An Improbable Win Has the IU Football Team Finding Their Grit and Character

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by: @zachegreene

Well, what did I tell you'll Friday? Don’t underestimate the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. They should’ve won this game but they didn’t. The Hoosiers displayed tremendous grit and never gave up. 

“Oh, my Goodness. Where do I begin. We’ll I’ll tell you what. We are 3-0 and it’s hard to win. Lots of good players, and I think the dynamics of everything has spread out the talent. We played a good football team. We knew that going in. They got a lot of weapons on offense. We still not playing our best football without question. But the bottom line is you got to try and find a way to win.”

It looked like the game was over multiple times for the Hoosiers. When things got good, it got bad. When big plays happened, they were not caught and capitalized on. Even the veterans on this team made mistakes. All that said, as Head Coach Tom Allen loves to say, “A win is a Win.” 

The reason why the Hoosiers won this game was improbable, a blocked field goal for the first time since 2017.

“We made a huge emphasis and fall camp, on blocking kicks. Coach Randolph our new D-Line coach, just brought a really good attitude about that. Our guys bought into it. Didn’t see a bigger one than you saw at the end.”

Hard work does pay off and the little things such as working on blocked kicks during fall camp must be for good for this program because it paid off in a big way and led to the Hoosier's third win of the season, one more than some expected.

“That’s character. That’s grit. That’s LEO. Fighting for the guys around you. Playing for the people you spend so much time with. It’s a might set, it’s an edge about em. They were tired. It was hot. First day game. It does feel different playing at noon. Played a lot of snaps. Played a lot of guys.”

There were a lot of mistakes today and at times the defense played soft, but when it mattered most this defense clutched up and got the Hoosiers the win. It was not pretty at times. It wasn’t terrible at times, but the faith was always there. The faith was all on Charles AKA Chuck Cambell who dialed in a 51-yard kick that would’ve been good from 60.

“I don’t remember much about it, but I know it was going to be good from about 60. I will say this. You play the way you practice. Last Thursday, Charles missed two field goals in a row, which he never does. He missed two in the game. Everything that we do matters. You be at your best win it counts the most. That’s why I gave him the game ball.”

The Hoosiers displayed an ability to pull off the impossible and an all-around win. This win was so much more than a win. This win showed the foundations for a winning football team. Grit, Toughness, and Finding a Way to Win.

 To end, Tom Allen made sure to call out the fans who left early.

“There is a plan here to keep our fans in the stands. And if it comes down to the final play, they got to stay! They got to stay!