Indiana Football: Can Hoosiers find way to get to bowl in 2019?

Indiana football played the top teams in the Big Ten close last season. Can the Hoosiers improve on a 2-7 conference record and go bowling?

The Indiana Hoosiers football team must feel like they are in a lost filming of Groundhog Day. The Hoosiers were 5-7 in 2017 and 5-7 in 2018. Both seasons started well enough — 2-2 after four games in 2017 and 4-0 in 2018.

Both games against the Buckeyes were close — one-point lead at the half in 2017 and down by eight at the half in 2018. Both seasons had four-game losing streaks, and each season ended with a seven-point loss in the Old Oaken Bucket game against rival Purdue that would have made Indiana bowl eligible.

The last two seasons were the same song: win the non-conference, play teams at the top of the conference tough (and lose), get blown out a couple of times and lose close games to teams that you are even with.

Can the Hoosiers find a way to win more close games? Here’s a preview of the Hoosiers’ offense, defense and a prediction of how many games they’ll win.