Indiana football

Some Indiana fans saw reason for hope in IU's rally to beat Idaho 35-22, but more were bothered that the Hoosiers fell behind 10-0 at halftime.

I expected them not to be scared of the Michigans and Penn States and Wisconsins of the Big Ten because they'd already beaten them once and I thought they could pull it off again. It was positive that IU ran the ball better this week than last week even when he was off, but they can't win if he can't throw and that's why you saw a different team. And then it's Cincinnati on the road and it's off to the races and yeah, if lots of things don't change, IU has a chance to be very disappointing again. It's better for a team's confidence that it can summon that kind of second-half performance than not, but on the other side of the coin, they're not going to be able to flip a switch as easily against other teams as they did against Idaho. Even if it waits until after the 2024 season when IU only owes him 50% of what remains on his contract, that's still $7.05 million if he's fired with three years to go. The players didn't want to admit how significant because they don't want to say that even as much as they practiced for this scenario they didn't really handle it well, but they had to be real about it. Last year's team had high expectations, it got a little too cocky, and then a little too defeated and it had a bunch of injuries and then once you put a 2-10 record, it becomes more difficult to do a lot of other things. And, to be fair, IU already has as many wins this year as it had all of last year. But yeah, obviously this is where things stand after Week 2 and IU is 2-0, so that obviously tells you something about the faith among the fanbase that they'll be able to continue to win games with the sort of performances they've had the first two weeks. It really is a service they perform for all of you, and I'm not sure why you all don't appreciate it more. [a 35-22 win](https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2022/09/11/indiana-football-three-reasons-hoosiers-recovered-to-beat-idaho-vandals-shaun-shivers/65472741007/) only did so much to ease the concerns of IU fans who saw in that miserable first half more signs of trouble brewing. Indiana can't afford this, but anyone who stayed through to the end of the game should have had their ticket price refunded.

After a two-win 2021, Tom Allen is never going to take for granted the 2-0 start to 2022.

It will take much more than what the Hoosiers turned in against Idaho, but if a protracted, ugly night in Bloomington taught him anything, it’s that his players may have some of that necessary fight after all. Allen was happy to take the rough with the smooth in the wee hours of Sunday morning. If Saturday’s third quarter is the “real” Indiana, then he has a season ahead of him to spend trying to coax that out of the Hoosiers for all 60 minutes. But sometimes, if you look at the good side of it, being shut out in the first half forced us to all come together.” “Obviously, everyone wants to see 50 points in the first half, whatever. “It’s hard not to be frustrated, but I think the main message is just stay the course. Their replacements asked the same eight-word question, amended slightly: “What have you done to beat Idaho today?” Throughout the preseason, anywhere a player might see it, was a placard asking, “What have you done to beat Illinois today?” By last Tuesday morning, all the signs had been replaced. “We won, so that’s a positive thing, but obviously didn’t start the right way. “I told the coaches to get after ‘em. That’s not the team we are.” Idaho (0-2) felt like an ideal opponent for Indiana, after the emotional journey of the come-from-behind win against Illinois.