5 things we learned from Nebraska’s gut-wrenching loss to Indiana

Saturday at Lincoln Memorial Stadium was a gut punch for Nebraska football fans.

After taking a 17-6 lead over No. 7 Indiana, it felt like the cloud over the Huskers was finally lifting. Then, Indiana scored a 75-yard touchdown on the very next play.

Leading 17-13, the Huskers gave up a 41-yard touchdown on 4th-and-1. Despite two chances to score after that, Nebraska turned it over on downs twice. The missed field goal at the end of the first half was costly, and despite some of the best football we have seen from this program in a long time, the ranked losing streak continues.

Nebraska out-gained Indiana in passing yards, rushing yards, total yards, and had nearly twice as many plays. Make no mistake, the Huskers should have won this game. That’s what makes it a hard pill to swallow.

Matt Rhule said he didn’t want to talk about moral victories. He said he didn’t want to hear from the “toxic” part of the fanbase either. I agree with him on that.

Looking back at the 20-17 loss, one of the most difficult I have ever had to swallow as a Nebraska fan, here are five things we learned.

Anthony Colandrea is the real deal

We knew this already, but some were still wondering if the Nebraska signal-caller could produce against “real competition.”

Against the defending national champions, Colandrea accounted for 310 total yards. He had a 39-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and helped the Huskers convert 10 third downs, as well as a fourth down.

Colandrea wasn’t perfect. He was 25 of 43 throwing the ball. It was a windy day, and the offensive line started to allow a lot of pressure. He lost 48 yards on sacks, although 16 of those came on the bad snap.

That being said, he looked like the best quarterback on the field. He has five games with at least 250 total yards this season and has played at an All-Big Ten level.

Special teams were great, outside of one play

It would be easy to say the special teams dropped the ball. The one missed kick was costly. You knew it was going to be. Instead of going up 10 at the half, the lead was only seven.

If the game was tied in the fourth quarter, it’s a completely different situation. Matt Rhule doesn’t have to go for it on 4th-and-9. He can punt, play field position, and try to get it back.

Indiana also knew Nebraska basically had to pass at that point. That’s exactly where you don’t want to be against the Hooisers. Archie Wilson was incredible, though. He did a great job of flipping the field. The coverage was stellar.

Nebraska won the field position battle. The special teams coaches were outstanding; Kyle Cunanan just missed the kick, although the snap look poor.

The Huskers are legit in the trenches

The biggest question I had about this team was: could it hold up in the trenches against a team like Indiana?

Nebraska proved that point on Saturday. The Huskers allowed Indiana to rush for just 65 yards. That’s only three yards per attempt for a team with two backs averaging over 100 yards. The longest run was a 16-yard scramble from Josh Hoover.

The front seven was stout even without Riley Van Poppel. Overplaying the run cost Nebraska late. Jamir Conn going out of the game was a major blow.

Offensively, Nebraska’s running backs got 71 yards on 19 carries (3.7). Colandera was running all over the place; the sack yardage dropped the final rushing total to 128, but they gained 177 yards on the ground compared to just 78 yards gained for Indiana. The Hoosiers only lost 13.

Still, the net rushing was 128-65 in favor of Nebraska. The five sacks allowed were a killer, although some were on Colandrea. That was disappointing, but all in all, nobody should walk away from that game feeling like Nebraska was pushed around.

Nebraska stood toe to toe physically with the national champs. That’s something to be encouraged about.

Huskers are still learning to win

Indiana may have been able to build a national championship program overnight, or it seems that way, but it took time. Curt Cignetti established that culture at James Madison. He brought many of those players with him, so adding other players to the mix was the only thing he really needed to do.

The championship culture was already in place. Rhule has been building from the ground up. In year four, he has built a good team, one that is capable of winning 9-10 games.

However, this team is still learning to win. There were key false starts, such as on the fourth-and-four late in the third quarter when the Huskers were driving. There was the bad snap, the missed field goal, the busted coverages — all self-inflicted wounds.

Neither long touchdown should have happened the way it did. The safety bit hard on play action on the first. The entire team did on the second.

You can see it, though. Nebraska is right there. Maybe this is the final lesson. The Huskers know they can play with the best. Now, they need to learn from Saturday’s mistakes and go forward, because after the 20-17 loss to Indiana, every game on the schedule feels winnable.

Nebraska football has made clear progress

Nebraska fans might not want to hear this, but this team has taken a big step foward. Indiana beat the Huskers 56-7 two years ago and that score was closer than the game.

Indiana has won 22 games in a row. The last time it trailed before Saturday was in the 2025 Big Ten championship against Ohio State.

Nebraska should have sealed the deal. Leading or being tied for 53 minutes doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, however, the context also matters.

Think back to last November. Nebraska was getting blown out by Iowa and Penn State. The Huskers were out-toughed by USC on their home field. That didn’t happen on Saturday.

It wasn’t a win and we are past the time for moral victories. Nebraska football needs to win a big game like this to achieve the next step, but the Huskers look completely different in year four under Matt Rhule. They look like they belong.

Now, they need to convert that in 8-9 wins. If that doesn’t happen, this season will be a disappointment, but it’s hard to see how anyone could look at this program and not feel like it’s trending in the right direction.

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