Overreactions and grades from the Nebraska football loss to Indiana

Nebraska football fans are stuck with that empty feeling once again after the Huskers found a way to lose a game they should have won.

Matt Rhule’s team was up 11 points on Indiana, about 10 minutes away from a breakthrough victory. What happened next was crushing. What was worse is that the Huskers had three drives in the fourth quarter before the last one, as time was running out.

Nebraska didn’t score after Indiana cut the lead to four points. The Huskers didn’t score after Indiana took the lead, and even after the defense got them the ball back with over two minutes left, the offense couldn’t engineer a scoring drive.

That’s where the game was lost, along with the two missed opportunities in the red zone in the first half. People can blame the defense. It shouldn’t have allowed a 75-yard touchdown on one play after going up 11. And the coaching staff was beaten on the fourth-down touchdown.

Yet, plays in the first quarter matter as much as the ones in the fourth. The opening drive needed to end in a touchdown. The Huskers should have scored points before halftime.

If they do that, Indiana’s fourth-quarter touchdowns don’t matter quite as much. Hopefully, the Huskers learned a painful lesson. We will see this week just how changed the program is.

With a final look back at the 20-17 loss to Indiana, here are the overreactions and grades (no game balls for a loss).

Overreactions: This is the same old Nebraska football

I’ve seen more positive reaction than negative after the Huskers’ loss on Saturday. It was bitterly disappointing; don’t get me wrong.

But it feels like a sign that this team has turned a corner, more than it felt like another here-we-go moment like we got from the Huskers back in 2021. That team went 3-9. This one is 5-1.

It should be 6-0. How amazing would that be? People saying Matt Rhule choked the game away are missing the mark.

Objectively, Indiana has the better team. It has more first-round talent at wide receiver this season than Nebraska has had in a decade. Stephen Daley could be playing in the NFL right now.

The Hoosiers have won 22 in a row, have the best head coach in college football and have more NFL players on their roster. Nebraska football outplayed them for most of the game. It was a great coaching job by Rhule, Dana Holgorsen and Rob Aurich to go ahead 17-6.

Nebraska should have led by more. It should have won the game. Indiana just executed better when it mattered most.

One game doesn’t define a season. This will mean nothing if Nebraska gets trounced at Oregon this week or if it doesn’t beat Washington, Illinois or Rutgers.

The Indiana game raised the bar to eight or nine wins. Anything short of that, well, then you can criticize Rhule all you like. For now, it feels like the arrow is pointing up, despite the end result on Saturday.

No one can deny that Nebraska looked better in that game than it has in a long time.

Nebraska grades vs. Indiana

Offense (B-): The offense rolled up 393 yards. It ran 83 plays and rushed for 128 yards. Anthony Colandrea accounted for 310 total yards. His 39-yard touchdown run was electric. Yet, the offense didn’t score again, despite three chances on must-have drives.

It had 19 plays during those three drives, which turned into just 60 yards. Nebraska averaged 5.2 yards per play before that. When it mattered, it averaged three. Scoring just one touchdown on three red-zone opportunities doomed Nebraska.

Defense (A-): The defense gave up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. However, if you told me before the game that Nebraska would have held the Hoosiers to 20, I would have taken it. The defense played well enough to win the game. It didn’t get a turnover, but it forced Indiana to punt after six plays or fewer on six of the 10 drives (not counting first-half kneel-downs).

The Hoosiers were 1-of-10 on third downs. They settled for two field goals and rushed for just 65 yards at 3.0 yards per attempt. Maybe Aurich should have adjusted his defense after going up 11, playing softer against the run, but how many times have coaches been criticized for playing prevent? Indiana would have torn that up, too. So, upon further review, the offense was the bigger culprit than the defense.

Special teams (B): The kicking game was great, except on the one play it needed to be solid. The snap was poor, and a short field goal was missed. It would have been a different game if the Huskers and Hoosiers were tied 20-20. Nebraska could have played for field position instead of going for it on third-and-3 with just under five minutes left. Archie Wilson was great. The coverage was solid, and there weren’t any mistakes, save one.

Coaching (A-): You can’t criticize the coaching for one play but ignore the rest. Nebraska was prepared for this game. There was an elite game plan on each side of the ball. The team played well in all three phases of the game. There was one turnover on what was basically a punt by Colandrea on third-and-long.

Penalties hurt. That still has to be cleaned up. Jacory Barney had a costly false start on fourth-and-4, while there was a false start on second-and-10 on the last drive of the first half, which ended in a field goal attempt instead of a touchdown. Rhule could have called a timeout on the last Indiana touchdown. Aurich maybe could have adjusted. Holgorsen should not have abandoned the QB run game on the first drive inside the 10. Of all the things, that’s the one do-over I wish Nebraska could have.

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