Indiana football is not very good this year. However, its seniors deserved better than the support they received on Saturday.
A minuscule crowd showed up to watch the Hoosiers play their final home game of the season, to the point that you can’t help but feel awful for the guys who are set to graduate. Memorial Stadium, which can hold a max capacity of about 55,000, was next to empty as they were honored during pregame.
A small contingency of folks who likely spent every last minute possible at the tailgate did arrive closer to kickoff and helped to fill up the near side. Attendance still wasn’t great. Especially for the final home game of the year against a Big Ten opponent.
Among those in the crowd was a Michigan fan. He wanted to make it known to all that he was not trying to steal signs from either opponent.
Unfortunately, Indiana could not pull out the win over a bad Michigan State team. The Hoosiers lost to the Spartans by three. Their kicker missed a 49-yard field goal attempt that would have sent the game to overtime if it went in. The kick did not go in. It missed wide right.
Indiana fell to 3-8. Michigan State moved to 4-7.
Head coach Tom Allen, who was hired in 2017, is firmly on the hot seat in Bloomington. He has not won more than eight games in seven years. The Hoosiers have won just nine games combined in each of the last three seasons and the crowd on Saturday is a clear indication of fan interest.
Indiana will have a chance to end the college football season on a positive note with a win at Purdue this coming weekend. After their fanbase failed them on Senior Day, it would be really great for the seniors to finish strong!