Column: Homecoming game could make or break season

This isn’t just another game on the schedule. It’s not similar to the non-conference games against Towson, Western Kentucky and Akron.

Saturday’s Homecoming contest with Arkansas State means so much more.
This is a huge opportunity, a make-or-break moment if you will.

Win and the Hoosiers are back on the right track, only two games from bowl eligibility.
Lose and it becomes a lost season.

The reasons are simple. IU is coming off back-to-back tough losses, and people are jumping off the bandwagon faster than Tiger Woods fell from America’s good graces.
 
The Hoosiers dropped a game to Michigan in which they played about as well as they possibly could have.

They were completely dominated at Ohio State by the now-No. 1 team in the nation (I can’t remember a more one-sided half than the one that left IU in a 31-0 hole).

This weekend’s game gives the Hoosiers an opportunity to right the ship, an opportunity to regain confidence as they head into the rest of the Big Ten season.

You can applaud IU Athletics Director Fred Glass for scheduling a subpar non-conference opponent for Homecoming because it is exactly what the Hoosiers need right now.

If this week’s opponent were to be Iowa or Wisconsin, who knows where the season would go from here.

Three consecutive losses would damage the psyche of IU players in such a way that matchups against Illinois and Northwestern would become a lot less winnable.

I asked four different IU players and coach Bill Lynch how nice this break from the conference season will be to help them gain confidence.

All of the answers, as expected, were about the same.

“I love it because it’s the next game on our schedule,” Lynch said. “Every game is so important.”

Added senior wide receiver Terrance Turner: “It’s just good to be playing competitive football on a Saturday.

The students will be a little more crazy because of Homecoming, but other than that it’s just business as usual.”

They aren’t going to say it, so I will. The Hoosiers need this game against a school from the Sun Belt because they need to throw 45 points on the scoreboard.

They need this game because they need to be reminded what a win feels like.

Yes, it has only been two weeks, but when a team loses consecutive games in the way IU did, those two weeks can feel as if it’s been two years.

Another reason why this game is different: Arkansas State is a whole lot better than the other three patsies the Hoosiers have already played.

The Red Wolves have scored at least 24 points in every game this season, and they are averaging 413 yards of total offense.

Yikes! This IU defense had trouble stopping an Akron offense that was ranked at the bottom of every statistical category.

And as Lynch reminds us time and time again, Arkansas State is the team that took an undefeated Iowa team to the wire last season.

In some ways, a win against Arkansas State is meaningless. In and of itself, the victory does little for the Hoosiers.

But if you take into account the number of games it could affect down the road, it is as meaningful as the Michigan game was two weeks ago.

Win and the Hoosiers gain enough confidence to split the Illinois and Northwestern games and march into a bowl.

Lose and this becomes another 4-8 season, proving the program hasn’t grown in the time Lynch has been here.

No, this isn’t just another game. It’s an opportunity to turn things in the right direction.

PREDICTION:
Fans expecting this game to be finished at halftime, similar to IU’s other non-conference games, better rethink their plans.

Arkansas State, with a legitimate offense, will compete with the Hoosiers for a while before Ben Chappell and the offense help IU get its fourth win of the season.

Prediction: IU 38, Arkansas State 28


– jmalbers@indiana.edu