Cedar Falls, Iowa —
Indiana State's football team is getting tired of being graded on the curve of its own past futility.
The No. 17 Sycamores feel like they've arrived … and they grow weary of continually having to prove it to those who remain skeptical of their success.
I agree. So given that standard, what I'm about to write is going to sound like criticism even though, in the big picture, it should actually be construed as a compliment given where ISU has come from.
In the wake of its 23-9 loss to No. 2 Northern Iowa at the UNI-Dome, the Sycamores should not feel like they could have won.
They should have won.
Seven points were left on the field via missed kicks alone. The offense was inside the UNI 30-yard line six times and got a grand total of nine points. There were three turnovers.
Given that ISU's defense played with more aplomb than it has since the win at Western Kentucky on Sept. 17, ISU had ample opportunities to beat the Panthers on their home field.
They should have won. Bottom line And no one in a very disappointed ISU locker room would disagree.
“I felt like we let one slip away. Not to take anything away from [UNI]. We were fighting, we just couldn't make the big plays when we needed to,” ISU fullback Brock Lough said.
“Everyone left their heart out there. I was so emotional after the game because we came together at halftime and wanted to come back and take the lead. It didn't happen. The ball didn't bounce our way and we didn't execute,” ISU quarterback Ronnie Fouch said.
“The more you put in, the more it hurts. We worked hard to get up to the level we're at now, among the top programs. It just didn't swing our way this time,” ISU tight end Michael Mardis said.
Up until Saturday's game, perception about ISU — especially around the rest of the league – was that they were a great rise-from-the-ashes story, but they were a team that was going to get exposed when it battled the big boys of the MVFC.
The boys don't get much bigger than No. 2 UNI, especially on its homefield, especially in front of the 3rd-largest crowd in UNI-Dome history.
But ISU more than held their own. They pushed the Panthers around at times. UNI's potent offense looked stagnant and befuddled at other times. ISU's defense was the first to keep UNI from scoring a touchdown in the red zone all season.
And before Shakir Bell had to leave the game due to an unfortunate concussion late in the second quarter, there was justified concern in the UNI-Dome that is was going to be the Sycamores' day. Bell had 145 yards on 14 carries. More video game-like stats from the sensational soph.
But lack of execution took it all away.
“It hurts to know we were so close to a team that's so good. Take nothing away from them, they deserve what they got. It hurts right now, but we can't let it linger,” ISU defensive tackle Rod Hardy said.
ISU crossed one its last rubicons on the way to stabilizing itself as a winning program today. The standard is no longer, “how did they do against the league's elite?”
As ISU marches towards a possible Football Championship Series playoff berth and a still-possible shot at the Missouri Valley Football Conference championship, the standard will now and forever be … “did they win?”
That speaks volumes about the warp-speed progress ISU has made since 2009. Lest anyone forget, two years ago on this date, ISU was still the nation's worst team.
“If I slapped one of them on the back and said, 'Good job competing', they'd look at me like I was crazy. That's a given in our program. It's not something we have to talk about. We have the talent to compete with anybody. I'm not worried about competing anymore,” ISU coach Trent Miles said.
He's right. Moral victories are done. They're history. It's time to worry about winning.
What a great worry that is to have. It wasn't long ago that the worry was whether there would be football at ISU at all.
Todd Golden is sports editor of the Tribune-Star. He can be reached at todd.golden@tribstar.com or at (812) 231-4272. Please read his blog at http://blogs.tribstar.com/downinthevalley and check out his Twitter feed @TribStarTodd.
From the Press Box
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Not a coulda, shoulda for Sycamores
- From the Press Box
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TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
If you had to pick one word that would describe the 2013 Indiana State baseball season, it would have to be frustration.
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FROM THE PRESSBOX: Content McKenna has enjoyed seeing ISU's progress
It all happened so fast in June 2010.
One minute, Kevin McKenna was head coach of the Indiana State men’s basketball program. Then — poof! — he was gone.
McKenna resigned from his head coaching position at ISU on June 13, 2010 to take an assistant coach position on Dana Altman’s then-burgeoning University of Oregon staff. -
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FROM THE PRESSBOX: Can Sycamores reverse fortunes heading into MVC Tournament?
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The mechanics of X-and-O success in basketball are obvious, but what’s often overlooked in building a successful campaign is managing the rhythm of the season, which is the hardest thing of all. -
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Taking ownership has always been one of Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing’s strengths.
When ISU has lost games in his three seasons at the helm that it was expected to win, Lansing has always been willing to fall on the sword and take blame for it. -
TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State has far more occasions to rise to
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TODD GOLDEN: Big plays in last 10 minutes story of the season for Indiana State
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It’s 20 games into Indiana State’s men’s basketball season and I still expect the Sycamores’ offense operate like a well-oiled machine from the opening tip. -
Sycamores blossom on Hawaii trip
Quick quiz … what’s the state flower of Hawaii?
Don’t worry. I can’t just rattle state flowers off the top of my head. I had to look it up too, even though I’ve seen them all over the place in Honolulu.
I didn’t even know that Indiana’s state flower is the peony, which replaced the apparently unloved zinnia in the 1950s.
Hawaii’s flower, and they’re ubiquitous in Waikiki tourist shops and in actual flora on Oahu, is the yellow hibiscus.
The yellow hibiscus is big, bold and bright. I’ve never seen one blossom, but I imagine it has to be a beautiful sight.
What I have seen blossom — and it’s the only reason flowers would be brought up in my column — is the Indiana State basketball team at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. -
TODD GOLDEN: ISU needs to have its realignment head on a swivel
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Do you want to know who’s on the short list to become Indiana State's next football coach?
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TODD GOLDEN: Trent Miles leaves Sycamores with giant legacy
To glean perspective on Trent Miles’ time as Indiana State’s football coach, I went back into the Tribune-Star’s archives to remind myself of what the football program was like when Miles arrived to rebuild it.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Scoreboard watching and the threat matrix for ISU
Indiana State football coach Trent Miles reaffirmed his belief Tuesday that a victory over Youngstown State on Saturday will propel the Sycamores into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since 1984.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Twists and turns, but Luck passes eye test
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck made his much anticipated Lucas Oil Stadium debut Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Looking back and forward at ISU athletics
It started in State College, Pa., and ended in Eugene, Ore. Few Indiana State athletic seasons have spanned the nation in as many sports as 2011-12 did for the Sycamores’ athletic teams. And from coast-to-coast there was glory and heartbreak alike.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU progresses under Prettyman
He didn’t say a word, but it was as clear as Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman sat in the PK Park dugout and watched the Sycamores take batting practice prior to their NCAA Regional at Oregon last Thursday, he beamed with pride.
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TODD GOLDEN: MVC pitching helped prepare Sycamores for regional
Nick Petree, Pierce Johnson, Ty Blach.
These aren’t just elite-level starting pitchers Indiana State’s baseball team faced this season. They comprise three of the last five pitchers the Sycamores faced period. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
When Indiana State was crowned as the regular season baseball champion of the Missouri Valley Conference last Thursday, it marked the fifth different regular season champion the league has had since 2005.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU has done enough to be in NCAAs
When you get older, you’re supposed to get wiser. I don’t know if I qualify, but I’m trying.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: TH’s Murans back in the Derby … this time with favorite
When Terre Haute native Paul Murans experienced his first Triple Crown horse racing run as part-owner of Mucho Macho Man in 2011, the experience was — to borrow a phrase from one-time Marquette coach Al McGuire — seashells and balloons.
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TODD GOLDEN: IHSAA debate interrupts more pressing issues
State Senator Mike Delph has sowed a 15-year-old wind and put the emotional class basketball debate back on the public’s mind.
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TODD GOLDEN: ISU eyes prize one game at a time
Most baseball fans know that the baseball season — even a college baseball season — is a marathon, not a sprint.
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TODD GOLDEN: Grass is green enough for Indiana State in Missouri Valley
Take a look around the Missouri Valley Conference landscape and it would be easy to assume that a significant portion of the league membership is searching for perceived greener pastures.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamores are Odum’s team now
Soooo … who wants to talk about the 2012 Indiana State men’s basketball season?
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU will face uphill climb in MVC in 2013
The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals are always scintillating. No more so than Saturday when Illinois State upset 15th-ranked Wichita State 65-64 and when No. 25 Creighton took care of business with a 99-71 victory over Evansville.
Arch Madness indeed. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Effort, heart, concentration are fleeting for ISU
Every time Indiana State’s men’s basketball wins a game, you think to yourself, OK, now is when these Sycamores live up to their potential.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Peyton’s place belongs to Eli
The good people of Indianapolis justifiably puffed out their chests throughout Super Bowl week as the city received deserved rave reviews for the job it did as hosts of Super Bowl XLVI.
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TODD GOLDEN: Teammates, colleagues express their loyalty to Weatherford
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If you’re into Youtube — and who isn’t these days? — there’s a vintage television profile of then-Cleveland Browns coach Bill Belichick posted on the popular site.
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TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State men caught between expectation, reality
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