The Indiana football team vaulted into the national spotlight with its dramatic, 36-35 overtime win over No. 8 Penn State in its season opener Saturday.
The Hoosiers are ranked 17 th in the latest Associated Press college football poll. It’s IU’s highest ranking since 1993 and was the biggest one week jump of any team in the nation. The Hoosiers received just four votes last week before garnering 466 this week.
The other big jump came from head coach Tom Allen, who found himself spontaneously crowd surfing atop his players in the locker room afterward. It was a first, he said.
“Like most things I do, it was an instant reaction to the situation,” Allen said. “Wasn’t really planning on it at all, but the guys got a little emotional.”
The win touched off an emotional couple of days for Allen and the program.
“It has been crazy, I can confirm that, but a good kind of crazy,” Allen said. “It has been hard to sleep, for good reasons. My mind was just racing, my phone was blowing up with a lot of people reaching out congratulating us.
“A lot of individuals that throughout my whole career, all the way back to high school and college, and all the stops where I was coaching and all the different places all the places we have been as a college coach. Everybody has reached out.”
None of that would have happened had the Hoosiers not gone for a two-point conversion — and the win — on their first possession of the overtime after Penn State scored on its opening possession of the extra period to take a 35-28 lead.
But after quarterback Michael Penix’s dive for the pylon on the conversion attempt was ruled good after a long replay review.
“You can talk about it all you want, but when you experience that type of situation, find a way to finish the game and win the game, it is a powerful thing,” Allen said. “It is great for our kids; they deserved it because they work so hard, and I am so proud of them.
Now the challenge is putting the historic win – Indiana’s first over a top 10 opponent since 1987 – behind them as they prepare for Saturday’s game at Rutgers.
“We’re not where we want to be yet, so there’s a lot of hunger and a lot of focus out of this group I expect to see every day this week,” Allen said.
After Rutgers on Saturday, it’s back home to face Michigan for a noon kickoff on Nov. 7.
