Those four IU victories were all close games. The Hoosiers were making the extra play or two to come out on top.
So the question remains: what has changed?
Sophomore linebacker Marcus Oliver thinks it all stems from a mindset. He said it after a 35-27 loss Saturday to No. 9 Iowa and he stuck to it Monday — the Hoosiers don’t quite expect to win anymore.
“Our first four games, we didn’t expect to lose,” Oliver said. “I think that’s something we are trying to get back to.”
Oliver understands it. He said he remembers as a freshman not being confident he could do certain jobs the coaches asked of him. Junior guard Dan Feeney said it can be overwhelming playing top-10 teams so often.
Oliver said programs like Michigan State and Ohio State never go into games expecting to lose. That is the mindset he said he wants younger IU players to develop. He said it comes down to hating to lose more than liking to win.
“I’m tired of losing,” Oliver said. “I know a lot of the old guys are tired of losing.”
With IU football, rebuilding always comes down to changing the culture. Few programs, if any, have a deeper history of losing, and it can be difficult to implement expectations. Senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld even made honest comments Saturday about how people don’t expect anything from IU.
On the other hand, junior running back Jordan Howard ran for 1,587 yards with UAB last year before it temporarily disbanded. He had a list of other suitors, yet he chose IU.
“I came to this team because I felt like it was a team that was on the upswing,” Howard said.
The talent level for the Hoosiers has been noticeably increasing. The past three recruiting classes are considered to be some of the best in program history.
The five losses have not been blowouts, either. Four of the five Big Ten losses were one possession games in the fourth quarter.
“It’s just hard, just seeing how everybody, like the young guys, think,” Oliver said. “It’s just hard getting them to realize that they’re good.”
Howard said the team can play with anybody when it meets its potential.
Feeney evaluated the Hoosiers as maybe 80 or 90 percent of the way to making the jump, but they need to learn how to finish.
To bring this message home, Howard isn’t thinking about qualifying for a bowl berth or hitting the oft-mentioned 6-win mark. With three games to go, he wants the 4-5 Hoosiers to win them all.
“We’re going for seven wins now,” Howard said.
