HOOSIERS LOSE: TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE

This was ... difficult to experience.

I listened to the majority of the game on the radio as I made my way home from Chicago, hoping for it to be a pleasant way to pass the time.

Whoops.

It's a good thing I-65 doesn't cross a ton of waterways, as I conveniently never found myself on a bridge when this team made me want to drive off of one.

There were several moments where it appeared the Hoosiers were going to pull away and they just couldn't make it happen. I got in front of a TV right before Sudfeld reached across the goal line to put IU ahead with a little over two minutes remaining and watched the following 120-some odd seconds tick away one-by-one as the Falcons got yard after yard before scoring the go-ahead touchdown with nine seconds remaining and then I'm pretty sure I blacked out.

A veritable cavalcade of tweets came raining down when the game finished, many calling for Wilson's head, others deeming the season lost, and many doing both.

They aren't unwarranted.

You can't lose to MAC teams. You just can't do it. You can't spend all season touting the steps forward the program has taken and then lose to a MAC team. I don't care if you're playing here, there, wherever. Season goals don't get reached when you lose winnable games. This was the easiest road trip IU was going to get this year and they couldn't cash it in. That's troubling. I'm not advocating for Wilson's sacking, but this looks a whole lot like more of the same 3-5 win quagmire the program has been mired in forever.

I'm not going to rehash the game play by play or reel off the stats, because I don't really want to relive it. Tevin Coleman played out of his brain in the second half and, yet, you could easily pin the loss on his costly fumble when IU looked poised to go up two scores. But, at the same time, how much can we blame the offense when they scored 42 points?

I do think, and I haven't thought this out very well, I think we need to ditch the fast-pace on offense. AJ did a great job on Twitter illustrating the amount of snaps the defense had to play compared to the offense. They're simply too efficient on offense and it's gassing the other side of the ball. The offense needs to slow down and give the defense some time to catch their breath. Maybe they can't do that and remain as effective as they have been but the defense has to get a break at some point.

I tried optimism this year and the Hoosiers made sure to punish me for it in week 2. The hype train has derailed and it certainly doesn't get any easier next week, as a road date with Mizzou looms. But more on that later. For now, let's gather and vent. I'll get some pamphlets (So You Got Suckered By IU Football Again) made up to help us cope through these difficult times.

I need a hug bourbon.