A season that almost never happened became one of Indiana’s best ever.
As the COVID-19 virus created chaos around the globe, the summer of 2020 saw several modifications to the Indiana football schedule.
First the Big Ten canceled nonconference games, then it moved to postpone the entire season to the spring.
Coming off a solid 2019 season with most of his key players back, IU head coach Tom Allen was not happy to see a promising season imploding.
“It has been very frustrating,” Allen said in August after the postponement. “This has been a season that I have been looking forward to for a while, and then you get the rug pulled out from under you.”
With the NFL, other college conferences and high school football all underway, the Big Ten finally decided in mid-September to start playing an eight-game schedule in empty stadiums beginning in late October.
A third version of the schedule in the course of a month was released, and this one — the final one — had Indiana opening the 2020 season on Oct. 24 at home against Penn State.
And after months of uncertainty, the Hoosiers and Nittany Lions delivered one of the most memorable games in Memorial Stadium’s history.
Indiana opened the 2020 season with its first win over a top 10 team in 33 years.
In a fourth quarter and overtime that had enough drama for an entire season, IU stunned No. 8 Penn State 36-35.
Trailing 35-28 after Penn State scored first in the overtime period, IU responded with a touchdown and decided to go for two and the win.
Quarterback Michael Penix escaped the pocket and stretched out for the pylon. The ruling on the field was a successful conversion, and after a lengthy review, a tantalizingly close call was upheld.
Indiana immediately moved into the national rankings, and became darlings of the media. They beat Rutgers on the road to move to 2-0.
Then Indiana made a second major statement.
For 33 years and 24 straight games Indiana couldn’t find a way against Michigan. But that changed emphatically on a picture perfect day in Bloomington.
And more than just the weather was ideal on this memorable afternoon for the Hoosiers. No. 13 Indiana jumped out to a 24-7 2nd quarter lead and maintained the margin throughout most of the second half for a convincing 38-21 win over the Wolverines.
The statement wins continued.
Indiana took away the ball from Michigan State three times in the first half in East Lansing on their way to a fast start and a big early lead. When it was all over they took home the Old Brass Spittoon with a 24-0 shutout win.
Indiana was 4-0 and ranked in the top-10. Up next was a trip to Columbus to face No. 3 Ohio State.
No. 9 Indiana put up a fight, but 28 unanswered points by the Buckeyes were too much to overcome.
IU rallied from a 35-7 deficit and twice had the ball with a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter after its defense stopped Ohio State. But despite a big offensive day, Indiana struggled to move the ball on those two late drives and came up short, 42-35.
Indiana would beat Maryland at home the following week to move to 5-1. But that win came at a major cost, as All-Big Ten quarterback Michael Penix was lost for the season.
Still firmly in the picture for the Big Ten title and College Football Playoff, Indiana would face another nemesis as they traveled to Wisconsin for week seven.
An elite defensive effort and a serviceable performance by backup quarterback Jack Tuttle led the Hoosiers to a 14-6 win in Madison — the program’s first win there in 19 years. As the IU players left the field, one-by-one they embraced Allen as he gave a postgame interview on national television. With IU at 6-1, the Hoosiers were on top of the world, still in contention for everything.
And that’s when things got back to being weird again in 2020.
The Big Ten decided to break its own special 2020 rule that required a team play six games in order to qualify for the Big Ten Championship game. That decision bumped IU out of the title game and replaced them with Ohio State.
That same day (Dec. 9), Indiana and Purdue mutually decided to cancel the Old Oaken Bucket game. It would be the first time the rivals did not meet since 1919.
A wave of disrespect ensued. The Hoosiers would be left out of the Big Ten title game, left out of the CFP, and left out of the New Year’s Six bowl games. That latter slight was the most jarring, as IU was ranked No. 7 in the polls at the end of the regular season, with its lone loss coming by one score on the road to a CFP team while Allen earned national coach of the year honors.
Cast off to the Outback Bowl to face Ole Miss, an Indiana team battling a COVID-19 outbreak lost 26-20 to bring a historic season to a disappointing end.
But much like they did in 2024, these 2020 Hoosiers captivated the nation for weeks, delivering a season that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
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