The No. 12 Indiana Hoosiers — as a 13.5-point underdog — beat the No. 16 Wisconsin Badgers 14-6 on Saturday in Madison, even without star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (who tore his ACL last Saturday). Sophomore quarterback Jack Tuttle threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions, and the Hoosiers’ defense was stifling in holding the Badgers to two field goals. Indiana is now 6-1, and their only loss was by seven points on the road to No. 4 Ohio State.
It’s been an incredibly impressive season — and program rebuild — for the Hoosiers, and the players made it clear after Saturday’s win that head coach Tom Allen is the main reason why.
During Allen’s postgame interview with ESPN, Indiana players kept jumping in to say that Allen is “the best coach in America,” the “best coach in the nation,” and told recruits to “come play for this man.”
That’s very high praise and genuine appreciation for their head coach, and they’ve had the results to back it up. And this comes two weeks after Allen gave an incredibly powerful speech to his team after their tough loss to Ohio State.
Here was his speech — another awesome one — to the team after Saturday’s win:
With Allen in place, the Indiana football program may be here to stay as a force. The team is getting fantastic results, Allen is making a great impression, and the players are confirming that he deserves all of the praise he’s getting (and then some). This will all surely stand out to recruits.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.