Indiana refuses to be beaten twice by Ohio State
No. 6 Ohio State handed Indiana its first loss of the season on Saturday. In embarrassing 51-10 loss, the Hoosiers were defeated physically and emotionally.
How they respond to the defeat will be critical for the tone for the rest of the season. Both players and coaches alike have adopted the mentality of “flushing” games that are in the past and moving on to the new week, win or loss.
Indiana head coach Tom Allen opened up his weekly press conference Monday stating the disappointment in his team following its loss to Ohio State over the weekend.
As a result of the disastrous 51-10 defeat at home against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Allen said that none of his players earned the honor of being named player of the week. However, as the team moves on and begins to prepare for the University of Connecticut, Allen is expecting the leaders of the football team to step up.
“You have something like this happen and not allowing it to linger, and one loss affecting how you perform the next week,” Allen said. “It just cannot happen. So that's where your leaders have to rise up. These guys have been here and have experience.”
Senior left tackle Coy Cronk and fifth-year senior wide receiver Nick Westbrook are already encouraging their teammates not to dwell on the loss. They alluded to the idea that if the team were to let the single defeat affect their season, then Ohio State would secure a mental victory over Indiana to go along its win from last Saturday.
“We didn’t play good enough in all three phases obviously,” Cronk said. “Tough to watch film, left a lot of plays out there and you have to move on. Can’t let Ohio State beat us twice, we gotta change our focus from losing the game to preparing for this week.”
Monday was the last day the team watched the film from its loss to Ohio State. During the game, it was clear that some players were upset. Emotions flared on the field and heads were slumped over, facing the Memorial Stadium turf as the game clock ticked closer to zero.
The team fully expected to challenge the Buckeyes and compete for its third win of the season.
Indiana defensive back Raheem Layne was the only player to talk to the media that wasn’t a senior. However, he made it clear that the negative attitude shown on the field is not what the program expects of its players.
“We had a whole bunch of guys stepping up, leading,” I know it’s a tough situation but you can't have everybody hanging their heads down. You just need to build off of it.”
Despite such a tough opponent, complacency leaked into the team’s practice habits after starting the season undefeated. It led to improper preparation during the practices leading up to the team’s Big Ten opener.
Players said that in hindsight, there could have been more effort in practice and in the game and because of that they couldn’t compete with Ohio State in the slightest. The new concern is whether or not this team using the loss to fuel its practice efforts, or if the beatdown just becomes a reason to sulk.
“It can only be an issue if you allow it to be,” Indiana defensive end Allen Stallings said. “We look at it like every team is the same. Individually as grown men I feel we should all be able to get ourselves emotionally ready to come out and practice. If that doesn’t happen, then that’s what happens on Saturday.”
The Indiana coaching staff said this week was an opportunity for a program-defining moment. A 41-point loss is tough to swallow, but it doesn’t represent the team’s entire season. There are still expectations surrounding this team win enough to play in a bowl game by the end of the year.
The Hoosiers are continuing their 1-0 mentality as they look ahead to Saturday's game against the University of Connecticut.
“I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond,” Allen said. “I'm excited to see what this will make us into. Because when you have strong leadership, which I believe we do, then adversity only strengthens you. Because it can do one of two things, it can either make you or break you.”
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