How the Hoosiers Respond to a Loss Will Set the Tone for the Stretch Run
/
Image: Indiana University Athletics
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Suffering a loss in a sporting event is not the end of the world or even the season. Indiana’s season did not end with their 42-35 loss. The Hoosiers (4-1) still have four Big Ten games plus a bowl game left in the 2020 season. While the loss to the Buckeyes was disappointing, it’s how the Hoosiers will respond this weekend against the Maryland Terrapins (2-1).
The response is so important that head coach Tom Allen has dedicated his one word of the week to it. ‘Response’ is the Hoosiers manta heading into Saturday’s matchup between one-loss teams.
How the team responds to a loss will fall back on the foundation that Tom Allen has built the program on starting in 2016.
“It was really about going back to your foundation” Allen said at his press conference on Monday. “Going back to the core principles and what you believe of how you have got to this point as a player, as a program, as a coach and stay true to that. And to me, yeah, even though we did not accomplish our goal on Saturday, that does not alter the process that we go through to recreate what we want on game day, which is a win at the end of the day. So, bottom line is that we are still in that quest for four quarters of our best football. Has not happened yet and it is going to happen. And our goal is it happens on Saturday against Maryland.”
Under Allen, the Hoosiers are 6-8 in games in which they are coming off a loss, so it is no sure thing on how Indiana will respond.
Indiana linebacker Micah McFadden was seen postgame on Saturday talking with his linebacker group and his message was quite clear. The linebackers will need to lead the response on Saturday.
“I wanted to communicate to the linebackers that it's on our shoulders to get everybody in the position they need to be for this team to be successful” McFadden said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “The linebackers are such a core group and crucial for the defensive side of the ball to be successful. We need to communicate with each other and tell somebody when they are doing something wrong and pat them on the back when they are doing something right. We have to continue to be the leaders that we can be and make sure everybody is locked in each day and getting better.”
The Hoosiers chance to respond comes on Saturday at Noon against a Maryland team that has not played in two weeks due to a COVID outbreak within their program. Each team is coming in after facing adversity. The teams whose response is better will leaver Memorial Stadium with a victory.