HUSKERS RECAP – Now the REAL PAIN Begins?: ILLINOIS 56 NEBRASKA 7 Hoosiers Matt Rhule Dylan Raiola

This isn’t exactly a deep dive into emotions today, but I couldn’t think of anything more relevant after Nebraska rolled down the field on the 1st drive of the second half and Dylan Raiola stared down his receiver from the snap, let if fly and watched as Indiana’s Asbury jumped the route and returned it 79 yards effectively ending the game. Skip to just before the two minute mark.

Daniel’s freeze frame getting kicked in the nuts on the link above works as well.

But going into this game, everyone felt pretty good about going to a bowl game this year. That should be tough to do given the last 8+ years, but folks can’t resist having the big dreams before the little one actually happens. It is what it is.

Only one win needed at the halfway point did have a feel of “we got this”. Never mind dropping four in a row to fall short just a season ago, by gawd, the rebuild is kicking in and it’s just a matter of where we travel in December, yes?

Um…

Ohio State, USC, UCLA, Wisconsin, Iowa. Only two at home.

But wait. UCLA is terrible, we can chalk that one up, right?

Well…

UCLA, at the moment, just hung on for a 35-32 victory over Rutgers who is looking less and less like a good win and leaves UCLA looking less and less like a sure thing. And if anyone can go 0-6 to miss a bowl game? Who else if not Nebraska?

Is this an overreaction? Of course, but after getting drummed 56-7 by an Indiana squad who very much took their foot off the gas in the second half, it’s not that much of an overreaction, is it?

Normally, I’d provide much more in the way of game details in the recap, but honestly, nothing memorable happened after Asbury slammed the door with that almost pick-6. From there, it was just going through the motions. If you want some grisly details, re-read the halftime recap.

The most memorable thing I caught was how much of that red in Bloomington belonged to the visitors from Nebraska. How do I know that? Because late in the third quarter and more demonstrably in the fourth, huge chunks of that stadium were emptied.

Folks? No Indiana fans were leaving that stadium. Not only did we get throttled, we probably were responsible for their 8th sellout ever. We travelled well, at least – and probably won’t again this season after today’s debacle.

Anyway, it’s off to Columbus next week and it’s tough to imagine any kind of sudden turnaround against a team more talent-laden than the one which curb-stomped the Huskers today. If there’s an upside – boy, is this a stretch – it’s the fact we’re steeled to this kind of crushing disappointment. Hopefully, the ladies put a thumping on the Buckeye volleyballers this afternoon, so we get one victory in Ohio.

Let’s do it again in a week and GO BIG RED.

Pour. Mix. Drink. Repeat.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Indiana Hoosiers

#gobigred
#nebraska
#huskers
#mattrhule
#dylanRailoa

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