Much ado about nothing

East Lansing, Mich. - I’ve never played a down of football in my life. But I’ve experienced enough losing to know what a demoralizing defeat feels like.\nFor lack of a more poetic expression, it sucks. A physical depression strikes your entire body, leaving you sluggish and frustrated. You keep running the game through your head, thinking about what you could have done differently. \nWords of encouragement are useless. All you want to do is curl up into a little ball and plot your revenge.\nI’ve never played the Spartans. But I assumed that the Hoosiers would be beaten up, broken and bewildered following their disappointing 25-point loss to Michigan State. \nShows what I know. \nBefore Saturday night’s kick-off, the Hoosiers were a victory away from being nationally ranked and qualifying for a bowl game. Less than 24 hours later, the Hoosiers were punted from the polls and once again banished into college football anonymity. \nSure, the Hoosiers were down after Saturday night’s loss, but not like I envisioned. Only 30 minutes removed from the carnage on Spartan Stadium’s field, the Hoosiers downplayed the game’s significance and credited their opponents. \n“We’re not all of a sudden a terrible football team,” IU coach Bill Lynch said. “We didn’t play really well and they played great. That’s the biggest part of it.”\nLynch’s quote oversimplifies how lopsided the game truly was. Imagine Adam Ahlfeld and Michigan State men’s basketball center Idong Ibok on opposite sides of a seesaw. The Spartans ran 90 offensive plays to IU’s 36. Michigan State ran for 368 yards and the Hoosiers finished with 22. \nThe Hoosiers touched the ball as much as Luc Longley and Bill Wennington did with the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s. The Hoosiers had the ball for 18:55, while the Spartans sat on the pigskin for 41:05. \nDuring his seven-minute press conference after the game, Lynch quickly dispelled a reporter’s question on whether he was worried that the Hoosiers would bounce back strong next week against Penn State.\n“No, not at all,” Lynch said. “We weren’t worried after we got beat against Illinois. That’s why you line up in practice and play.”\nLynch’s players echoed his sentiments after the game. Sophomore safety Austin Thomas, who recorded a career-high 22 tackles, said the team was “already over it.”\nJunior kicker Austin Starr made a school-record 11th straight field goal Saturday, but had no interest in talking about statistics. \nStarr has become the unofficial spokesman for IU’s players this season. He is often the first person made available to the media after games and has taken a vocal role that isn’t usually associated with kickers. \n“I don’t care about the record,” Starr said. “I’d rather have the worst game of my life and have us still win.” \nWith the team on the brink of bowl eligibility, every loss takes on the “end of the world” feeling for IU fans until the Hoosiers get to win number six. But junior wide receiver James Hardy denied that the Hoosiers are looking ahead to warmer games, and said the team was fired up for Saturday’s game.\nHardy, channeling Billy Crystal in “Analyze That,” described IU’s transformation into a good football team as a “process.” The wide receiver said that, despite the team’s bad loss, his opinion of IU football hasn’t changed. \n“We stood together,” he said. “As long as we stick together, it’s always a positive. We believe in ourselves no matter what the outside world or anyone else thinks. We’re going to reach our goal.”\nPredicted: Indiana 34, Michigan State 21\nActual: Michigan State 52, Indiana 27