Tom Allen claps a lot, cheers a lot, and might just be about to win a lot.
Indiana beat Maryland 34-28 yesterday, putting its season win total at five.
For those IU grads who had trouble getting through M-014 (a non-credit basic math course), that leaves the Hoosiers one win shy of bowl eligibility.
With games remaining against Nebraska, Northwestern and Purdue – games Indiana has at least a 52.3% chance of winning, according to ESPNs Matchup Predictor – it seems reasonable to expect the Hoosiers to go bowling.
Going to a bowl is base level achievement for most Power Five football programs, but at IU it’s progress. Real progress.
For those who are cynical about IU Football, and who can blame the cynics after 24 straight seasons with six or more losses, this year might bring the kind of success that requires a recalibration toward optimism.
Indiana still has to win that elusive sixth game, but they look like a team with a good chance to surpass expectations (8-4 could happen).
Quarterback Michael Penix will bounce back from his mild concussion and if he doesn’t get in another fender bender, he should be ready to lead what has been a very productive offense as long as it’s not facing Ohio State.
No one saw IU as a team that could score virtually at will, but here they are scoring at least 31 points against six of seven opponents.
It’s very close to the time for IU fans who have been justifiably dubious of Tom Allen as a head coach to admit that Fred Glass might have been right when he quickly handed him the reins of the program after Kevin Wilson was fired.
I was one of those guys.
Allen’s oddly euphoric behavior of the sidelines bothers people who prefer coaches to focus on what’s coming rather than celebrating what has been. And he might be a bigger fan of clapping than former hoops coach Tom Crean.
Aesthetics aside, it appears Indiana is on the precipice of a level of success it hasn’t enjoyed in a quarter century.
Before admitting I was wrong, I’ll wait until the Hoosiers win six, but there is reason to feel good about Indiana Football, which is something I don’t believe I’ve ever written.
I have no dislike of Allen but disliked the process by which he became a coach. And one must be very careful in attributing success to one man or one issue. It could easily be argued that a more experienced coach could have us further along, quicker. But those points are moot now. But I am not prepared to give a blessing to Allen before he has accomplished something tangible. Bowling this season SHOULD have been a given had we known the true state of the B10 this season. Tradition (of late) power teams arent quite up to normal stuff this season, for whatever reason, and we find ourselves poised to take a little revenge. However, its one of those mental puzzles to determine…did we go up, or did they come down? There is no answer yet available, whether the positive fans or the negative ones want to call one. We must wait and see. The team still has issues that are troubling. We still can’t get 2 yds when we must. We throw quick passes to the sidelines because we cannot sustain blocking for passing or running. Our RBs still have not shown they can break tackles. and our secondary is still very suspect, even with an influx of youth of late. They commit poor penalties and fade latein games. Maryland was a nice change….but was it a trend or no more than an incident? It takes three points on a graph to make a trend. UM was one…are there two more out there? Only playing the games will show one way or the other.
So I will hold in reserve any endorsement or condemnation of Coach Allen until then. Go IU!
With you 100%, but whether IU has gained or opponents have regressed, a bowl is a bowl. If IU gets to one, that’s a big deal. If they lose fewer than six games for the first time since 1994, that has to be seen as a positive.
A bowl IS a bowl…and we need one in the worst way. Hey, a little revenge in a down B10 season may be up for us…and all we ever get…vbg. I will not complain about which one if we become eligible either…
Agree 100%. Being the best of the worst works for me if the Hoosiers wind up playing in Nashville on December 30th!