Hoosiers fall deeper into the hole

Like an undertaker, former IU coach Bill Mallory buried IU's football program six feet deep into a losing hole.\nFour years ago, Cam Cameron was dropped into that hole.\nAlthough Cameron played with IU's football team in the early 1980s, he knew little about losing before he was put in the hole. He had played under Bob Knight, spent 10 years as an assistant for the Michigan Wolverines and had a winning season with the Washington Redskins.\nCameron was a winner, but Mallory had left behind a bunch of kids who knew a lot about losing. \nUnlike Darth Vader's failure to bring Luke Skywalker to the dark side, IU's losing force was too strong for Cameron. He too became a loser.\nSuch as quicksand, the hole nearly swallowed Cameron and his head coaching career after IU's 58-0 loss to the Wolverines three weeks ago. Then, somehow, Cameron and the Hoosiers found a grappling hook to shoot and catch a win last week against a ranked opponent for the first time since 1993.\nWith their win against Minnesota, the Hoosiers were able to pull themselves to the highest point of the hole they had ever reached. The Hoosiers and Cameron were able to peek above and see the light for the first time in a long while. \nAll the Hoosiers had to do was push with a little force and lift their bodies above the hole to the land where blue chip recruits go and teams depart for bowl games.\nAlmost as if planned for an IU coming-out party, the Hoosiers' game Saturday was surrounded by a unique celebration aura set by the RCA Dome and the team's biggest home crowd of the season (43,122).\nThe Hoosiers seemed to lift one leg out of the hole with ease on their first drive as they marched down the field with option running plays. But then IU threw its first pass, and it was intercepted. These words seem too good to be true, but IU's defense then picked up from the offense's mistake by forcing Penn State to punt after three unsuccessful plays.\nJunior Levron Williams brought the Hoosiers a closer look at the winner's world with a 25-yard touchdown run. The defense then slipped as the Nittany Lions evened the scored at seven on their next drive. \nThroughout the game, IU would lift a part of its body over the hill with a good offensive series or a clutch defensive play, but then Penn State would nudge the Hoosiers down again with a defensive turnover or offensive score. Like two heavyweight champions, IU and Penn State threw punch for punch until the the final bell rang.\nThen the game was over.\nBut where was IU? Wasn't this the Hoosiers' hole-emerging party? \nWith Penn State's late game-winning field goal, the Hoosiers fell once again to the bottom of the hole, and everyone walked away losers.\nSome IU faithful were just happy to not be blown out by a Penn State team, as the Hoosiers had been in the past. But that's the attitude that must go before IU can climb out of the hole. Cameron, IU's players and fans need to be sick of complacency, with just scraping and clawing up the hole only to fall short time after time.\nThe Hoosiers have shown progress on defense in the last two weeks, and the offense continues -- for the most part -- to be able to dominate. But it's probably too late.\nTo be bowl eligible and finish with a winning record, IU must defeat Illinois and Purdue on the road and Wisconsin at home. All three are beatable teams, but Cameron has never won three games in a row. \nWhile a bowl might be unrealistic, IU must continue to show improvement. The defense has to solidify itself all over the field -- not just in clutch situations -- and it must limit the big plays. The offense needs to start finding other receivers to go to because IU's top two -- seniors Versie Gaddis and Jerry Dorsey -- are graduating.\nSadly, the seniors might never get out of the hole in an IU uniform, although they have been responsible for moving IU's program along.\nBut then again the hole is a dark, dirty place that is a friend to no man.