One of the most exciting teams to watch not only in the Big Ten, but in all of college football this season is the Indiana Hoosiers.

Currently, head coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers find themselves bowl-eligible with a 7-3 record, but will likely reach 8 wins this season with Michigan and Purdue left on the regular season schedule. The Hoosiers are currently 5th in points-per-game in the Big Ten (33.3),

Let’s revisit the preseason for a moment. Coming into the 2019-20 season, quarterback Peyton Ramsey lost the starting job to redshirt freshman Michael Penix Jr. Penix Jr. Publications like 24/7 Sports, had the Hoosiers finishing with a 4-8 record and 1-8 in the Big Ten. It’s safe to say they’ve surpassed those expectations back in October. The goal for this team since Coach Allen has taken over was to make a bowl game. Now that they’ve reached that goal. So what’s next?

In a recent interview with Brett Rump from The Sports Rush, Rump asked coach Allen what’s the next step for Hoosiers football:

” The bottom line is that our guys understand that you’re only as good as your the next game that you play. Whatever happens the prior week, whatever goals you reached, you have to be able to always want to move towards maximizing that. Our word right now is starving. You have to have that hunger to be great and special. If you have that mindset every week, you never know where it’s going to take you. This program a chance to be a special place, says coach Allen.”

Players like junior wide receiver Ty Fryfogle have really stepped up their play in recent weeks. Fryfogle finished with 5 catches for 131 yards with 1 touchdown in the Hoosiers recent 34-27 loss to Penn State. Sophomore running back Stevie Scott III has had a few incredible performances including a few weeks ago against Northwestern (26 carries for 116 yards and 2 TD’s). Sophomore linebacker Micah McFadden has been the most consistent defensive player with impeccable performances, including his breakout game against Nebraska where he recorded 10 tackles.

The real story of Indiana’s success this season is Ramsey under center. In a generation full of student-athletes that would just transfer after losing the starting job, he stayed and in an unfortunate situation (Penix Jr.’s injury). With just three games remaining, including the bowl game, Ramsey is sitting at 1,673 yards passing, 10 touchdown passes and just three interceptions.

Not to mention, he’s completing 72.7% of his passes, putting him within striking distance of Dan Persa’s single-season Big Ten record (73.5). Yet, nobody is talking about this. Ramsey has catapulted the Hoosiers into an exciting team to watch.

Ideally, the next step for the Hoosiers is to win their bowl-game. With a young team and quality recruiting classes, this team should be in the College Football Playoff mix in the next couple of years.