For the first three quarters, Nebraska football controlled the game, you could say. The Huskers, not Indiana, played like the seventh-ranked team in the nation.
And when Anthony Colandrea broke loose on a 39-yard touchdown run to increase Nebraska’s lead to 17-6 with 12:01 remaining, it appeared the Huskers had some breathing room, with a possible upset in their grasp. But 10 seconds (on the clock) later, Indiana’s Nick Marsh took a Josh Hoover pass 75 yards for a touchdown. And on the Hoosiers’ next possession, fourth-and-1, Marsh and Hoover teamed up on a 44-yard touchdown pass to give Indiana its first lead, 20-17.
Matt Rhule said he thought the defense was “confused” on the play. “They thought it was one personnel package; we put in a grouping on defense. It went fast, and I should’ve called a timeout.”
Kyle Cunanan probably should’ve made a 40-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining in the first half, too. He opened the scoring with a 28-yard field goal 6:03 into the first quarter.
Anyway, the 20-17 lead held, dashing Nebraska’s hopes of ending a 30-game losing streak to top-25 opponents. And reinging national champion Indiana increased its winning streak to 22.
“I feel like we beat ourselves,” Jacory Barney Jr. said. “I feel like we were the better team than they were. But they won so they were the better team based on the score.”
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti shakes hands with Nebraska’s Matt Rhule after the No. 17 Hoosiers’ 20-17 win in Lincoln. Photo by John S. Peterson.
The Husker wide receiver caught nine passes for 108 yards.
Nebraska the better team? That appeared to be the case early on. Nebraska had 150 yards of offense in the first quarter and 216 at halftime, to Indiana’s 88 and 115. Ball control was a factor. The Huskers ran 43 plays and controlled the clock, allowing the Hoosiers only 16 plays and 7:41 time of possession.
Nebraska finished the game with a two-to-one time of possession advantage. The Husker defense held Indiana’s running game, ranked second in the Big Ten, to a net of 65 yards rushing, while Nebraska, third in the Big Ten, managed 128 yards, 155 if you don’t count yards lost on five sacks.
Colandrea absorbed those sacks and finished with a net of 47 yards and the touchdown on 17 carries. Take away the sacks and he ran for 95 yards on 12 carries. He completed 25-of-43 passes for 263 yards, with one interception.
Despite the sacks, “I thought our offensive line did a great job of protecting,” said Colandrea. “Some guys had some leakage, but that’s not the offensive line, that’s just me holding the ball too long. At the end of the day, I think our offensive line played at a hard level.”
That was particularly the case in the first half.
“We don’t believe in moral victories,” defensive lineman Anthony Jones Jr. said.
But that is probably already up for debate among Husker fans. Some will look at Nebraska’s competitiveness against a top-10 team as a big step in the right direction. Others, well…
“To be honest, stepping on the field, I felt like there were two heavyweight fighters fighting,” Rhule said. “We want to win those fights. We didn’t. Credit to them.”
Barney echoed Rhule. “It felt like a regular Big Ten game,” Barney said. “I felt like we could have had more body blows in the fourth quarter. We just have to play better and limit the mistakes.”
Said linebacker Owen Chambliss, “We can’t play 95% of the plays like the No. 1 defense in the country and play the other 5% like we are not. We just have to be more consistent.”
Though a loss, Nebraska showed it should be in the Top 25 and will present a significant challenge to Oregon in Eugene next Saturday. That’s only opinion, but to me it seems justified.
