Hoosiers Football Team Chokes Away Chance to End Dry Spell

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The Indiana Hoosiers football program choked away a 13-point lead on Thursday night against Tennessee in the Gator Bowl, ending a feel-good season on an extremely disappointing note and extending the program’s dry spell to 28 years without a bowl win and 52 years without a nine-win season.

Blame can be passed around aplenty, but the biggest takeaway here is that they were bested by a program that’s used to being in bowl games. When push came to shove, everyone in crimson — coaches and players, alike — seemed to think the game was in the bag, while Vols’ players and coaches took themselves to another level.

Up 22-9, Indiana had the ball with 8:39 remaining in regulation, their win probability at 97.2 percent, per ESPN. Rather than keep the ball in quarterback Peyton Ramsey‘s hands, as they did for the majority of their lone touchdown drive, the play-calling leaned toward conservative. Three plays later, the punt team was out, and it was the beginning of a painful sequence for the Hoosiers.

Tennessee took over with 6:58 left and promptly carved up a soft defensive look from Indiana. In less than three minutes, they were in the end zone, bringing them within six points. The Hoosiers, it should be noted, missed an extra point earlier in the game that turned out to be a pivotal play.

On the ensuing kickoff, Indiana was completely caught off guard by an onside kick, which Tennessee recovered. All momentum Indiana had was gone, and a 15-yard facemask on the first play, tacked on to a 23-yard completion, officially put a pit in the stomach of every Indiana fan watching at home. Two plays later, Tennessee running back Eric Gray, who also recovered the onside kick, went basically untouched from 16 yards out to put the Vols up 23-22.

That wasn’t the final choke, though, not by a long shot. Indiana put their offense back into high-gear after giving up the lead, setting up a field goal try for senior Logan Justus with 2:12 remaining. A make may have sealed a slump-busting bowl win for the Hoosiers, but, after going 3-for-3 on the night, Justus’ fourth try sailed wide right.

Still, the Hoosiers had another chance to erase all the mistakes after the Vols had a first down overturned and were forced to punt.

Down 23-22 with less than a minute to go, Ramsey connected on his first two passes of the drive, advancing the ball to the Tennesse 45-yard line. Incomplete. Incomplete. Incomplete. No chance for another field goal try. On fourth-and-1o, another incompletion sealed their fate and the meltdown was officially in the record books.

Indiana didn’t just have a chance, they were in control. You have to tip your hat to Tennessee, but the collapse by Indiana was self-inflicted at several turns. They stood in their own way, and the moment, it seemed, was a little too big or overwhelming.

The last bowl win by the Indiana Hoosiers football program was in 1991 when they beat Baylor 24-0 in the Domino’s Pizza Copper Bowl. This year’s Gator Bowl was their fifth bowl game since 1991, with each game resulting in a loss. Indiana would have finished 9-4 if they beat Tennessee; the last time a Hoosiers football team racked up nine wins in a season was back in 1967.

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I’ll leave you with this postgame tweet by Indianapolis Star editor Matt Glenesk: