, the No. 17-ranked Hoosiers watched the film of their blowout loss to the No. 18 Iowa Hawkeyes, had several ''open and honest conversations, just heart-to-hearts about where we are'' with their coaches and got back out on the field for a brief practice. 

It was time to move forward. After all, it was just one loss. The rest of the season was not cancelled just because of one bad day.

"The ride home, the locker room, it was pretty somber, but, you know, this is a group of guys that have invested a lot,'' Indiana coach Tom Allen said Monday. "It's tough. You wake up the next day – and we talked that through too, –  you've just got this sick feeling in your stomach and you wake up feeling awful. and you do feel awful.

"Now, it's how you respond when you care a whole bunch and things don't go the way you want them do. and for a variety of reasons. But once you have a chance to address it and watch the film and talk about it openly and honestly, I thought it was really critical the way they leave. and that, to me, is what I was focusing on,  how they walked out of the facility at the end of the day. We do a lot with them on Sundays. and when they leave the building that night, I want to make sure that that experience is flushed, good or bad, and we're now ready to move on to our next opponent. and that's what we did.''

That is easier said than done, of course, especially when you go into a game thinking you can contend with the best of the best in the Big Ten, even in a tough environment on the road. But the Hoosiers didn't do that Saturday, struggling in all three phases against an Iowa team on a seven-game Big Ten winning streak, especially on offense.

But the Hoosiers did that Sunday, flushing the loss and moving on to preparations for the home opener on Saturday night, under the lights against Idaho. 

"For the players, we were with them (Sunday), which I think is a good thing. We practice on Sundays now and give them Monday off, and be able to go through and actually get on the field again. that's the last thing we do, about a 40-minute practice with our guys, do some corrections from the game and then introduce our next opponent.

"It's good just to be able to get their mind right and moving forward. Prior to getting on the field, we have a 20-minute meeting about the next opponent. so you just really have a chance to kind of work through the previous game, good or bad, and then get your mind right and get your focus on the next opponent, which is really most important at this point.''

Yes it is. The Hoosiers are home for the next two weeks, and Allen and his players are excited about playing in front of a full house of fans at Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2019. Idaho, an FCS team from the Big Sky Conference, shouldn't provide much of a challenge, but No. 8 Cincinnati arrives a week later. So, yes, moving on is important.

That means helping get quarterback Michael Penix Jr. feeling more comfortable. Coming off his second ACL injury, he struggled in the opener with a career-high three interceptions. The defense also allowed a 56-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the game that Indiana defensive coordinator Charlton Warren called "catastrophic.'' Special teams weren't good, either.

But there were good things, too. Indiana rush defense allowed Iowa's Tyler Goodson just 39 yards on 17 carries after the big run. That's a positive going forward.'

"You can't erase that play and, obviously, it was a huge part of the game,'' Allen said. "It was momentum, it was a lot of things, you know.

"But big picture-wise moving forward – which is the whole point here in what we're talking about – you definitely feel with the team that that's what they do. that's what they hang their hat on. that's where the strength of their team lies.

"You know, our run defense last year wasn't the strength of our defense. so, to me, it was something that we've emphasized, something we knew we needed to get better at in order to play the way we want to play in this conference and to be able to do things we want to do, and I believe we can do and will do in this conference. You have to stop the run, so I was very encouraged by that. It's a collective group effort with that. and that was a very positive thing for the future.''

Indiana defensive end Ryder Anderson, who led the Hoosiers in tackles on Saturday and also had a sack, reiterated again that this is still a good team and the Hoosiers are excited to move forward.

"As bad as the score showed, I still saw a lot of good things out there,'' said Anderson, a transfer from Ole Miss. "I don't just think it, I know we're a really good team. We have a lot of faith in each other, and we love each other. It's not just a saying; it's real. I know what potential lies there, and what we did Saturday wasn't that.

"I feel like there's a lot of (leadership) in that locker room. We're ready to get back to work and prove ourselves. It's about what's next and getting back on track. We're already doing that. I see that everybody cares. I saw guys upset, saw guys angry. I saw that from everybody, and it's a good thing to see. Everybody's dialed in and there's no negativity going around, because we know our potential and know we can get on track.''

Sure, the loss was tough to swallow, but Allen said it's not about to define what this team is.

Allen is expecting a good week of practice and a better performance on Saturday night under the lights. He's not wavering either. He still thinks this is a good team, too.

"As we often say, game day's coming. and the clock's ticking,'' Allen said. "There's a  sense of urgency with that, and that's why (Sunday) was so important, to not only just to flush things out but just to be open and honest about where you are with things and address them. That process is continuing even into today as a staff.

"And then Tuesday's practice is huge, the way our guys come and approach their opportunity at 7 a.m., our first team meeting in the morning, and be able to have the right mindset and to have a great Tuesday morning practice and film study and walk-through and everything that goes into this to be able to give us the progression that we have to have.''

Hitting the re-set button isn't a bad thing

"There's no question, obviously, that everybody knows that it wasn't what anybody wanted, and it's my responsibility,'' Allen said. "The buck stops with me. and I have to own it. and I do. it's my responsibility to get it fixed. so that's where we're at.

"I'm excited for our guys to be able to have the opportunity to get back out there. That's one thing that's great about this awesome game. it was a game, but it was one game, so now we've got to move on to our second opportunity. and that's the beauty of this sport. You've got to be able to respond, and you've got to be able to look yourself in the mirror, and you've got to be able to make honest assessments and evaluations, and you've got to go fix them. There's a lot of pride in this football team. a lot of guys that worked extremely hard. We've got a lot of work ahead of us, but we're excited about the opportunity to get back out there on Saturday in front of all of our fans.''