It has been 29 years since Indiana has won a bowl game and for head coach Tom Allen, the opportunity to rid the team of the memories of the 2020 Gator Bowl are one he welcomes as he gets his team ready for the 2021 Outback Bowl.
When the Hoosiers kick off Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Ole Miss, Indiana will have an opportunity to rid itself of close calls, near falls and heartbreak, as Indiana has lost five bowls and three of the last six have been by a combined six points, including last year's 23-22 loss to Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Against the Volunteers, Indiana had a commanding 22-9 lead with five minutes left to go, only to watch Tennessee come roaring back with a touchdown, onside kick and another touchdown to celebrate a bowl win for coach Jeremy Pruitt.
This week, Allen told the media he has not forgotten about the loss and how his team failed to finish and close out the win. As a result, Indiana dropped to 0-2 in bowl games under Allen, who coached in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl as an interim coach after the dismissal of Kevin Wilson.
“Today I choose not to forget about things like that, in a positive way. That's where when you talk about earmuffs and blinders. It doesn't mean we're deaf and blind. Those things are filters, and there are things from that game that I don't want us to ever forget," Allen said.
One of the things he hasn't forgotten is the way his team finished that game, and he is making sure his team doesn't forget aspects of the game either.
"All three phases were affected in that game. So, to me, those things are brought up in the right way, the right time for the right purpose, to be able to use them as teaching and fuel and reminders about what happens when you don't finish. Sometimes, those things are due to the opponent, and sometimes those are self-inflicted things, but it's about learning from the past and letting those experiences be game changers for your future and not things that continue to haunt you from the past," Allen said.
In recent weeks, Allen has talked about how ready his team will be when the Outback Bowl starts and how they will approach the game with a chip on their shoulder when they take on the Rebels, out of the SEC.
"This is the next opportunity for this program to prove who we are, to stare adversity right in the face and just fight, fight, fight for each other. And, that's what we're gonna do. This football team will be ready when it takes the field at 12:30, Jan. 2. Period. We are playing a really good football team. I've coached in that league. I've coached at that university," said Allen.
For those reasons and then some, the word for Indiana in the Outback Bowl is simple -- finish.
Indiana defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, who is in his final week with the Hoosiers, said he and the rest of the coaching staff, as well as the players, understand what a bowl victory would mean to the program and admits the Hoosiers have used the lessons, both good and bad, of the Gator Bowl to fuel this season.
"I think we used the momentum of the things that we did well, and the urgency to correct the things that we didn't to push us on to where we are this season. We are in position as a team to create momentum with a win, and to have a bowl win in this program and you know you can look at the numbers and look them up yourself in terms of the last time that we won and and what that would mean to this program and its fan base and these alumni, and it's something that we all are very committed to making sure that we get accomplished on Saturday.” Wommack said.
All-American wide receiver Ty Fryfogle echoed those sentiments, as the Mississippi native told the media the Hoosiers are not content with just making a bowl.
"We've been reminded of the Gator Bowl a lot. We don't want to just go to a bowl game, we want to win a bowl game."
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