Losing skid won't deter IU

Broken records, broken bodies and blown opportunities have characterized the 2004 Hoosier football season. As the 2-4 Hoosiers enter the second half of the season, IU coach Gerry DiNardo's team seeks to exorcise the demons of an injury-riddled offensive line and near-misses in the win-loss column.\nThe team remains winless in the Big Ten conference, but there have been bright spots during the season. Several Hoosier records have been redefined during the course of this campaign. Senior wide receiver Courtney Roby is now the all-time leader in career catches with 149 and is only 59 receiving yards short of gaining the yardage mark of 2,361 yards. Senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio also has broken some records of his own -- passing for his first 300-plus yard game of his career and having the sixth-highest total yardage game in IU history with 386 total yards. \nCareer marks aside, the Hoosiers still remain winless in conference games despite competitive contests against Northwestern and Michigan State. While the heartbreaking 31-24 double overtime loss in IU's last outing against the Northwestern Wildcats might weigh heavily upon the minds of Hoosier fans, IU players have already put the miscue behind them. \nJunior linebacker Kyle Killion said football players normally have short memories when it comes to wins and losses and the Northwestern game was no exception.\n"It's just like normal football, you've just got to focus on the next week," Killion said. "You can't look back on the past because there's really nothing you can do about it. You can only look ahead."\nThe week off gave the Hoosiers some much-needed time to repair the injury-riddled team. As IU entered the bye week, injuries had changed the face of the entire offensive line as only two starters were playing in their original positions. As of now, the offensive line is back to its original lineup with all five starters returning for this week's match-up against Ohio State. \nDiNardo said the bye week was extremely beneficial for the Hoosiers as they enter the twilight of the 2004 season. \n"The off-week has given us a chance to heal up," DiNardo said. "It has given us a chance to do some recruiting. It has also given us a chance to get back to some of the basic things that we have been doing, especially on offense with regard to some formations and plays we started the season with."\nAfter a 2-0 start in the season, the Hoosiers have dropped four games in a row, including tough losses against Michigan State when IU gave up a 20-7 first half lead and the aforementioned loss against the Wildcats. LoVecchio said that while the team could have been at 4-2 rather than their current standing of 2-4, the Hoosiers are optimistic about the rest of the season and cannot get bogged down by looking at the past. \n"You can always look back and think about what could've been, but we have to only look forward," LoVecchio said. "There were a couple of games that we could have won and we should have won, but as we progress through the schedule, there's no reason that we couldn't win some games that we're not supposed to win."\nWhile the team is keeping its focus upon the future, IU's past losses still serve a purpose within the Hoosier locker room. Senior safety Herana-Daze Jones said the tough losses have actually been a confidence booster for the team as the Hoosiers have shown their ability to compete with programs from around the conference. \n"If we were just to get blown out and not compete then you would be down," Jones said. "But if you're a competitor and play hard and doing the things you need to do to win, that makes you feel like it's not over."\nWith five games left in the season, DiNardo kept his textbook "one game at a time" outlook upon the rest of the season. As of now, the team's only concern is to prepare for the upcoming game and focus on the Buckeyes.\n"It's week to week. Our goal this week is to get ready and play the best we can against Ohio State," DiNardo said. "It's another away game in conference. When you get into conference play, its one game at a time."\nDespite the difficulty of the upcoming schedule, Jones said the team is still upbeat in its expectations for the rest of the season. \n"We just have to keep playing right now. We still have five games left and it's not the end of the world," Jones said. "We're still up, we still believe, and the game of football is still fun." \n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.