‘Like the way they responded. Now we have to prove it on gameday’: Talk is cheap. Indiana football needs to show up on Saturday

Indiana football is entering a fork in the road with the 2023 season. Sitting at 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten, it’s either totally fold, or try to show some fight for the remaining five games on the schedule.

After a 6-18 record in the previous two years, this season has shown signs that are all too similar to year’s past. A lack of fight, effort and consistency has put Indiana in a hole — one that may be too difficult to come out of.

Tom Allen leads Indiana to a road matchup with another top-10 opponent — the third this season. Heading to Penn State is no easy task, especially not in the midst of a three-game slide.

But, there could be some glimmer of hope that Indiana will take from a season ago — its 39-31 2OT win at Michigan State.

“I believe so. I think from the way our guys just dug deep, made some adjustments and guys stepped up,” Allen said in reference to comparing this upcoming stretch to last year’s win. “[Michigan State] was playing for a bowl game and playing for a trophy and all of the different things that went into that. No doubt that was a culture win with a lot of key guys that weren’t able to play. Just the grit that we showed in that moment is definitely something to draw from and continue to draw from.”

But, Penn State is no Michigan State.

And the way the last few weeks have gone, Indiana football is not like last year.

Indiana has been outscored 127-38 in the last three games. 14 of those 38 points came in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s blowout loss to Maryland when it was already 37-3.

Indiana is just 2-20 in its last 22 Big Ten games with an average margin of defeat in those 20 losses by 24.3 points.

“Without question, we just have to continue to find ways and methods to motivate and challenge our guys,” Allen said. “We are excited to see guys step up when they get opportunities, which this weekend is a tremendous opportunity to do just that.”

Just how bad has this season become? According to ESPN’s SP+ ratings, Indiana is the second-to-worst rated power five program in the country — rated No. 99 in the entire nation.

After Penn State, Indiana has Wisconsin at home, Illinois on the road, Michigan State at home and then Purdue on the road.

There are potential opportunities for wins down the stretch, but only if Indiana finds a way to break out of the current trend.

“I do like the response and the way they worked each day (this week),” Allens said. “I challenged our leadership guys in different areas: the guys who run our offense, run our defense, run our special teams, and you know, run the team in different groups and be able to challenge [their teammates] to rise up. Also, just talk to them about life and how you battle through difficult times, stay the course, and stay together, what that means and what that looks like. I like the way they responded and now we have to prove it on gameday. We have to come together and play our best football with another big challenge ahead of us this Saturday. It is about locking arms, staying together, and continuing to fight.”

“The past is the past. We have a big challenge ahead of us, all we can do is focus on the future,” Indiana defensive back Nic Toomer said after the Rutgers loss. “We still can make a bowl game. That’s our goal right now, so just putting that behind us and going back to work.”

It starts with Saturday against the Nittany Lions. Talk is cheap. Indiana football needs to show up.

SEE ALSO: ‘A tough reality’: 2023 season becoming a disaster for Indiana football with tough conversations looming

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