11/1/2022 football Edit

Indiana football is desperate to salvage anything from remaining four games

Keegan Nickoson • TheHoosier

Staff Writer

In my senior year at Indiana studying Sports Media and Sports Journalism. I live for the most outlandish takes on the IU boards. Fat Dan's has the best food in Bloomington.

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The overarching theme of Tom Allen's postgame pressers this season -- which have in large part followed losses -- has been a pursuit of a winning formula.

Talk of changing things up, whether it be a practice schedule, the practice itself, gamed schedules, etc. After each loss, however, that passionate pursuit of change has been taken with less and less merit from those awaiting better results.

The Cincinnati loss was taken with a grain of salt. The Hoosiers fought and nearly made it a one score game in the 4th quarter. Promises of change seemed like a calculated reaction to their first loss of the season. A loss to Cincinnati with a strong finish to the season would have sat well with a lot of fans who had entered 2022 with lower expectations.

Now after their 5th straight loss, falling to 3-5 following defeat at the hands of Rutgers, fans are all but checked out. Questions of the competency within this Indiana program have begun to surface.

The same claims of impending changes are shrugged off as coming from a coach who can't be taken seriously.

One Indiana fan had these harsh words to say from a TheHoosier.com forum:

"Relaxation set in after Nebraska when it confirmed that this institution is in way over its head in this conference trying to compete in football. Just a placeholder to maintain conference membership and collect their welfare check."

The bye week offered more opportunities to make practical changes, and Allen seems to have taken full advantage. The coaching staff looked at their roster and decided what each player needed; reps, rest or rehab. Each player was assigned to each category based on what the staff felt they needed.

This opened the door for some players to get more reps in practice. A scrimmage between younger players on the roster gave players like quarterback Brendan Sorsby, wide receiver Omar Cooper and linebacker Kaiden Turner, players who are expected to be big parts of the future for Indiana football, a chance to shine.

According to Allen, they did. Sorsby impressed throwing the ball, and he even mentioned wide receiver Kameron Perry and his elite burst.

Allen gave his guys Thursday through Saturday off while coaches went on the road recruiting. Allen took the extra time to catch up on rest and watch football on Saturday, specifically his next opponent: Penn State.

Getting back into the swing of things on Monday took very little time for the storylines surrounding Indiana football to suddenly appear.

Now, the starting quarterback position is apparently up for grabs. Allen was non-committal when asked if Connor Bazelak would be taking snaps on Saturday as he has all season.

"I'm just saying that you'll have to wait till Saturday to see who our starting quarterback is going to be," Allen said.

In all honesty, I don't think a change at quarterback is the right response to the Rutgers loss. This same choice was made before Indiana played Purdue last season and it didn't work. It's basically a way for Allen to seem as if he's doing something to remedy the situation. Even though he's completely out of options.

Bazelak's safety blanket, Cam Camper will miss the remaining four games and significant time in the offseason with a torn ACL. If his timeline is at all similar to DJ Matthews, he could possibly end up missing the start of next season as well.

Allen has said that Omar Cooper will not be an option to take snaps in place of Camper to save his redshirt. Receiver Andison Coby who has been inconsistent will see much more action than he has through the first eight games.

The ideas of change being a legitimate answer to turning losses into wins have warped into not having a choice. A kind of, throwing your hands up, wondering what else they're supposed to do reaction. The lack of injury luck has hindered the Hoosiers greatly, but the poor performance and glaring inconsistencies when healthy hasn't made that a legitimate excuse.

That 'throwing your hands up' reaction is the same one many fans will have when confronted with the choice to drive to Memorial stadium for Saturday's game against Penn State. Some even if they want said game on their television.

As for the team, it's about keeping the same mindset and attitude it had to start the year, something Allen is trying to maintain within the program.

"I think that has been the focus, without question, just using various videos, various information that I utilize," Allen said. "I think it's powerful for your mind. I know our minds are very, very powerful. I know seasons can get hard and frustrating when you play the schedule we play. You got to find a way to win those close games and we haven't recently.

"The mind is a powerful thing. Right now it can be lying to you and telling you things, then you believe things that can alter the way you make decisions on a daily basis. We're really attacking that head on."