Local IU fans exult in Hoosiers' historic Rose Bowl win
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
ANDERSON — “If you want it to happen, it will happen.”
That’s the lesson Susan Kilburn said she hopes young people learn from Thursday’s College Football Playoff game at the Rose Bowl, where Indiana University routed Alabama 38-3.
She said that mindset can help anyone in any profession, even if football isn’t in the equation.
“These players know they’re not going to be professionals,” Kilburn said. “They’re going to be in the real working world. This is giving them the opportunity to learn how to work with other people.”
Kilburn and several other local residents gathered at T.M. Norton’s sports bar in Edgewood to visit with friends and watch the Hoosiers continue their historic season. IU’s demolition of the Crimson Tide marked the program’s first Rose Bowl victory and set up a semifinal rematch with Oregon in next week’s Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Although the bar wasn’t completely filled, those who were there blended conversations and attention to two televisions that were showing the game. Applause and cheers accompanied every big play as Indiana took a 17-0 halftime lead.
Kilburn said she is not an IU alumna, nor is she a diehard fan, but she’s appreciative of the history this year’s team is making. Until earlier this season, Indiana was the NCAA’s all-time leader in overall losses. Since then, however, the team has achieved the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking; defeated Ohio State for the first time since 1988; and won its first outright Big Ten championship since 1945.
“I believe it’s got a lot to do with their coaches,” Kilburn said.
Kilburn said she’s been especially impressed by Fernando Mendoza, the team’s star quarterback who recently became the first IU player to win the Heisman Trophy.
“I’ve never watched the Heisman Trophy (presentation) in my life, but to be able to watch him when he won was amazing,” she said. “This man is only 22, but his ability to generate excitement is really cool.”
Kilburn relocated to Lapel nearly 50 years ago from her hometown of South Bend, the home of Notre Dame. She is a huge Notre Dame fan and grew up not far from the campus. She expressed excitement at seeing another Indiana team at the Rose Bowl.
Tiffany Johnson and her husband, Tony, are near-weekly visitors to Norton’s. They said they’re excited to see the Hoosiers make history, though Tiffany was the most excited.
“At Anderson High School, I teach speech with IU, I go to Bloomington for prep and professional development every year,” she said. “We are partners with Kokomo and I got my masters through IU East.”
“It’s great seeing the school that I work with and that I got my Masters’ degree with progressing so far,” Tiffany Johnson said. “We’ve been watching games on and off all season. All of that is a really cool thing to be associated with.”
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos