Indiana Still Using Gator Bowl Loss as Motivation for Outback Bowl
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There are moments from the 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl that Indiana head coach Tom Allen will never forget.
Certain moments from that game are engrained in Allen's mind. Moments where all three phases played a role in gaining a 22-9 lead over Tennessee in with 10:27 left in the fourth quarter. Moments where all three phases played a role in Indiana giving away that lead and losing 23-22.
Last season was a historic year for the Hoosiers, but it didn't end the way they wanted it to.
This season is even more historic than last year, and the Hoosiers' final game will happen exactly 365 days after the Gator Bowl loss, in the same exact state, against another SEC opponent.
"I choose not to forget about things like that in a positive way," Allen said. "There are things from that game that I don't want us ever to forget."
The Gator Bowl was a big motivation factor for the program when it began spring practices in 2020. Then, the whole offseason got interrupted due to COVID-19 and there was uncertainty if the Big Ten was even going to play any games.
Once the season started, Indiana roared to a 6-1 record and is currently the No. 7 team in the Associated Press Top-25 poll. Many believe the Hoosiers were disrespected out of a New Year's Six Bowl, getting ranked No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings despite suffering just one loss all season to No. 3 Ohio State by seven points.
But even after all the team has endured this season, with plenty of motivation built up from the past few weeks, the team is still using the Gator Bowl as a motivating factor as well.
"We've been reminded of that a lot this past week," wide receiver Ty Fryfogle said. "We don't just want to go to a bowl game, we want to win a bowl game. We're taking this game very serious."
It's a perfect reminder of why Allen says earmuffs and blinders, but also why he stresses that the phrase doesn't mean being completely blind or completely deaf to what's going on.
The biggest takeaway from last year's Gator Bowl was the fact that Indiana did not finish the game. The word "finish" became one of the many buzzwords said throughout this fall.
The Hoosiers finished every single game they played except one, and their goal is to finish one more.
Indiana hasn't won a bowl game since 1991. Jan. 2, 2020, was the day it seemed like that streak was going to end in Jacksonville, Fla.
Now Jan. 2, 2021, is the day Indiana intends to end that streak in Tampa, Fla.
"Those things are brought up in the right way, in the right time, for the right purpose," Allen said. "To be able use as teaching and fuel and reminders as to what happens when you don't finish.
"It's that experience. It's that growth. It's that learning from the past, and letting those experiences be game-changers for your future, and not things that continue to haunt you from the past."
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