Nebraska has spent five weeks making a pretty compelling case that this team is different than it has been. Now comes the part where the Huskers get to prove it against someone who has already done everything Nebraska is trying to do.
No. 7 Indiana arrives in Lincoln as the defending national champion, 5-0 this season and riding a 21-game winning streak. The Hoosiers are 32-2 under coach Curt Cignetti and have become one of the most complete teams in college football in a remarkably short amount of time.
But hey, Nebraska is 5-0 too.
The Huskers have won their first five games by at least 18 points, are 2-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2017 and have scored at least 30 points every week. They haven’t faced anyone remotely like Indiana yet, but that’s exactly what makes Saturday interesting.
Can Nebraska keep up with a legitimate national title contender? We are about to find out.1
Nebraska vs. No. 7 Indiana
When: Saturday, Oct. 10 | 11 a.m. CT
Where: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: FOX
TV crew: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft
Radio: Huskers Radio Network
Radio crew: Kyle Crooks, Jay Moore, Jessica Coody
Records: Nebraska 5-0, 2-0 Big Ten; Indiana 5-0, 2-0 Big Ten
Last week: Nebraska def. Maryland, 48-23; Indiana def. Rutgers, 47-15
Series: Indiana leads 11-9-3
In Lincoln: Indiana leads 8-6-2
Last meeting: Indiana def. Nebraska, 56-7, in 2024
Weather: Mainly sunny with a high near 91 degrees. Winds from the south at 15-25 mph.
Setting the scene
There are a lot of ways to frame this one, if we’re being honest. Nebraska is facing its first ranked opponent of the season. The Huskers have not beaten a ranked team since Oregon in 2016 or a top-10 opponent since No. 6 Michigan State in 2015. Indiana is also the first defending national champion to visit Memorial Stadium since Texas came to Lincoln in 2006.
As for the last time the two met? Well..
Indiana beat Nebraska 56-7 in Bloomington in 2024, a game that provided a fairly brutal introduction to what Cignetti was building. That Indiana team eventually became something much bigger, as we know now. Last year’s Hoosiers went 16-0 and won the national championship. This year’s group has shown few signs of falling back, averaging 44.2 points while allowing 10.8.
As for Nebraska, the Huskers are scoring 43.6 points per game and allowing 14.2. They rank in the top 25 nationally in total offense, rushing offense and third-down conversion rate, while the defense has continued to be one of the better units in the country.
The difference is proof and Indiana has it. Nebraska is trying to earn some Saturday.
Storylines to Remember
The first challenge is making Indiana uncomfortable
Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe give Indiana a punishing run game behind an offensive line that does not allow much disruption. Richard is averaging 9.3 yards per carry, while both backs are over 100 rushing yards per game.
The Blackshirts have been excellent in stretches this season, and Maryland offered a useful reminder of how quickly they can adjust. The Terrapins produced 207 yards in the first quarter last week. Nebraska allowed 188 the rest of the game. That said, Indiana is far less likely to let Nebraska survive an entire quarter before settling in.
First down matters Saturday. If Indiana gets four, five or six yards on the ground early, Josh Hoover rarely has to expose himself to the situations where Nebraska’s pass rush can take over. If the Huskers create second-and-long and third-and-long, everything changes.
Nebraska has 16 sacks and six interceptions through five games. It needs chances for more of both Saturday.
Colandrea doesn’t have to beat Indiana the conventional way
Anthony Colandrea has become Nebraska’s answer whenever a play stops looking clean. That could be especially important Saturday.
Indiana has one of the better defensive fronts Nebraska will see, with 15 sacks and plenty of additional pressure through five games. The Hoosiers are giving up only 65 rushing yards per game. Still, Nebraska probably is not going to line up and run for 250 simply because it wants to.
That is where Colandrea changes the equation. His involvement in the run game is no longer accidental. Matt Rhule made that clear this week.
“We’re going to make people defend our quarterback and it opens up the passing game,” Rhule said.
Some of it comes from designed concepts, some comes when protection breaks down and some comes when Indiana covers everyone else and Colandrea decides the open grass belongs to him. Nebraska has to live with that.
The Huskers would certainly prefer Jamal Rule, Mekhi Nelson and Isaiah Mozee to generate enough production that Colandrea does not have to become the primary rushing threat. Saturday is not a day for worrying too much about aesthetics though. If Indiana takes away conventional runs and Colandrea finds 50 or 60 yards another way, those yards count exactly the same.
Nebraska’s passing game may have to carry more weight
The fascinating part about Nebraska’s offense is that it has been good without feeling finished. Colandrea has thrown 14 touchdowns against two interceptions. Nebraska is averaging 7.8 yards per pass attempt. Kwazi Gilmer is coming off an 11-catch, 147-yard performance against Maryland. There are also still plays every week where someone gets open and the ball never arrives. Indiana’s run defense may force Nebraska to explore that ceiling.
The Hoosiers play plenty of zone and the challenge for Colandrea will be identifying where the space develops before the pass rush gets home. This is also where Nebraska’s offensive line faces its biggest test. Elijah Pritchett and Tree Babalade have to deal with edge players who can actually ruin an afternoon. The interior will get tested too.
Rhule has liked the way Nebraska’s depth is developing up front and Gunnar Gottula’s versatility continues to matter. The Huskers have rotated linemen more freely as the season has progressed. Saturday is the day that depth stops being theoretical.
Nebraska doesn’t need a perfectly clean pocket all afternoon. It does, however, need enough of them to punish Indiana when the Hoosiers commit resources to stopping the run.
The corners are going to have to make some choices
Nebraska’s secondary has been very good this season. That said, Indiana will still force Andrew Marshall, Victor Evans, Danny Odem and everyone else involved in coverage into uncomfortable decisions. Charlie Becker has 27 catches for 477 yards and Nick Marsh has 23 for 341.
Defenses have frequently given both plenty of cushion because getting beat over the top is worse than surrendering the easy completion. Indiana is perfectly happy taking those free yards.
That creates an interesting choice for Nebraska. Play too softly and Hoover can keep completing the easiest throw available. Crowd the receivers and Nebraska risks giving two NFL-caliber talents room behind the coverage. The good news is that the Huskers have gotten pressure without having to live entirely on reckless blitzing.
If the front gets home, Nebraska’s corners can play more aggressively. If Hoover consistently gets the ball out before the rush has a chance, the defense will have to adjust.
There may not be a perfect answer, honestly.
Nebraska cannot beat itself while trying to beat Indiana
Nebraska committed 16 penalties against Maryland. On the other side of things, Indiana had zero last week. We can’t ignore that contrast.
The Huskers were good enough to overcome the mistakes against Maryland. They probably cannot assume the same thing Saturday.
Indiana has committed only one turnover all season. Nebraska has two. These are two of the best teams in the country at protecting the football. That makes everything else more valuable.
A false start that turns third-and-2 into third-and-7 matters. A hold on a return matters. A missed tackle that creates eight extra yards matters.
That’s why Rhule spent part of this week talking about the relationship between practice and those details.
“Yeah, I don’t know if guys have to like practice, I think they have to respect it,” he said.
Saturday is the kind of game that explains why. Nebraska does not need perfection. What it does need is to avoid handing Indiana the kind of free possessions and free yards that a defending national champion rarely gives back.
How my demons look?
Nebraska earned its spot in this game. That will be important to remember no matter how Saturday’s visit from No. 7 Indiana goes because games get wonky in all kinds of ways.
What the numbers say
10.8 — Indiana’s points allowed per game.
14.2 — Nebraska’s points allowed per game.
29 — Nebraska has 29 offensive plays of at least 20 yards this season.
32-2 — Indiana’s record under Curt Cignetti.
43.6 — Nebraska’s scoring average.
44.2 — Indiana’s scoring average.
65 — Indiana’s rushing yards allowed per game.
Odds and ends
>> Nebraska has won each of its first five games by at least 18 points. The last Nebraska team to open a season with five straight wins by at least 18 was the 1983 team.
>> Nebraska has scored at least 30 points in all five games, something the Huskers had not done to begin a season since 2014.
>> Indiana has won 21 consecutive games, one of the longest winning streaks by a Big Ten program in the past 80 years.
>> The teams have split their four meetings since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.
Well, here we are. Nebraska has already cleared several hurdles this season, from winning their first road game to responding to adversity against Maryland. The Huskers are now 5-0.
Saturday is still different. Indiana arrives in Lincoln knowing exactly who it is. That makes this the first game where Nebraska doesn’t simply need to play well. It has to force an excellent team away from the things it does best.
Win a few early downs. Make Hoover hold the ball. Find a way to loosen Indiana’s run defense. Give Colandrea chances to create. Avoid the penalties that made Maryland harder than it needed to be. Somewhere along the way, make one play that changes the game.
Nebraska has spent five weeks giving us reasons to believe it can handle a bigger test. Well, here it is. This is the bigger test.
Today is also my birthday. Just putting a footnote here so you know. That’s all.