It's been 40 years already and has anything really changed?

First appeared on September 30, 2009
in The Lebanon Reporter

Some things happen only once in a lifetime. Things like true love, Haley’s Comet and apparently Indiana winning a football game in Ann Arbor. Yet as Freshman running back Darius Willis was streaking up the sideline during Saturday’s fourth quarter, the crimson red heart of Hoosier nation surged with the belief that history was in the making. 85 yards later Willis scored giving Indiana a lead late in a game they had not won since 1967.
The last time Indiana beat Michigan in Ann Arbor LBJ was president and we hadn’t visited the moon yet. The last time Indiana beat Michigan in Ann Arbor gas was 33 cents a gallon, Super Bowl I had just been played and Charlie Chaplin released his final film.
In the end it was not meant to be as Wolverine Freshman Tate Forcier wrote another chapter in what, early on, looks to be a storybook career. To be clear, Michigan won a game they had no business winning and Indiana lost a game they had no business losing. But ultimately it was a game lost on the national radar for there were far too many upsets Saturday for anyone to spend much time talking about what almost was in Ann Arbor.
Despite this, two things should come about as a result of Saturday’s outcome. For Michigan, one can only assume the insane “Wolverine National Championship” talk we heard after they found a way to beat Notre Dame three weeks ago is gone, surely. For Indiana more may come from losing this game than one might expect. Televised on ESPN 2, the game reached far more households than ESPN U or the Big Ten Network combined. This being said, Indiana having such a dramatic performance on a stage as glamorous as the Big House on such a network as ESPN 2 will go further in recruiting than any 3-0 start against two MAC teams and Eastern Kentucky ever could.
Was it one game? Yes. Do we know what kind of team Bill Lynch really has on his hands? No. Will we find out next week when they play Ohio State? Most likely. But forget wins for the moment, IU needs more performances like this to both energize their fan base and attract recruits. Would it have gone further to win Saturday? Obviously. Does it go further losing by three than the 65-0 we’ve so painfully grown accustomed to? I’m not going to dignify that with a response.
For one bright Saturday afternoon Indiana’s football program caught lightning in a bottle. They came in a program ranked as one of the worst in the conference by the experts and, except for two plays in the first half defensively, they never once looked like they didn’t belong on the field with Michigan. A game that historically resembles a boxer working the heavy bag turned out to be every bit Ali v. Frazier, Tyson v. Holyfield or Nancy Pelosi v. anyone with a pulse. Does the game get Lynch a ticket out of the leaking lifeboat he and Charlie Weis appear to be trying to keep afloat? Not quite yet. And now, as far as plugging the leak goes, the boys are going to have to get real creative after Weis needed a fourth quarter drive to beat Purdue and Lynch threw their best hope (chewing gum) out of his mouth in disgust on Saturday. Strange as it may sound however, the loss to Michigan does get Lynch one step closer to his goal of building a program and, oh yeah- keeping his job at the same time.

Now that Indiana University has built it, will they come?

First appeared on September 9th, 2009
in The Lebanon Reporter

When a last second Hail Mary pass landed in the end zone last Thursday night Bill Lynch and the Indiana Hoosiers dodged a huge bullet. Well, as huge as a win over Eastern Kentucky can be that is. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins but at this place in time Lynch can’t afford to be a picky man.
At this point Indiana Football’s future is uncertain. For many years they have been the punch line in a conference struggling for national respect. But alas, for Hoosier fans that is, the winds of change seem to be finally a blowin’. With the completion of the north end zone project Indiana now boasts incredible facilities that should aid in recruiting. These include end zone seating linking the east and west grandstands, a Hall of Champions museum, banquet facilities and film rooms with stadium seating.
Of course football teams tend to do better when they can break tackles and block for teammates. With this in mind, programs are built with proper weight facilities and, call Guinness Book if it makes you feel better, but the world’s largest collegiate weight room now resides in Bloomington, Indiana (25,000 square feet).
The Hoosiers have also shown a commitment to their younger fan base. The south end zone area now includes a knot hole park where kids can play on a replica of the Memorial Stadium field. One thing is clear, Fred Glass, and the rest of the Athletics Department, understand Rome wasn’t built in a day. By adding something as simple as an activity area for kids they ensure the program’s future by sowing a crop of young fans who will want to return to Memorial Stadium with their own children someday.
But for now all signs point to Lynch. He was given the opportunity to build on what Terry Hoeppner started. But a real opportunity is not one or two years. He needs a legitimate chance to recruit the kids he wants. To build his own program and not simply carry on the legacy of another. Just because he struggled to get wins at Ball State doesn’t mean Bill Lynch can’t coach (see Bill Belichick in Cleveland).
The facelift Hoeppner provided and the subsequent bowl his co-pilot (Lynch) helped get the Hoosiers to were both special but Hoosier fans can’t think in terms of bowls right now. Lynch simply needs to show measured progress. This means competing with the Iowa’s and Minnesota’s of the world and handling the Eastern Kentuckys. And by “handling” we don’t mean 19-13.
They will never beat Michigan, Penn State or Ohio State with any regularity (which other Big Ten schools do?) but there is no reason for them to be the eternal conference doormat. Indiana has proven it can be competitive in most every other sport. In fact Indiana athletic programs have won over 24 national titles. With this in mind they should be capable of fielding a more competitive football team.
In the next two years Lynch’s teams need to find themselves in games late against Big Ten opponents. For as far as getting butts in the seats go, there’s a lot to be said for having a chance to win the game you have paid fifty bucks to see. If he’s still squeaking out wins against Eastern Kentucky two years from now then Fred Glass needs to help him find the door. And with a new 138,000 square foot addition, he might literally have to help Lynch find the door. With new facilities and new administration winning at Indiana can no longer be a question of if but when.