Column: Will IU fail yet another test?

In 2010, it was 63 points. In 2011, it was 52. Last year, it was 48.

That’s been the margin of victory for Wisconsin against IU the last three years.

When the two teams play, it’s been ugly, to say the least.

The Badgers have flat out looked better than IU in all of those meetings because, well, they were better.

I don’t think it’s any different this year.

At the beginning of the year, I’m not sure I would’ve said exactly that. There was lots of optimism around this team. All of the pieces seemed to be in place to make a jump.

But it just hasn’t happened.

IU still lost to Navy. It lost to Minnesota. It lost a game it was positioned to win against Michigan. The jump hasn’t happened yet.

And the way IU matches up with Wisconsin, I don’t think it’s going to happen Saturday.

Of course, IU Coach Kevin Wilson disagrees.

“Our mindset is we’re making strides, and this is an opportunity to show we’re ready to make the next stride,” he said. “You want to do it this week. Let’s go up and fight and have a great week and have a great plan, put it together, go attack, go fight and see what it is. Let’s go up there not hoping and wishing it could happen. Might as well not get on the plane and take the bus trip up to the airport.

“I’m looking forward to seeing where the team is, looking forward to having a good week.”

The entire season has been a chance like this, notably games against Missouri, at Michigan State, at Michigan and against Minnesota. IU has failed to turn the page in all of those.

And the difference with this game is IU has never been close against Wisconsin in recent history.

I remember as a freshman watching from my dorm room in Teter as Ben Chappell got clobbered in Madison, Wisc., and the Hoosiers fell 83-20. It was one of my worst-spent Saturday afternoons of my freshman year. IU was never in the game. It was like watching a steam-engine train run over the team.

Last year might have been the worst of all.

When the Badgers came to Bloomington, there were whispers around the Hoosier football team and the Rose Bowl. Win that game, and there’s a chance IU makes it to the Big Ten Championship game, giving it a chance of going to the Rose Bowl.  

It was more than a bit far-fetched, but it was within the realm of possibility. And after back-to-back Big Ten wins, optimism in the program was at an all-time high. It represented, perhaps, IU’s biggest chance of making a stride forward for the program.

And instead, the Hoosiers got man-handled on their own home field, 62-14.

Saturday, the task will be even more difficult. IU will likely be playing without sophomore running back Tevin Coleman, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

Senior running back Stephen Houston is more than capable of starting, but it means IU is playing one weapon down.

And the Hoosiers are going against a massive weapon in Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon.

Six times this season, he’s gone for more than 100 yards. He’s averaging 8.1 yards per carry and has gone for 1,160 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games. He’s a
stud.

For a running defense that has struggled at times this season, this will be its biggest test.

And it’s a test I don’t think the Hoosiers will pass.

My prediction: Gordon runs wild against the Hoosiers, who are forced to go to an all-air attack without Coleman. Wisconsin continues its dominance of IU, winning 56-21.

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