My Two Cents: For Indiana, This Really Is The New Normal - Sports Illustrated

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We have reached the point in Indiana's dramatic football renaissance that even a dominating 24-0 Big Ten victory on the road is picked apart for its flaws more than it is celebrated for its success.

No, 10-ranked Indiana completely dominated Michigan State on Saturday in East Lansing, winning by 24 as a 7.5-point favorite, their most dominant win at Michigan State ever. Yes, ever. It was the first time that Indiana had won a game as a top-10 team since 1967. That's a long, long time ago.

That's four wins in four weeks, all against Big Ten East division foes. And now it comes down to this, a Saturday showdown for the division title against No. 2-ranked Ohio State.

"Indiana'' and "division title" in the same sentence? Who would have ever imagined?

Well, Tom Allen did. And his players do, too.

"We expected this,'' Allen's guys shouted in a euphoric locker room inside Spartan Stadium. "This is the new normal.''

There's no doubt about that. This first month of the very-weird 2020 season has been something special. Even though Indiana started to make its move last year in an 8-5 season that was their best in more than two decade, this was supposed to be much harder by playing a conference-only schedule.

But all they've done is continue to knock off teams that they have NEVER been able to hang with as a Big Ten whipping boy. The Hoosiers were 1-22 all-time against Penn State, and beat them anyway. They beat Rutgers, as expected, but then snapped a 24-game losing streak to Michigan. On now, on Saturday, they snapped an eight-game losing streak in East Lansing that dated back to 2001. It was a trophy game, too, and now the Old Brass Spittoon is back in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers have arrived.

"One of the major things the guys wanted when we set our goals was win our trophy games and so that is what we did, we won our first trophy game,'' Allen said. 'We have not beaten them since I have been the head coach here and you know the history, we have not beaten them very often, recently. This is our first time winning here in East Lansing in 19 years.

"We just keep continuing to make history here, and this is a big win. It's a big win on the road and after such a devastating loss a year ago coming here, but I will tell you what, I think that was a real defining moment in our program. The way the players responded, the way I challenged them the rest of that game and kind of where we have gone since then has been pretty amazing.''

The list of superlatives just keeps getting longer and longer. But this is not an outlier, it really is the new normal. This Indiana football team is legitimately good, and they've proven that they are better than Penn State and Michigan and Michigan State. The balance of power has definitely flipped.

Indiana won the Michigan state championship the past two weeks. It's the first time they've beaten both of them in the same season since 1967. They've also won five straight conference games now, counting last year's win at Purdue, and that's something that's only happened once before in school history (1967).

Indiana quarterback Michael Penix did throw two interceptions on Saturday, but he was still pretty good. He passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns. He's now 9-1 as a starter, the only loss coming last year against the Spartans.

Redemption is sweet, especially on the road because, as Allen says, every win is a big win. There's no doubt about that.

"I thought a year ago, that really was the catalyst to help this team realize if we can just stay the course and just keep believing, keep fighting, keep demonstrating tremendous grit and a relentless mindset that we are going to figure this out and it is going to come together.

"You have to prove it on the field, and a year ago this time, a lot was left out there. Now you feel a whole lot different about where we are and where we headed."

You can complain, if you want, about the two Penix interceptions or the fact that Indiana didn't score in the second half. You wish they could run the ball better, too, but it's picking at straws to do that.

It's a record-setting win on the road, and that's 4-0. That's what matters. All the good, all the bad, it still start at 0-0 on the scoreboard next week at Ohio State.

That's the biggest Indiana football game in my lifetime, dating back to the Rose Bowl against O.J. Simpson at USC at the end of the 1967 season.

That's big. But that's also expected now these days.

You know, the new normal.

"It doesn't matter what everyone says about us. We are going to keep doing us and executing each and every week,'' Fryfogle said. 'That's what is exciting about this team. We are getting better each and every week.

"Look at the defense. They had a shutout today. On offense, we played well but we could have done better. We are going to continue to work on it next week."