You’ve heard the song “Closer” by the Chainsmokers a few too many times.
At halftime, IU led No. 3 Michigan, 7-3, and the smash hit came on the loudspeakers inside Michigan Stadium.
The choice seemed fitting, because the song has come to define this IU football team.
The chorus of the song begins, “I know it breaks your heart,” and the hook continues on to say, “So, baby, pull me closer.”
Once again against a Big Ten power, the Hoosiers were close, and for the second week in a row had a second half lead. But in the end, IU couldn't make plays when the game mattered most.
It's the same script IU games have followed all season long. The Hoosiers play well enough to keep the game close, but in the end, the ranked opponent finds a way to win.
The close losses to ranked teams have piled up this season. The loss to Michigan joins the losses to Ohio State, Penn State and Nebraska as agonizing defeats. All four are ranked among the top 17 teams in the nation in the latest AP poll.
“It really hurts,” sophomore wide receiver Nick Westbrook said. “Especially going into it knowing you can win. We’re pound-for-pound matched up with them. It sucks letting it slip away like that.”
Every single time, IU lets the game slip away and fails to make the requisite plays to win the game.
In this version of the nightmare, it all turned so quickly in the third quarter.
IU was up by four with five minutes left in the third quarter, but after a single play, it was never able to regain the momentum. Michigan quarterback John O’Korn avoided a sack and scrambled for 30 yards. The game was essentially over.
The Wolverines scored a touchdown on the very next play and regained the lead. The Hoosiers would have multiple chances to stop the bleeding, but never did.
Westbrook was grasping at straws trying to figure out what’s the difference between winning and losing against these high-powered teams.
“Just that little thing,” Westbrook said. “I can’t point out one spot that I can see that momentum shift happening. It’s just got to happen, something’s got to happen.”
Someone has to step up.
IU has the ability to be in every single game, but sorely lacks an individual who can make that game altering catch or takeaway. For as good as IU plays at times, it doesn’t possess the most critical part of the game – the ability to finish.
“It’s difficult,” junior linebacker Tegray Scales said. “Especially when you hate to lose. Just overall, we’ve got to find a way to finish. We came out in the second half and didn’t have the same juice when we came out in the beginning of the game. Just find a way to finish is what we’ve got to be able to do.”
IU has run out of chances to prove that it has broken through as a program this season.
It plays Purdue next week for an opportunity to make a second-straight bowl game, but that accomplishment feels like another hollow, moral victory.
IU is getting closer, but in the end, it'll break Hoosier fans' hearts every single time.
