Tom Allen throwing his headset. Kicker Chris Freeman putting both hands on his helmet in disbelief. Spartan players storming the field from the sidelines. These were the scenes of another fourth-quarter collapse for Indiana football.
It’s safe to say that Senior Day didn’t go as planned. With a 24-21 loss to Michigan State, Allen’s team dropped to 3-8 on the season and the Hoosiers only have one victory since September.
“Our guys had a chance to go win the game defensively, and didn't do it,” Allen said. “Guys didn’t finish. It’s frustrating, without a doubt. A lot of young guys were out there playing hard. But defense didn't finish.”
The Hoosiers let up 24 points to the Spartans, which tied their highest scoring output in conference play all season. Michigan State came in with just one conference win, tied at the bottom with Indiana, but left Bloomington with its second one.
We’ve seen this story before. The Hoosiers struggle to score on offense, leaving their defense to keep them in the game. But the past two weeks, it has been more of the opposite.
What was once Indiana’s biggest strength has now turned into its Achilles Heel. Similar to their last outing, the Hoosiers’ defense let up a crucial touchdown in the closing moments that turned out to be the winning score.
“It's pretty frustrating just knowing that we're taking all the way down to the fourth quarter, last few minutes and just not completing it and putting it all together at the end,” senior Aaron Casey said. “It is something that we have to work on, to straighten at the end and finish strong.”
However, Michigan State played far from a perfect game. Quarterback Katin Houser threw two interceptions, the Spartan offense only converted four third downs all afternoon, and the team was outgained by nearly 100 total yards.
The Hoosiers simply beat themselves. The team had opportunities to seize the game, but just as they’ve done all season, let them slip until it was too late.
After intercepting Houser late in the third quarter, Jamari Sharpe fumbled the ball on the return, which was recovered by Michigan State. The Hoosiers also committed six penalties, but none bigger than Brendan Sorsby’s intentional grounding call, which occurred in the final seconds of the game.
“On the intentional grounding, [the officials] said he wasn’t close enough,” Allen said. “I said we have a read progression, he's reading the route and obviously they weren't on the same page, so I obviously didn't agree with the explanation, but that’s another discussion.”
That penalty pushed back Freeman’s game-tying attempt six more yards, which made his attempt a 49-yard kick rather than a 43. If Hoosier fans needed any more reason to be frustrated with the team’s consistency to beat themselves, this last game in Bloomington sure was a reminder.
“When the game’s on the line, and we gotta win the game and we’re up, we gotta get off the field,” junior Louis Moore said. “Emotions are high right now for the seniors. Everybody felt like the game was ours.”
After two straight fourth-quarter collapses, much of what this Indiana team has been built on has come into question. What once was a program that prided itself on a tough defensive mindset has now become an opponent’s opportunity to get their season back on track.
It is no exaggeration to say that this Hoosier team, which takes on Purdue at noon next Saturday for the Old Oaken Bucket, should’ve done better this season. With close losses to Louisville, Penn State and Illinois, it’s clear to many that the problem within this program may be more than the players on the field.
Indiana gave back the Old Brass Spittoon in bitter fashion. Once on the other side of self-inflicted errors by Michigan State, it was now the Hoosiers who seemed to struggle in putting together a clean game in each senior’s final go-around at Memorial Stadium.
“I got this team’s back. Period,” Allen said. “And they know it. We’re gonna fight to the finish, I promise you that.”
