Nothing but a one-half wonder

Thirty minutes of hard-nosed, gut-wrenching football simply doesn’t cut it.

Not against a non-conference opponent, not against a Big Ten enemy and certainly not on the FBS stage.

Since Michigan State’s week four shellacking of the Hoosiers, IU coach Bill Lynch has often repeated the Hoosiers “need to play two halves of football.”

Fast-forward six weeks to Wisconsin’s 55-20 manhandling and Lynch’s order remains MIA.

“(After halftime) it was such a turn of events,” safety Brandon Mosley said following his team’s fifth conference loss, this one on senior day. “We’ve made a lot of mental mistakes. And as you can tell, mental mistakes can cost you the game.”

Missed tackles, inexplicable turnovers, unsuccessful third-down conversions – you can spend a day pinpointing IU’s elementary errors.

These fundamental lapses have knocked the Cream and Crimson to rock bottom in the conference and as one fan yelled, “ruined Saturdays in Bloomington again.”

For one reason or another, the Hoosiers aren’t the same team after halftime. Perhaps it’s an impotent locker room speech or the interruption between halves simply distorts IU’s tempo.

In my book, though, excuses are for wimps.

You might say injuries have plagued Lynch’s squad in 2008.

But part of practice is centered on molding the young guns into eventual starters.

The unseasoned players unquestionably won’t impact a game like quarterback Kellen Lewis, safety Austin Thomas or cornerback Chris Phillips.

However, they’re not neophytes between the sidelines either.

In every Big Ten bout thus far, Lynch’s squad has put itself in striking distance at half.
The Spartans led by only five after two quarters, but then won the game by 13.

IU was deadlocked with Minnesota after 30 minutes. Then, the Hoosiers couldn’t record a point in the second half.

Lynch and company only trailed Iowa by eight with two quarters complete. When the game clock struck zeros, the Hawkeyes prevailed by 36.

And on Saturday, a disastrous fumble by quarterback Ben Chappell allowed Wisconsin to lead by a mere four-points. After the break, the Badgers tallied 31 unanswered while halting any IU score.

If the Hoosiers (3-7, 1-5) emulated their first-half performance whatsoever, this season could have ended with a 13th game.

In fact, IU has been outscored 120 to 20 in the second half against conference foes.

With respect to the third and fourth quarters, the Hoosiers’ opponents have netted a combined 813 rushing yards in contrast to their 273.

However, IU’s conference adversaries have only amounted a combined 593 yards through the air from the start of the half.

It’s clear Big Ten teams often call running plays against the Hoosiers after halftime.

A presumable adjustment would be to stack the box and penetrate the line rather than dropping back into pass coverage. IU should devote a bulk of its practice to stopping the run. Too many opposing rushers have appeared as stars when they’re nothing more than mediocre ball carriers.

“We need to be 100 percent all the time,” said defensive end Jammie Kirlew, who recorded five tackles and two sacks in IU’s throbbing loss to Wisconsin. “We just got to keep finding (that spark in the second half).”

Unfortunate for Kirlew and the Hoosiers, time has run out to re-configure their second-half execution.

With only two games left and just three wins, IU is mathematically eliminated from bowl contention.

We can all attest that a 50 percent effort is considered a failure.