Purdue is last home game for seniors

The late Jerry Garcia once sang, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” Truer words couldn’t be spoken about the four years the 16 seniors on the IU football team have experienced. Their journey wearing the cream and crimson comes to an end at Memorial Stadium on Saturday when the Hoosiers host rival Purdue with the Old Oaken Bucket at stake.\n“These guys have been through a lot, and that is why I’ve got a lot of respect for them,” IU coach Bill Lynch said about his seniors. “Obviously a lot of adversity and sadness, and they’ve watched a lot of life lessons go before them. For those 16 guys, I’ve sure got a lot of respect for them and how they’ve come out of it and the attitude they’ve taken.”\nSince 2004, when the seniors were freshmen, the Hoosiers’ record is 18-27. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. The team has improved by one game each season, from just three wins in 2004 to the six they’ve notched so far this year. But the 16 seniors will be forever linked with the number three – as in the number of head coaches they’ve played under.\nAfter former coach Gerry DiNardo, the man responsible for the recruitment of the senior class, was let go after the 2004 season, Terry Hoeppner was named head coach and changed the culture of the program. Hoeppner passed away this summer after battling a brain tumor. Taking the reigns of the program in his absence was Hoeppner’s assistant coach and friend, Lynch. \nSenior defensive tackle Joe Kremer said his time playing for IU is different than he imagined, but he still loves being a Hoosier.\n“Obviously, I didn’t expect that we’d have three head coaches; I didn’t expect for one of them to pass away,” Kremer said. “But I’ve had a lot of great memories here, and I’ve made a lot of great friends.”\nThe seniors will always be connected to the recent coaching carousel, but Kremer said he wants the group to leave a different legacy – getting to a bowl game.\n“If we don’t go to a bowl this year, then we’re just like the last 14 teams,” Kremer said. “We want to separate ourselves from the rest of the pack. I think there’s no better way to finish it out then to win the Bucket and go to a bowl game.”\nSenior fullback and team captain Josiah Sears said he doesn’t think about what the legacy of the senior class will be, but when looking back at his time as a Hoosier, he talked about good and bad times.\n“I guess it just depends on what I’m thinking about, because if I’m thinking about winter conditioning or something like that, it seems like those were really long,” Sears said. “But thinking about games and getting the chance to play, that seems shorter and it seems like it flew by.”\nSears, Kremer and the other 14 Hoosier seniors will get one last moment in the Memorial Stadium spotlight. Should they bring the Bucket back to Bloomington, those seniors have a good chance at being the class that ends IU’s bowl drought. That knowledge is more than enough motivation for Sears.\n“They’re going to get the absolute best game I’ve ever played in my life,” Sears said. “There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll play as hard as I can and leave it all out on the field, because there is nothing left.”