Editor’s Note: Each week during the season, the FTB Staff will release its scouting report on Penn State’s upcoming opponent. Normally, these blogs will be posted at 11 a.m. EST Thursday and Friday…but we’re a little premature this week. Hey, happens to the best of us.
Before Indiana caught up with the Joneses and finished construction of its new football facility in 2018, the coaching staff had their offices buried on the ground floor of Memorial Stadium. I know this because work took me there in 2004.
Though dated, the place wasn’t bad. It had chairs and furniture and a pleasant receptionist. Down the hallway, to the left, was a trophy case. It contained what you might expect. Lot of Randle-El stuff. Lot of Anthony Thompson stuff. If there was a second trophy case, I don’t remember it.
Across from there, large framed team photographs of every Indiana bowl team hung on the wall. John Pont’s 1967 Rose Bowl Team. Lee Corso’s 1979 Holiday Bowl team. Bill Malory’s final bowl team – the 1993 Independence Bowl squad. Then, there was another picture frame…except it didn’t have a picture. No, it had a question mark. The gold-plated placard at the bottom read, “Indiana’s Next Bowl Team,” or maybe it said “Indiana’s First Bowl Team This Century.” Doesn’t matter. Point is, the frame was empty…and let’s face it, a little cringy.
More than motivational – which I assume was the intent – the “Next Team” frame felt more like a stark reminder that there’s always going to be a low ceiling of expected success at Indiana.
Although, if there’s ever a year Indiana could bust through that low clearance, it’s 2020.
