Hoosiers are still reeling

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

Indiana coach Bill Lynch skipped right over the ugly numbers Monday.

What else would you expect?

Two days after college football fans watched the embarrassing carnage from Indiana’s 83-20 loss on national highlight shows, Hoosiers players had to sift through it all over again. They were trying to figure out what went wrong and what, if anything, could be fixed.

“The reality of it is that it was a loss,” Lynch said during his weekly news conference.

But this was no ordinary loss.

While few expected the Hoosiers to end their Big Ten losing streak in Madison against the nation’s No. 6 team, most thought Indiana (4-6, 0-6 Big Ten) would at least compete.

Instead, the Hoosiers watched Wisconsin pile up points by the dozens. The Badgers finished with their highest point total in nearly a century and the highest point total in any Big Ten game since 1950.

Not enough?

The Badgers ran for 338 yards, finished with 596 total yards, scored on all 13 offensive possessions and did all that without their best running back.

Lynch could not care less about the actual stats because the Hoosiers need to win their final two games to become bowl eligible.

“The points jump out at everybody, but we can’t let that affect where we are and what’s ahead of us,” he said. “We’re going to Penn State to play a good football team and it’s a great opportunity for us. I’ve talked to a lot of the guys over the last few days, and they understand that and they will be ready to go.”

Right now, Lynch is the only one talking about Saturday’s debacle.

No players were available for interviews Monday, the first time that’s been the case in weeks.

Even quarterback Ben Chappell, a regular participant, was missing. He’s trying to recover from a hip injury that knocked him out of the Wisconsin game in the first half.

Lynch believes Chappell’s departure ignited Indiana’s collapse at Wisconsin, and there is no certainty Chappell will play this weekend.