Column: Expect the unexpected for IU against Ohio State

There are some things in life that can’t be explained. One of those things is the IU football team.

How can a team score 52 points one week and three the next?

How can a team literally fumble away its chance to win Homecoming?

How can a team have such a historically bad defense?

You get the point.

But there’s something else about this team that is so, so weird, I have no answer for
it.

Recently, no matter how poorly IU plays, it finds a way to play well against Ohio State.
Looking at the team’s record and its statistics, this is mind-boggling.

As bad as IU is against Wisconsin, it is competitive with Ohio State.

Last year, the Hoosiers fell to the Buckeyes by just three points, 52-49, when it made a late rally that had people thinking upset.

In 2011, a year in which IU won just one game, the Hoosiers went to the Horseshoe and lost by only two touchdowns.

It doesn’t make sense.

I say all of this so that no one calls me crazy when I say IU will be competitive in this game — much more competitive than it was against Wisconsin.

Don’t bother looking at matchups or statistics. Ohio State has the advantage in both regards. On paper, the undefeated Buckeyes should smash IU, a team that has won only one of its past five games .

I’m not going to try to explain it. I wish I knew what the key was so that I could go make millions breaking this game down. All I know is that this is going to be a competitive game, something IU did not have last week.

It certainly makes a difference that this is statistically IU’s last chance to be bowl eligible. Lose this game, and bowl hopes are officially down the drain.

That should spark IU’s fire.

And then there’s the fact that absolutely no one is giving IU even the smallest of chances in this game. After the performance the Hoosiers had last weekend, there’s not really any reason to think IU has a chance.

That means there’s no pressure on IU in this game. The only thing people expect out of IU on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, is a loss. And most people already wrote the Hoosiers out of bowl eligibility.

So what’s there to lose?

IU can go out and have fun in this game. Unlike last week, players aren’t thinking about how historically bad they have played against their opponent in recent memory.

In fact, when they see the Buckeyes, they’ll remember just how close they were to beating them last year. There’s some confidence. The Hoosiers won’t go in already mentally defeated like they appeared to be against Wisconsin.

IU is going to be in this game. People are going to be surprised.

But they won’t be surprised by the winner. That’s one thing I can agree on.

Despite being close, the Hoosiers are still going to be on the wrong side of the final
score. But how they will even be in it at the end, I can’t explain.

Prediction: Ohio State 48, IU 35

­— robhowar@indiana.edu
Follow football columnist Robby Howard on Twitter @robbyhoward1.