They've gotten better

I don't know how much value you can find in a loss, but there must be something good that can come of IU's near victory Saturday against Penn State. Just one yard separated the Hoosiers from beating the Nittany Lions for the first time in school history. But as much as another loss hurts, you can still find evidence of success.\nFor starters, the Hoosier defense has become a force opponents no longer anticipate playing against. Against the Nittany Lions, the IU defense intercepted two passes, returning one of them for a touchdown. The defense still is prone to giving up a lot of points, but no longer rolls over at the first sign of defeat. This season, the Hoosier defense has returned four turnovers for touchdowns -- a first for IU football. \nOn the offensive side of the ball, things have been going well for the Hoosiers for years, but the team now finds more variety of play calling, including reverses and options to wide receivers. But the most important upgrade on the offense has been the inclusion of the tight ends -- something severely lacking earlier this season.\nThough the play calling has been vastly improved, I must question the coaching staff's decision to run the ball on all four downs during the Nittany Lions goal-line stand at the end of the game. Penn State has a notoriously fierce defense, so I just wonder why IU didn't think about something like a naked quarterback bootleg, or maybe just a simple play-action pass to the tight end? How about a corner route to Travis Haney? Haney would've had close to five or six inches on the PSU defensive back, so all IU quarterback Matt LoVecchio would've had to do was throw the ball up. \nHindsight is said to be 20/20, but DiNardo stated in his post-game press conference that the team had no intentions of throwing the ball in that situation. I understand that coaching staffs have specific game plans for specific situations, but did they seriously think four runs could win the game, or were they being lazy and hoping that somehow a back would find his way over the line? \nNo matter how you look at it, IU has grown and improved immensely as a team. The team is on a path to success, but has seemingly taken a few wrong turns on the way. \n Next weekend when the Hoosiers face off against in-state rival Purdue, they won't be looking for value or for a successful goal-line touchdown. \nAll the Hoosiers want to do is leave West Lafayette with a win.