The last time Hoosier fans saw Aiden Fisher, Elijah Sarratt and Mikail Kamara on the field together Indiana was walking off the turf at Notre Dame Stadium following a 27-17 loss to the Irish in the first round of the College Football Playoff. That loss is a giant reason these three All-Americans came back to IU.
“As soon as that game was over, like it was almost like you were anxious to watch the film, like you were eager to go, get in, get into it, make a decision to come back.” Fisher said on B1G Live.
Fisher passed on the NFL to come back and spear head the Hoosier defense using the lessons he learned from that loss.
“We’re a team that is built upon the little things, but I just think there were a lot of little things that we messed up on and they capitalized on. That ultimately led to us losing. But there’s so many things to learn from that game, just takeaways, scheme wise, player wise.” Fisher explained.
Fisher believes he is a better player because of that loss. The lessons learned from a loss always hit harder than lessons out of victory.
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Fellow All-American STUD Mikail Kamara echoed those sentiments.
“Yeah, I definitely agree. I mean, that was kind of went into the decision of me coming back, right? I feel like we had something that was so special, right? And we kind of, I won’t say, failed, but we just didn’t accomplish what we wanted. So I think right now, the goal is to win a championship.” Kamara said.
The Hoosiers’ only two losses in 2024 came against the last two teams standing at the end of the season, Ohio State and Notre Dame. However, it also fueled the narrative that the Hoosiers just were not there yet in terms of competing and beating the “brand” names of the sport. IU will have chances to change that narrative in 2025 with games against Illinois, at Iowa, at Oregon and at Penn State.
“I think going into the season, going into some of our road games, going this season, I think it’s important to just go out there and perform at a level that you know we can right, have a lot of confidence, and not try to play up to another standard, try to play outside of your body, just play and embrace the moment that we’re living.” Kamara added.
The Hoosiers start that journey on August 30th.