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Coming down from three straight wins is always a humbling feeling. The facility the next day is never a great place to be, meetings and film usually has a negative connotation to them instead of a sense of pride or reward after a win.

Going through that first loss as a new team and new coaching staff presents a fresh challenge. Two new coordinators have to lead their players after a loss for the first time and furthermore, their players have yet to see how these coaches respond to failure.

A proper response is essential ahead of this week's game with Nebraska. If not, this first loss against Cincinnati could very easily snowball into an entire season eventually unraveling at the seams.

Tom Allen was asked this week how he has seen his first-year coaches respond to failing as a group for the first time. He had an elaborative answer:

"Well, it's interesting you say that because even talking to some of our new coaches, they were anxious to see how our team would respond at the half. They've all coached this game for many, many years. Different teams have different responses," Allen explained.

"We're all responsible for it as coaches, making sure our guys are mentally and physically in every way possible ready to play their best football when that first whistle blows."

Allen would continue, mentioning that multiple coaches on his staff, Adam Henry, Craig Johnson, and Aaron Wellman have led at the highest level and that he has full confidence in how they will persevere through the difficult road that losing creates.

"We have a lot of coaches that we've added that have a lot of experience. They've done this a lot of different places, a lot of different levels," Allen said. "A couple of them, actually three of them have done it at the highest level. That's to me what allows these guys to be able to help this team continue to grow and develop."

Allen has a lot of coach-speak terms that he says on most likely a daily basis.

"The buck stops with me", "grit is perseverance and passion towards a long-term goal", and my personal favorite, "it starts up front".

But, he always brings up how important it is to respond to adversity. He had a lot of opportunities to say that last season, it just felt like there was less hope every time he said it, Monday after Monday, standing behind the podium in the Henke Hall of Champions.

I think he sees the potential this loss has in it, and how important this upcoming meeting with Nebraska is. Not just because it's the next one.

"It's part of every team as the season unfolds. You're going to have ups and downs, great wins, and tough losses. You have to respond," Allen said. "So, this gives us our first chance this year following a setback to be able to come back and show and prove to ourselves, the people around us, the people that matter most, that we can be trusted and counted on as teammates."

"That's what I want our guys to do."

Defensively, light was shone on some previously hidden and dark places that hadn't been seen or taken advantage of.

An All-American defensive back was torched multiple times, open field tackling was abysmal and the defensive front got very little pressure on the quarterback.

Aaron Casey and Cam Jones talked to reporters on Monday and they didn't look like they had just come from getting a tongue lashing during a meeting. They didn't look defeated. They gave credit to Indiana defensive coordinator Chad Wilt for how he had managed the Hoosiers first loss.

“I’ve just seen a coach that believes in us. A coach that’s passionate, a coach that’s dedicated to getting the problems that we have fixed," Jones said. "There’s no dull moment with him, there’s no drop off with him. He’s the same guy no matter the situation. His response, his message to the team Monday morning. It tells us a lot, what he thinks about us, what he feels about us. Just his overall love for the team."

Casey elaborated on Wilt's message. From his description, Wilt didn't struggle to see the positives in Saturday's defensive effort during the second half.

“He was just telling us how we had to put a full game together, and how the first half wasn’t us. But, the second half, as a defense we know how we can play. We held them to like 73 yards," Casey explained. "We really focused on what we can do when we're all locked in together. So he really emphasized attention to detail and putting us all in the same mindset to play as one and play like that for the entirety of the game."

Putting two halves together is still yet to be seen from this Indiana football team. Saturday at Nebraska is yet another opportunity for Tom Allen and his players to do so.

The silver lining from the first loss is that the Hoosiers didn't roll over. They made the necessary adjustments at halftime to slow Cincinnati down and were close to making it a one-score game.

I know it's a trend for a lot of my pieces to compare to last season, but I think against a good team like the Bearcats, the push to get back into the game wouldn't have been there.

"I wasn't surprised by the fact that our guys came out and fought and played well in the third quarter, gave us an opportunity two different times to have a chance to get it to a one-score game," Allen said.

"I think they're recognizing and seeing that this team, program, has a lot of character to it, a lot of grit to it, a lot of toughness to it. We just have to play smarter, we have to play better for the whole game."

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