Not What We Expected

 A year ago today IU football played in the Gator Bowl.  We were all excited as their season had been one of their best in years.  We had hoped to go Florida to watch them then, but our trip to Disney World had already been planned and the timing with Doug's inventory made it almost impossible for him to get away.  We didn't mind watching it at home, however, and had our own IU bowl party.  The Hoosiers played well last year, but let the Gator Bowl championship slip away in the end. 

Fast forward to today and we had pretty much the same set up.   IU had enjoyed an even better season than last year.  We were excited for their prospects at the Outback Bowl, and although we weren't able to attend in person due to the pandemic, we made the best of it at home.  The house was decorated, the crockpot was full of buffalo chicken dip and the television was warmed up with pregame shows.   The hype behind the game was large.  Hoosier fans felt slighted that IU missed out on being chosen for a New Year's Eve bowl.  The argument became even stronger as Ohio State blew out Clemson last night, thus making IU's eight point loss to them during the regular season look even more impressive.  

The excitement of the game quickly turned as IU struggled in the first half.  Ole Miss' offense was different than any IU had played this season and the defense struggled to adjust to it.  Even more challenging for the Hoosiers to overcome was replacing their injured star quarterback.  No matter how well Jack Tuttle played, he wasn't going to be able to match the arm or athleticism of Michael Penix, Jr. As Cam stated at the half, "IU was lucky just to be down 13-3."  They did rebound in the second half and I was sure that they would take advantage of Ole Miss' errant extra point.  Unfortunately, they just couldn't erase the deficit and lost 26-20 continuing their losing streak in bowl games to 30 years.  There were some bright spots today, mainly revolving around senior Whop Philyor setting an IU record with eighteen receptions.  It was a nice sendoff for him, but the loss was a bitter pill for everyone to swallow.  The rest of the night was a quiet one in the Heinisch home.  We weren't ready for anymore football, so we watched the movie Soul and then Ratatouille on Disney+.  There was one bright spot during the evening - Cal and Winston stopped by to say hello.  It was nice to see them both of their smiling faces.