LINCOLN, Neb — The last time IU football won a game with 89,000 or more fans in a stadium was 32 years ago on Oct. 10, 1987, in a 31-10 win at Ohio State in front of a crowd of 90,032.
Until Saturday, when the Hoosiers stunned 89,317 Cornhusker die-hard fans in Lincoln, Nebraska with a 38-31 win.
The closest the IU football program has been to winning a game with that number of spectators in seats was a victory in front of 73,990 in East Lansing in 2001 and sending 70,585 Iowa fans home mad in IU’s most recent winning season of 2007.
This is the first time IU has clinched a bowl bid in October since 1993. The three previous times IU has gone bowling since, they have had to wait to get that elusive sixth win until Nov. 3 in 2007, Nov. 28 in 2015 and Nov. 26 in 2016.
For the first time in 26 years, the Hoosier football program has a chance for a special season.
Barely beating a 4-4 team that played with either its backup or third string quarterback under center while also fielding the nations fourth worst defense, per S&P+, does not sound great on paper. But, IU going on the road to beat a program with the prestige that Nebraska has makes it one of the biggest victories in program history.
“This is a really big win for the program,” junior receiver Ty Fryfogle said. “It’s really big for our program to come in to this environment and get the job done against this historic program.”
But this game is bigger than the single win. It means more than winning at traditional powerhouse Nebraska. More than head coach Tom Allen winning a game as an underdog for the first time at the helm of the IU program. More than winning a sixth game of the season.
IU now sits at 6-2, with a great chance to improve to 7-2 with bottom-dweller Northwestern next week. IU also ends the season at an injury-crippled Purdue team that is currently 2-6.
While it is historically risky to assume IU will win games it is supposed to, it’s completely reasonable to expect at least eight wins.
IU football has only won eight or more games in a season seven times in 121 years of football. Upsetting Nebraska ensures that the Hoosiers have a more than a legitimate chance to win at least eight games before a bowl game. That is huge for the program as a whole.
#9WINDIANA is now an absolute possibility. The only two times the Hoosiers have won nine games in a season were in 1945 and 1967. Assuming wins over Northwestern and Purdue, all that separates IU from nine wins will be one win at Penn State, versus Michigan and the bowl game.
While Nebraska’s struggles and injuries keep me from agreeing with Tom Allen in calling the win “The #breakthrough,” this is easily the biggest win of the Allen era, and arguably the program's biggest victory since IU beat Ohio State in 1988, because now IU football has the chance to have success that has been rarely, if ever, matched in the programs history.
“I got really tired of standing in front of you all and talking about how close we are and being disappointed,” Allen said. “It feels pretty stinkin’ good to stand here after a big time road win for the Hoosiers. This is big. It means a whole lot to our program and changes a lot of things with our guys.”
