Familiar outcome has Hoosiers 1 game shy of bowl eligibility with 1 game left

Jordan Guskey | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption IU Coach Tom Allen reacts to loss to No. 4 Michigan The Hoosiers weren't able to pull out the win on the road.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – IU’s players and coaches don’t want to feel this way.

They talked about winning that sixth game and clinching a bowl bid against No. 4 Michigan. They strove to take care of business now so they didn't have to wait until the season finale against Purdue. They didn’t want to worry about the fight for the Old Oaken Bucket determining whether or not IU would have a postseason to speak of, like the rivalry game has each year dating back to 2015.

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Redshirt junior receiver Nick Westbrook remembers the bitter taste from last year’s loss. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey remembers how much it hurt.

And yet IU's 17-15 first-half lead against Michigan still turned into a 31-20 loss. IU (5-6, 2-6 in Big Ten) failed to finish and Michigan (10-1, 8-0) marches on toward what could be a trip to the College Football Playoff. The Hoosiers’ senior day could be the last day those seniors ever wear their IU jerseys again.

“The message was really just, ‘Let’s go out here, we have nothing to lose,’” Westbrook said. “‘Go out here, have fun. Just keep fighting.’ That’s what we did. Unfortunately it didn’t play our way. It’s a game of inches, there’s so many different things that happen that change the course of the game. But, that was the message, ‘Yeah, let’s get six. Who cares about who the opponent is, we still need to get six.’”

IU coach Tom Allen, after the game, pointed to what his young team has been able to accomplish so far after he acknowledged his Hoosiers failed to both punch a ticket to a bowl game Saturday and end their losing streak at the Big House. Allen cited how far the Maryland team IU just beat pushed Ohio State and how a Michigan coach told him he was impressed with what IU’s been able to do.

Stay the course, Allen said as he has so much, before he alluded to the reality Purdue’s matchup presents.

“Winner moves on,” Allen said. “Loser goes home.”

It’s so simple.

The Hoosiers will bring an offense to the table that touched up the Wolverines’ defense for the most yards it has allowed this season — 385 split by 190 rushing and 195 passing. By design, it was aggressive. Freshman Stevie Scott broke the school record for rushing yards in a season by a true freshman with a 139-yard day that puts him at 1,033 yards total. Ramsey took shots down field and Allen even called for a fake punt that looked promising for a moment before it failed.

But while Ramsey threw for a touchdown and ran for 51 yards of his own, the Michigan pass rush too often gave him fits and he completed just 16-of-35 attempts. There were two costly turnovers and some untimely penalties. IU’s defense, while it forced six Michigan field goals in its bend-don’t-break fashion, broke too much and allowed Michigan to collect 507 yards of total offense.

Shea Patterson passed for 250 yards and a touchdown, while Karan Higdon rushed for 101 of the Wolverines’ 257 yards on the ground.

“Played a really good football team and didn’t back down to them,” Allen said. “Went toe-to-toe with them and it was a one-possession game in the fourth quarter. That’s really all you can ask for. You just have to find a way to finish these out.”

Westbrook and Ramsey both appreciate that Allen’s challenged the team about reaching six wins this year. About what it should mean to the players and what it would mean to the program. Because Westbrook said, some of the younger players didn’t understand the implications of it all last year.

“For some of us, it could be our last games,” Westbrook said.

IU receiver Nick Westbrook reacts to loss to No. 4 Michigan The Hoosiers weren't able to get the win on the road.

Ramsey added the locker room is different this year, that there’s a level of encouragement and excitement this group still has that's noticeable. And that will help. But with Jeff Brohm leading Purdue out of the Big Ten cellar, IU will need to marry that with the ability to finish it showed against Maryland.

Once again, as Scott noted after the game, IU showed it has the talent to compete with the nation’s most storied programs. It put a Big Ten power on its heels, at least for a time.

Yet the sense of déjà vu the program and its fans are feeling hits like a train for a reason.

“You guys don’t want this to end,” Westbrook will tell his teammates. “Trust me.”

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Jordan Guskey on Twitter at @JordanGuskey or email him at jguskey@gannett.com.