Tom Allen's first bowl game as Indiana's head coach ended just like the program's previous three postseason appearances did: in a loss.
But this was Allen's first game period as Indiana's head coach, making for quite a different circumstance. Still, though, the Hoosiers remain without a bowl victory since the 1991 season, when Bill Mallory capped a 7-4-1 campaign with a win in the Copper Bowl. The drought extended Wednesday night in nail-biting fashion, Utah kicking a game-winning field goal in the final minute and a half to send Indiana to a 26-24 loss in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Allen was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach the same day Kevin Wilson resigned, a completely out-of-the-blue occurrence only later discovered to be spurred on by athletics department investigations into claims of player mistreatment. Allen did an admirable job in his first year as Indiana's defensive coordinator, noticeably improving what had been one of the worst defenses in the country in recent seasons, but Wilson was the one making program-wide progress, this season leading the Hoosiers to back-to-back bowl trips for the first time in 25 years.
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But this is Allen's program now, and his first challenge was a tough one, his .500 team forced to take on a top-20 Utah team that finished 8-4 as one of the better teams in a strong Pac-12.
But as much as anything, this one was dictated by turnovers, the two teams combining for seven of them, and almost every one set up a crucial moment in the contest, all but one of the game's five touchdowns coming directly off a turnover.
Indiana was gifted an early touchdown when Utah fumbled away the opening kickoff, the Hoosiers getting a touchdown pass from Richard Lagow to Mitchell Paige five plays later. But that lead was short lived. After the Utes kicked a field goal on their first drive, Lagow was sacked and fumbled, giving the ball right back to Utah. It took just one play for running back Joe Williams to scamper 16 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
The first-half turnovers kept on coming. Utah quarterback Troy Williams threw an interception two plays into the Utes' next possession, though the Hoosiers couldn't do anything with it and punted. The next time Indiana had the ball, it marched all the way down to the four-yard line when Devine Redding fumbled the ball away. The Utes turned that into a lengthy 95-yard touchdown drive, getting a couple huge plays along the way before Tyler Huntley's one-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal to put Utah ahead by 10 points.
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Indiana, though, scored on its final two drives of the second quarter, first kicking a field goal and then getting a 36-yard touchdown pass from Zander Diamont to Nick Westbrook for a game-tying score.
Of course the turnovers continued into the second half. Lagow threw an interception on his third pass of the third quarter, a turnover that didn't lead to any points. Utah did eventually grab a six-point lead on a pair of third-quarter field goals.
Utah gave the ball away early in the fourth, fumbling around midfield to set up an 11-play, 60-yard touchdown drive by Indiana. That possession featured a big third-down conversion in the form of a 19-yard pass from Lagow to Westrbook, and Redding finished things off with a go-ahead touchdown run that gave the Hoosiers a one-point lead at 24-23.
Williams rattled off three long runs to start the ensuing Utah drive but fumbled at the end of the third, again giving the ball back to Indiana. The Hoosiers had a golden chance to extend their lead to four after reaching inside the 25-yard line, but Griffin Oakes missed the 40-yard field-goal try, a missed kick that loomed large much like his missed kick in last year's Pinstripe Bowl loss to Duke. Utah capitalized, driving inside the 10-yard line on its next possession and booting a go-ahead field goal with 84 seconds left in the game. Indiana couldn't reach much further past midfield before time ran out.
While Allen's improved Hoosier defense mustered the four takeaways, it also allowed the Utes to rack up 470 yards of total offense. Williams had a big game, rushing 26 times for 222 yards and a touchdown.
The Indiana offense totaled 341 total yards. Lagow completed just 14 of his 39 passing attempts for 188 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Redding rushed 17 times for 72 yards and a touchdown.
All in all, it was a disappointing outcome for Indiana, but not a totally unexpected one given the quality of the opponent. Allen polished off the final season of the Wilson Era with a 6-7 record and now moves on to his own seasons.