No Gatorade baths or tearful victory speeches followed IU’s sixth win.\nThe chase for eligibility is no more. But the Hoosiers are still in full pursuit of a\nbowl game.\nThat’s what a 14-year absence from December football will do to a program. Snapping a three-game losing streak, the Hoosiers overcame a slow start and a slew of first-half turnovers to send Ball State back to Muncie with a \n38-20 loss.\nKellen Lewis emerged against Ball State last season and played one of his best games against them the second time around. An interception on the first play from scrimmage and two first-half fumbles looked eerily similiar to his mistakes the previous three weeks. But thanks to his goldfish memory, the quarterback regrouped and threw for a career-high 354 yards, leading the Hoosiers to victory.\nLewis and the Hoosiers will now attempt to control their own destiny and prevent what happened to IU 13 years ago. Like the current squad, the Hoosiers in 1994 had six wins. But despite being eligible, the team was not invited to a bowl game.\nThis team however, still has two games to play. A road game against Northwestern and a home date against Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket leaves the Hoosiers with the potential to win eight games this season. The team will only need a victory in one of those games to cement their bowl plans. \nHoosier after Hoosier reiterated after the game that a sixth game was a goal, but not their endgame. With a bowl game on everyone’s minds, is this not the perfect opportunity for Lance Bennett to make a Hoosier remix to rapper Jim Jones’ most popular song?\nWith the Hoosiers on the brink of a bowl game this year, the long-term question emerges as to whether the Hoosiers can follow suit next year and do it again. And the year after that, and so on. It’s one thing to be a good team, but could this be the turning point that makes the Hoosiers a good program?\nRome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will be IU football. This year’s success isn’t just a tribute to the guys roaming the sideline on Saturdays. It’s taken years for the Hoosiers to be able to tread water and not drown against their competitors. And it will take several more years for the Hoosiers to prove they can win consistently.\nThink about the road the Hoosiers have taken to six wins. They’ve played some great football this season, but there isn’t a logo-bearing person in their locker room who would say they couldn’t have done better. \nIf the Hoosiers can consistently win six games or more a year, people will quickly forget the days of Cam Cameron and Gerry DiNardo. People will stop talking about the basketball team like it’s March Madness when its only October, and the Hoosiers might just start to get some of the respect they’ve been missing out on.\nThe win over Ball State showcased why the Hoosiers could make an attractive option to bowl committees. If it translates into them being a better team, they’ll be the one controlling their destiny.
Predicted: IU 30, Ball State 21\nActual: IU 38, Ball State 20
