Inspired Hoosiers battle back in win over Iowa: 'We're all in this together'

With seconds left in the third quarter of Indiana‘s matchup at Iowa, quarterback Fernando Mendoza scrambled right and took a nasty hit before he could get out of bounds. In a moment of flaring tempers and indecisive officials, most would’ve turned to their coach for an answer, but center Pat Coogan took it upon himself step up and bring his team together.

He did so by calling the team in and delivering a monologue of inspiration, a pep talk of sorts, but it was so much more than that.

It didn’t seem that way initially, as a play after he attempted to rally his teammates, Kaelon Black was stopped well short of the line to gain on a fourth-and-1. Iowa took over, made a go-ahead field goal, and it appeared as if Coogan’s message went in one ear and out the other for the Hoosiers.

That couldn’t have been further from the case, though.

Despite the results not being immediate, Coogan’s talk with the team to begin the fourth quarter symbolized a shift that may have taken five weeks to manifest. Late in the fourth quarter though, it finally paid off despite things looking extremely bleak.

How it Happened: No. 11 Indiana escapes with 20-15 road victory at Iowa

On the drive following Iowa’s go-ahead field goal, Indiana tied it up with a Nico Radidic field goal of its own. With the score tied at 13, Iowa threw an interception, giving the Hoosiers a chance to take control of the game with less than seven minutes remaining.

Unfortunately for IU, Mendoa threw a pick of his own and Iowa was perfectly set up to take the lead with 2:50 left to play. The Hoosiers were dead to rights, but they never quit.

And when they were given a gift of an Iowa missed field goal, Indiana wouldn’t miss the opportunity to strike

Indiana scored five plays later on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Mendoza to Elijah Saratt. The Hoosiers were ahead 20-13 and on their way to a gutsy win away from home as you can’t understate how important it was for Indiana to stay poised until the very end.

Linebacker Aiden Fisher said postgame that in Week 1 Indiana wasn’t quite as together as it needed to be, but its matchup at Iowa showed just how far the Hoosiers have come.

“We were a lot of individuals just, you know, trying to play a scheme together. Now it feels like we’re a unit playing a really good scheme,” he said following the win.

With the Hoosiers playing more like a complete unit under adversity, Coogan himself spoke about how he’s seen his team grow, with his leadership a prime reason why you can describe IU as a team that shares one heartbeat.

“I thought it was my job and my responsibility as a leader of this team to kind of just rally the troops a little bit and get everyone refocused. And it was also the start of the fourth quarter. We got to win the fourth quarter. So that was kind of the message, just refocus and we got to focus on executing,” Coogan said postgame.

Indiana did in fact win the fourth quarter, and the game, but it wasn’t pretty. For the vast majority of the contest, the offense couldn’t move the ball, while the defense allowed Mark Gronowski and Iowa’s offense to move the ball well at times.

While it wasn’t a good performance by any stretch of the imagination, it might have been exactly what the Hoosiers needed. You saw how Indiana dealt with adversity last year on the road, but this year, it passed the first test. Did it pass with flying colors? No, but a win is a win.

“Yeah, it’s huge, especially for your team that, you know, you get a lot of transfers and a lot of new guys. You have to face adversity at some point in your season. I think it’s good to face it early, and I think we did a great job bouncing back, you know, being relentless, being resilient through a lot of ups and downs in this game,” Fisher told reporters.

For the Hoosiers to deal with adversity in Week 5 and get through it really says a lot about how this year’s team might be different. Iowa may not be as daunting as a road game at Ohio State or Notre Dame, but you can only play who’s on your schedule, and Indiana played well enough to beat its opponent in an environment that holds its own against any other stadium in the Big Ten.

“I think it really just pulled all of us together to know that, you know, we’re all in it together. Everybody’s got each other’s back and I just think at the end of the day it was going to come down to who wanted it more and who was a closer football team that, you know, trusted one another more,” Fisher added.

Players Q&A: Indiana players react to Indiana’s win over Iowa

And as it turned out, Indiana was the team that trusted each other more, at least according to Fisher’s logic. It wasn’t just Fisher that saw it though, Hoosiers were connected, and it showed.

It may not have all been caused by Coogan’s message, but in a moment of leadership, he proved what the Hoosiers already knew. They’ll compete until the final whistle, and they certainly needed to on Saturday in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes provided quite a scare, but when it mattered most, Indiana delivered. Even the catalyst behind the game-winning play understands how important Coogan’s words were.

“I think it was a good centering moment for our team to pull together and come together, say, ‘Hey, we’re going to win this game right here,’” Mendoza said.

With a team that is self-described as connected, the Hoosiers may be as dangerous as ever. While the matchup with Iowa didn’t go as planned, IU came away with the win, but it may have left the Hawkeye State with a far more important lesson.

If Indiana can play together and fight through adversity, the sky’s the limit — and the Hoosiers proved that with Pat Coogan as their voice.

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