Hoosiers Focused on Rutgers After Monumental Win

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Nick Saban calls it ‘Rat Poison’. Others call is a trap game. Indiana travels to New Jersey on Saturday to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Hoosiers need to leave the accolades they received last week at the gate. Indiana has had a history of following up “program changing” wins with clunkers, but this group may be special. They are focused on Rutgers, a team who is vastly improved from a season ago.

“We have a great one word this week in 'focus'. I think that is what we have to bring to the table every day, extreme focus. We have to practice at a high level each day” Indiana linebacker Micah McFadden said this week. McFadden helped pace the Hoosiers defense with 11 tackles in the win over Penn State.

In the past the Hoosiers have had to put on the earmuffs and blinders to tune out the negative comments surrounding the program after close losses, but that is a two-way street.

“The earmuffs and blinders are not just for the negative noise. It is also for the positive things that that you have to learn to manage and then sometimes you have to learn to ignore those as well” head coach Tom Allen, who has made countless media appearances since the win, said on Monday.

How a team handles certain situations is dependent upon the culture of set by the head coach. It is known that the Hoosiers can bounce back from having their hearts ripped out, but now it is time to see if they can refocus after doing the heartbreaking.

“Everything is created by a certain method and process you go through to put yourself in that position. That is how that game was created over time, it has been several years in the making. To be able to have that opportunity, then it becomes a reality, now you are going to handle that. We talked about 1-0 offensively, we talked about not blinking. Well, I said those do not just apply to negative situations. Those also apply to how you handle success” Allen added.

One of the staples of this Allen led program is the positive thinking and the belief that the team will accomplish the goals he has for the program.

“Everybody has to have a positive mindset” Indiana running back Stevie Scott said. “We need to keep taking care of our bodies by getting in the hot tub and the cold tub. Go to treatment if they are hurt or injured. We need everybody 100 percent each week and I stress that to the team a lot.”

The Hoosiers are ranked 17th in the country with a chance to go 2-0. Everything they received this past week was earned. However, like everything earned in sports, it will have to be earned again the next week. The Hoosiers will have to focus their energy on Rutgers this week to keep everything they have earn thus far.