Column: Was IU's first half all just a dream?

One of the most painfully agonizing periods of time in any person’s life is the seeming lack of an ability to recall the most realistic, pleasurable dreams during the inevitable storms that all people encounter.

The dreams liken themselves to an addictive drug that serves as a portal into a peaceful, more tranquil setting than life may present.

For the IU football team, Saturday’s first half against the Michigan State Spartans was an escape from the dismal, dreary reality the program finds itself in. For once, success felt so tangible, so close to becoming concrete.

At the conclusion of the initial 15 minutes of action at Memorial Stadium, the Hoosiers claimed a 17-0 lead against a Michigan State team that began the season ranked 13th nationally.

The lead brought a tidal wave of momentum that seemingly filled the stands, making Memorial Stadium possibly the loudest location in the state of Indiana for the first time in what feels like an eternity.

This simply couldn’t be a perceived reality. This had to be a dream which Hoosier fans would be rudely awakened from.

Indeed they were.

Hoosier Nation was awoken by a resilient Michigan State squad that refused to let Indiana live out a dream that has been floating around the collective subconscious of anyone who associated with the Indiana football program.

The second half began, and after the Hoosiers’ first possession, the proverbial alarm clock sounded. That alarm clock that IU students hold in such disdain, for it signals their inevitable return to the dark reality of the school week after a weekend in a real fantasy.

The Hoosier offense attempted to return to its fantasy of the first half, but instead was met by fate.

Play after play, drive after drive, IU Coach Kevin Wilson’s offense was running on fumes, often breaking down short of scoring territory. There was no gas station, either. There was no chance for an enigmatic offense to regain its stride or swagger.

Compounding this dream turned nightmare was an Indiana defense that was handed short fields and short breathers on the sideline. Eventually, the Michigan State offense wore the Hoosier defense down like a superior boxer against his inferior opponent in a prizefight.

Wilson understood that concept and felt its stinging aftershock.

“You’re not going to beat a good team, and you’re not going to win in the Big Ten if you don’t play 60 minutes,” Wilson said.

He’s correct in that stance, but at least Wilson has the comfort of knowing his team played winning football for one half. The next challenge for Wilson’s program is to put together a 60-minute effort that is worthy of a victory.

The 31-27 loss to the Spartans must be eating away at the mind and soul of Wilson and his staff, for the Hoosiers were tantalizingly close to transforming this dream into a reality.

One day soon, the Hoosiers will wake up, and they’ll suddenly be living that dream.

­— ckillore@indiana.edu