Rocket men

Both IU and Iowa fans had reason to cry Saturday. \nIowa fans shed tears with shock, leaving them unable to swallow the lump in their throats. IU fans, meanwhile, cried tears of victory, as a day of deluge impeded years of drought. \nEven IU coach Terry Hoeppner was holding his emotions back, only able to focus on the sky above as an ESPN sideline reporter interviewed him after the game. \n"This is a young team just gaining confidence," coach Hoeppner said. "Obviously after last week, this is even bigger. Our football program is a shooting rocket."\nA shooting rocket? For years IU football has been as stagnate as a sea shell stuck in sand. We haven't even crawled inches, let alone yards, and suddenly in the stunning formation that only football could figure, we've turned from a sea shell stuck in the sand to a shooting rocket soaring for the stratosphere.\nWhat could have turned these tumultuous times around?\n"Attitude," coach Hep told his team before the game. "You control your attitude, and your attitude will make all the difference. ... We will win the game because of your attitude."\nFunny, I thought attitude was something that led to a smack in the face from my mother. But attitude was what led IU to smack Iowa straight in the mouth Saturday. By the time Kellen Lewis completed his third touchdown, Iowa was starry-eyed and stunned, wobbling about like a Mortal Kombat character ready for the Hoosiers to finish them.\nThat's just what Will Meyers did.\nMeyers, a senior defensive back, made the IU miracle complete with an interception that is sure to be a staple in the Hoosier football highlight reel for years to come. A tipped ball from Iowa quarterback Drew Tate flew in the air one millisecond long enough for Meyers to wrap one hand around it and field possession.\nThe one-hand grab slammed shut the door to a possible Iowa comeback and gave Hoosier fans everywhere the right to say the one word they've only uttered in jest: upset. We did the impossible and now anything -- that's right anything -- is possible. \nMy fellow Hoosiers, Saturday our football team recorded its biggest upset since 1987 -- when IU ousted then-No. 9 Ohio State at home. \nFreshman quarterback Kellen Lewis' completed his 255 passing yards with sophomore James Hardy's record-setting three-touchdown game. Freshman running back Demetrius McCray became the Hoosiers' workhorse in the second half, netting 84 key yards.\nSaturday's win against Iowa was the illumination Hep's dim record as the Hoosiers' coach needed. He deserved a game like this. He deserved a game that fueled his eternal optimism -- the same optimism that drains weekly from the crimson hearts of loyal Hoosiers. It might have taken until now, but Hep has exorcised the demons that darkened his early season woes. \nWhen the play clock finally expired, the IU players launched into a Lambeau leap across the student section. Their tired bodies were lifted by the loyalty of the IU students who have believed in these players since the start of spring. Together they rejoiced, wrapped in that single moment, bound by football's benevolence. \nSo Saturday, with a stunned smile permanently marking my face, I felt I had every right to shout the word "upset." I screamed it from "the Rock" through the rafters and onto the rooftops. \nAnd from the rooftop, I was able to make out that shooting rocket. It was the same rocket that Hep had figuratively seen hours before, a rocket that held the high hopes and hallowed dreams of IU football fans everywhere, appropriately soaring towards the stars, where wishes -- like Saturday's upset -- come true.\nI decided then and there to make another wish: I wish that IU beats Ohio State next week.\nHey, it could happen.