DaytonDailyNews.com

Second-year Indiana coach Terry Hoeppner has been telling his players ad nauseam that patience and perseverance eventually pay off, and now they know he hasn't just been spouting platitudes.

The Hoosiers rallied from a

14-point deficit last week to upset No. 13 Iowa, 31-28 — their first win over a top-15 foe since knocking off ninth-ranked Ohio State in 1987.

"Everything going on is really positive, but you need that reinforcement with some success on the field," Hoeppner said Tuesday. "And to do it against a program that everybody respects and knows is one of the top programs year in and year out in the Big Ten really gives us some credibility."

Indiana (4-3), which visits No. 1 OSU at noon Saturday, has won back-to-back Big Ten games for the first time in five years, having beaten Illinois on the road Oct. 7 after trailing by 18 points. And OSU coach Jim Tressel believes he knows where the Hoosiers are getting their fighting spirit.

Hoeppner has undergone brain surgery for a malignant tumor twice in the past 10 months and has experienced untold grief in his personal life, losing both his father and college coach in a five-month span last year and then getting rocked by the death this summer of former colleague Randy Walker.

"As you watch them on film, I think they're a lot like their coach," Tressel said. "They're tough. They're courageous. They go as hard as they can possibly go. They don't care what anyone thinks about their chances. They just play and play and play. ... You have to admire the job Coach Hoeppner is doing over there."

Got ESPNU?

Saturday's Ohio State-Indiana game will be televised on ESPNU, which is not available locally on cable TV. Do you own a sports bar or restaurant equipped with satellite TV and ESPNU? We'd like to hear from you and publish a list of area businesses that will be showing the game.

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Next game

Who: Indiana at Ohio State

When: Noon Saturday

TV: ESPNU

Radio: WING-AM (1410)