by MICHAEL MAROT

The Associated Press

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Terry Hoeppner has played the steady steward all season – mostly holding his emotional pleas in check.

With the Indiana Hoosiers now needing a late-season boost, it’s time for the excitable coach to pull out his best pep talk.

For the second time in five weeks, Hoeppner was critical of himself, his coaching staff and his players’ performance, then acknowledged it would take a unified front to fix the problems a disastrous game at Minnesota exposed before it’s too late.

“I think it’s my job to say your performance was not OK, and my performance was not OK,” he said during Tuesday’s weekly news conference. “It’s not OK to tolerate it and we’re not going to tolerate it from me or anybody else.”

Indiana’s collapse couldn’t have come at a worse time.

At 5-5 (3-3), the Hoosiers had seemingly built confidence after three October wins raised hopes of a bowl bid. Last Saturday’s inexplicable performance, a 63-26 loss to the Golden Gophers, crushed that momentum in front of a representative from the Insight Bowl.

Part of the problem, Hoeppner believes, is that the Hoosiers are pressing.

“Getting to a bowl game is very important to me, especially these seniors,” Hoeppner said. “They’ve said to me, ‘Coach, we’ve never been this close.’ So there is this unspoken pressure, and I’ve told them there is no pressure.”

But now the quest to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 1993 is more difficult.

This week in their home finale, the Hoosiers face No. 2 Michigan, which escaped Ball State’s upset bid last week and has one of the nation’s top defenses. Then they visit archrival Purdue, where they last won in Bill Mallory’s final game as coach in 1996.

One win makes the Hoosiers bowl eligible. Two losses extend the conference’s longest bowl drought by another year, a fate they’re desperately avoiding.

While the task seems daunting, Hoeppner believes he and his players can get things righted.

“Part of it is execution on the field, part of it is if we can put them in better coverages – and that’s our responsibility as coaches,” Hoeppner said. “To say ‘I’ll coach better and you play better,’ it’s not just that.”

What the Hoosiers must find is a quick-fix to the Big Ten’s third-worst pass defense.

Bryan Cupito looked like an All-American as he carved up Indiana, and Wisconsin did the same as it jumped to a 52-0 lead on Sept. 30.

The next week, at Illinois, it looked like a replay as the Fighting Illini built an early 25-7 lead. It was then that Hoeppner, uncharacteristically, called his defense together on the sideline and unleashed an emotional tirade.

Over the next 3 1/2 games, Indiana allowed 10 more TD passes, but five were against No. 1 Ohio State and another was in the fourth quarter of a 46-21 victory over Michigan State.

If it happens again, the Hoosiers’ postseason prospects could be doomed.

Hoeppner has already tried moving players, replacing starters, trying freshmen and changing coverages to plug holes.

But, as Saturday demonstrated, there’s still a major problem.

“Defensive back was my position, and I hate to admit it now because people say I hope you were a better player than a coach,” Hoeppner joked. “Before the Minnesota game, I said ‘If I were them, I’d play-action pass and throw it deep.’ Fifty-eight yards later…”

So what’s wrong and what’s the solution?

“We’ve spent hours trying to patch up and repair things, trying to replace individuals,” Hoeppner said.

Indiana has rallied before.

It’s come back from double-digit deficits three times this season, but what they must show now is more resiliency.

Hoeppner has a plan. He wants his players and coaches to work harder, concentrate more and challenge themselves to perform better.