The No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers may have lost on Saturday to the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes, but anybody that watched the game had to come away with the conclusion that Indiana is for real.
Indiana almost completed a late comeback after trailing 41-21 in Columbus, but came up short on the final drive in a 42-35 loss. Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw for 491 yards and five touchdowns, and the Hoosiers picked off Ohio State superstar quarterback Justin Fields three times (he entered this game with three *career* interceptions — compared to 56 touchdown passes — in 476 pass attempts, and zero of the interceptions happened this season).
After the game, Indiana head coach Tom Allen gave an amazing speech in the locker room, reminding the players that “this team is special.”
Incredible stuff.
Allen is in his fourth season as Indiana head coach (he also coached one game in 2015), and in 2019, led the Hoosiers to their first winning season to 2007- and their first eight-win season since 1993. Now he has them looking like a legitimate top-10 team in the country.
It’s been a remarkable turnaround in Bloomington, and that locker room speech gives a pretty good idea of how it’s happened. That’s one passionate coach.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.