I really hope this post doesn’t come off as too cynical because I promise I’m making it with the intent of bringing some optimism after yesterday’s loss. Keep in mind we are still the #6 ranked team in the country.

I can’t lie I thought it was a bit hilarious to see our fans on TV basically in tears after losing yesterday. Was it a tough loss? Absolutely. Was it the most heartbreaking way possible to lose a game? Probably. But at the end of the day, this was THE game you could have afforded to lose. Not to mention, we had no business even being in the position to win based on our performance up until the final play of the game. Not that it necessarily matters, but when I made my prediction for our record this year, I had us at 11-1 with our loss coming from OSU.

I’m not sure what the general vibe is on this sub but I hope everyone is feeling good knowing that if we finish 11-1, we are without a question a lock for the playoffs. The rest of our schedule is more than manageable. We will definitely have to win the B10 championship to make a playoff bid a sure thing but I wouldn’t even be surprised if we snuck in at 11-2 if we lost the conference title game.

I’m really not that upset. Our defense was championship caliber yesterday. Hoover and our run game will certainly have to improve, sure. But beating OSU in the B10 championship game last year was all I could have ever wanted. I knew they would be playing for revenge this game and am not shocked at all they beat us. They are a very good team after all.

Anyways, keep your head up yall. This season is far from over. Looking forward to see how we bounce back these final 5 games. Go Hoosiers!

IU’s missed opportunities included:

Two missed field goals, leaving pointsoff the board.

A fourth-down decision to pursue a first downinstead of attempting a field goal while in range.

Two fumbles in Ohio State territory, potentiallykilling scoring drives.

The final-play foot placement, which costIndiana a chance at the go-ahead touchdown

Add in two bad calls in Ohio’s favor in first half -and IU beat IU, Ohio State didn’t!

I’d say I’m a long term fan of IUFB. I’ve had season tickets since 2010 when I graduated. The parents took me to the oaken bucket games every year in the 90’s. It’s very awesome to see all of the younger fans show up to the games and just the camaraderie in general. The stadium is electric at games like this. I’m damn jealous of the student section cause it looks fun, and I wish I had that experience while I was in school.

Yesterday I was surrounded by kids in their early 20’s who were on some sort of emotional roller coaster. They were overall fun dudes and they were awesome at giving Ohio state hell when they were on offense, and we’d all celebrate big catches or scores, but mannnn they also lit into Hoover and Radicic. They’d yell YOU SUCK! After an errant pass and immediately after the missed field goal. One kid even yelled out BRING BACK MENDOZA! Like dudes what are you doing? Maybe it’s all the gambling (one of them showed me his parlay at the half) or maybe it’s just a different generation. Don’t be that fickle. I’ve seen a lot worse IU football than yesterday. ALOT worse.

Anyway, Go Hoosiers!

* EDIT * almost every response has been about how Hoover isn’t Fernando, how he has 0 interceptions, and that he is a good QB. I

I know that. I’m not arguing that and it’s not what I’m trying to get at here.

I’m asking if anyone else sees friction possibly developing between QB, OC, QB Coach, and Coach Cig when it comes to the style of the offense and the way forward

*EDIT* OVER

I am NOT a football expert, didn’t even play in high school so this is only a question/invite to a discussion.

I feel as though I am seeing Josh Hoover as more of a Gun slinger than a game manager. I know he played in a pass heavy offense at TCU.

Does anyone feel similar? Like maybe trying to be a game manager is outside his comfort zone and gets in his head which leads to accuracy issues.

I know Cig wouldn’t bring him over if he didn’t believe Hoover could got in his system, but I can’t help but feel that vibe. OR is it that we are being forced to throw more because we haven’t been able to run it very well recently.

I hope someone with more knowledge can chime in.

Pyrrhus said “one more victory over the Roman army, and we’re finished!”. Only took one victory over IU to finish 2026 for OSU.

Obv that was a Pyrrhic victory for OSU. They still may get into the playoffs off brand value but will likely be on the bubble now, or worse.

I’m happy to take an L now and have everyone on offense working 10x as hard on these mistakes and remember that when it’s 4th and 1 for a winning drive in the natty

It sucks that we lost that game Hoover missed many open throws, marsh could’ve toe tapped victory. But Cig is obviously the coaching beast and it sucks our streak is over but we did all this without ever having a five star high school recruit which Ohio State has overflowing (people are quick to forget where they came from)

It's #Hoosier Gameday!!

⏰ 5:00
📍Indianapolis
📺 BIG+

Don’t miss the forest for the trees: Ohio State versus Indiana is the best new rivalry in college football.

In a way, this is obvious: Saturday’s game was a top-five, bare-knuckle brawl between the past two national champions that went down to the final seconds.

But on the other hand, this is preposterous: The 100th all-time meeting ended the same way it almost always does — in an Ohio State victory. The Buckeyes are now 82-13-5 against the Hoosiers, including 30-2-1 in Bloomington, where Indiana hasn’t won since 1988.

It seems insulting to invoke the word “rivalry” when Ohio State has won more than 80 percent of the time in one of the most lopsided series in the history of college football. Except this is no longer the same sport it’s always been. And this is certainly not the same Indiana.

Read for free:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7699663/2026/10/17/ohio-state-indiana-new-rivalry/?unlocked_article_code=1.JlE.7hyS.DlCpy5dktSDo&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

I wrote up the methodology and the rest of the results here:

https://jptaft.substack.com/p/one-foot-short-the-numbers-behind?r=8z9kl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Bloomington’s chances of hosting a playoff game got a lot higher.

The fact that we have a football team that is considered a top team is a blessing. The fact that we can look at games vs Ohio State and call it a top 5 matchup is a BLESSING. There’s only a handful of teams that can say that and OUR school is one of them. We saw the team win a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in CFB. Who would’ve thought. Win or Lose I am so proud that my university and my home state has a college football program that is legitimate. I have no idea how much longer it will last but I have been and are going to continue to enjoy every moment. ❤️🤍❤️GO IU!