‘We’ve got to come out swinging’: With backs against the wall, Indiana football maintains ‘playoff mentality’ with Illinois on deck

As the Indiana football program enters the final three games of the regular season, its hopes of a bowl game is barely hanging on.

Indiana sits at 3-6 on the season and enters ‘playoff’ mode for the second straight week — a mindset that will stay intact for the remainder of the season.

“The goal is to be 1-0 after each week. That’s been the focus, the playoff mentality,” Indiana football head coach Tom Allen said last week. “We know we got to win each week. We don’t talk beyond whoever is next.”

Indiana hasn’t made it to a bowl game since 2020 and hasn’t sniffed that level of success in the two years since. Before last week’s win over Wisconsin, Indiana was 2-21 in the previous 23 Big Ten games over the previous two seasons, including an 0-5 record in league play this year before last week.

Indiana went 2-10 in 2021. It was 4-8 last season. And now, while Indiana sits with just three wins heading into the second weekend of November, there is more hope and excitement around this team this time around than nearly any of the last two years.

That’s due to back-to-back very solid performances and the fact that Indiana was finally able to pull out a game in the fourth quarter.

Now, there is a real level of confidence inside of the locker room.

“When you get re-enforced in a positive way from all of your hard work, it just adds to the momentum that you have and the energy that you bring every day,” Allen said on Thursday. “I think our guys have done a great job of bringing good energy, even in the midst of not getting results on gameday, which is a testament to their character and the leadership of our team. I think it’s been amplified this week and increased this week, which you would expect and hope for.”

While Indiana football head coach Tom Allen is preaching one game at a time, you can’t help but look forward at the possibilities that lie ahead for the Hoosiers.

Quick Hitters: Early breakdown and initial thoughts on Illinois

The next three games for Indiana: at Illinois, vs Michigan State, at Purdue.

The three programs are combined 9-18 this season and 4-14 in Big Ten play.

“We’re going into week ten, so it’s late in the season. Guys are dinged up and your body gets hit a lot and gets worn down, but you’ve got to mentally get tough and lock in every week. I think that the effort has been really good, the focus has been good, and the energy has been really good. Coaches and everybody have been elevating. It’s that time of year. We understand what’s at stake on gameday now, and our backs are against the wall. We’ve got to come out swinging.”

But, first up is Illinois (4-5; 2-4) — a team that hasn’t won consecutive games this season. That doesn’t mean it’s a team Indiana can — or would — look past.

“Stopping the run, for us, and then containing a really athletic quarterback (Luke Altmyer). He’s hurt a lot of guys and a lot of teams with his legs when he scrambles. There will be some quarterback-designed runs, but he keeps drives going by running around and being really hard to get on the ground on third downs or even second downs. Keeping him contained is going to be a big key thing for us,” Allen said. “Number one (Isaiah Williams) obviously at the receiver position … He’s an elite playmaker and a very good athlete. Get the ball in his hands as a return guy and he’s very dangerous and one of the top in the country. He’s really shifty and has improved his ball skills, route running, and just became a more elite receiver I believe this year, and he’s making plays each week.

“This past week was impressive, and he (Williams) came up big for them (Illinois). You’ve got to know where he is at all the time and you’ve got to do a great job defending him and having good answers for him because he’s a guy that can beat you if you don’t have a good plan against him.”

So for now, it’s on to Illinois — another chance to build off of the last two weeks.

Tom Allen has preached culture, culture, culture. The last few weeks have proved that the Indiana football culture is real. The ability for this team to be playing its best football in mid-November after a four-game losing streak is not something you typically see across the country.

Can Indiana build off of it this week?

“It’s earmuffs and blinders every single week,” Allen said after the Wisconsin win. “Come back to work, no matter what happened, good or bad, attack the next day. Easier said than done, no doubt. Definitely hard to do.”

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