IU Seniors Prepare For Final Home Game, Seeking 'Statement' Win

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

It was a foggy, cool day in Bloomington, typical for fall weather in Big Ten country, and you could see and hear the shock in the senior's eyes that this final season was close to wrapping up. "It’s gone by super fast. I always sat in here and listened to the seniors talk, you know about how quickly it goes by and once you get here you realize it’s flown by." Punter Erich Toth said.

The Hoosiers enter their final home contest at 4-5 (0-5) and will face a Michigan team that is 7-2 (4-1) and looking to keep their hopes alive for a Big Ten East title. Four-year starter on the offensive line Jason Spriggs said that, "It’ll be huge for me to come out here and win. It’s be a statement win for the program and for our team and it’d get the ball rolling for the rest of the season." And what a statement would it be for a senior class who has been so close to beating one of the big boys this year. On the other side of the ball bandit Zack Shaw believes that in order to win, "We just have to keep coming, keep playing, not make those little mistakes that cause them to have big plays."

Senior Day is a special time for the players who have put blood, sweat, and tears into this football program. When asked about their experience and what they'd miss the most, the common theme was their teammates.

Toth gushed about his experience at IU saying, "my overall experience here has been great. Being a walk-on and being able to earn a starting spot and earn a scholarship. Being around guys, all the guys, I mean the team is what makes it memorable. The guys on the team, the coaches."

Shaw added that "just being part of this culture, it’s been really great. Playing in the Big Ten itself and traveling to different stadiums. Just being able to do that, it’s been great. I am just glad I was able to come here and be here for five years"

While Spriggs, kept it pretty simple telling us that "most of my memories and most of my, I don’t want to say excitement, is here in this stadium with these guys. It’s in the locker room, on campus just with my friends, my boys and the team just hanging out."

While the season does not end on Saturday, the Hoosiers have two road games against Maryland and Purdue to close the regular season, it will be these players, who have laid the foundation of for the future (whatever that may be), final time running out of those doors on the north side of Memorial Stadium through the smoke and fireworks. You can see in their eyes that this had hit them like a ton of bricks very recently.

The Hoosiers are set to kickoff against Michigan on Saturday at 3:30. The game will be televised on ABC/ESPN2.