Inside 2 long skids Nebraska football could finally end — or not — at Indiana

The Nebraska coach will openly share his thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. But he’s staying away from the elephant in the room that’s been around long enough to earn a doctoral degree.

What would it mean to simultaneously snuff out two streaks that have hounded the Huskers for the better part of a decade? A bowl drought dating back to 2016. Twenty-five straight losses to Associated Press top-25 opponents beginning the same year.

“I answered that question last year and (we) never got there,” Rhule said. “So just going to focus on the football and make sure our guys are locked in. They’re all in on everything we’re asking them to do and it’s been a great week. To me it’s just about us playing well against a great, great, great team.”

That’s unbeaten Indiana, one of the country’s biggest surprises carrying a No. 16 ranking into Saturday’s 11 a.m. home game against Nebraska. Big Red — NU’s version — is 5-1 and on the verge of its own national relevance in a meeting of ascending former league pushovers.

It’s the first part of a two-week eye test of sorts for the Huskers — ‘I’ for Indiana now, “eyes” for the Buckeyes and Ohio State later. A chance to prove themselves against ranked opponents and clear up some chronic streaky vision along the way.

“We’re on the right track just by following the process,” sixth-year linebacker Javin Wright said. “We’re in reach for what the fans want but we want to achieve a lot more than what the fans want.”

A breakthrough in Bloomington would free Nebraska from dual schneids that have defined the most futile era of Husker football since the 1950s. Since Sept. 17, 2016, when NU rallied past No. 22 Oregon 35-32 for its last ranked win, 104 other current FBS teams — more than 78%! — have beaten an AP top-25 foe.

Among 71 current Power Four clubs including independents Oregon State, Washington State, Notre Dame and Connecticut, all but Rutgers and Nebraska have partied after a positive top-25 outcome since 2020. Forty-nine have done it since the start of last season, including seven Big Ten teams just this fall.

Rutgers’ top-25 skid is at 40 games and counting since a 2009 win over South Florida. No other P4 school after Nebraska is longer than 15 (Stanford). Include all 134 FBS schools and the company includes Akron (29), New Mexico State (27), Ohio (27), UNLV (27), Colorado State (26), New Mexico (26) and Florida Atlantic (25).

Of those teams, only New Mexico owns a bowl absence as long as the Huskers’. Maybe that ends Saturday, rewarding a crowd of Nebraska fifth- and sixth-year players who put off their own next steps for NU’s giant leap.

“We’re definitely on the right track,” senior linebacker John Bullock said. “That’s what I wanted to come back for is to bring this team back to a winning level and be a part of that.”

Perhaps a third of Nebraska’s run of ranked frustrations could have brought relief. Overtime losses to 2016 Wisconsin and 2021 Michigan State along with Illinois last month rued after an overthrown pass and missed field goal. A halftime lead at Ohio State in 2018 that slipped away. A bunch in 2021 including Michigan and Iowa.

Nebraska twice against the Hawkeyes could have halted both streaks on the same day. Instead it absorbed season-ending three-point losses in improbable-yet-predictable fashion in 2019 and 2023.

The bowl drought endured through 2020, when NU players declined a postseason bid following a grueling 3-5 campaign that included nearly nine months of following strict pandemic protocols. Through 2021, when a 3-3 start fell apart with six straight losses by single digits. Through last year, when Big Red entered November 5-3 and dropped its final four games.

Rhule answered the postseason hypothetical before the last Iowa game, calling a potential win “great” for the program and players. Extra practices would be helpful — talking too much about it before it happened wouldn’t.

“They’re playing a ranked team with a chance to go to a bowl game,” Rhule said then. “If they lack any motivation, it’s all there for them.”

Of course, Nebraska again stayed home for the holidays and still has the longest bowl absence of any power team after a full season. Colorado too last qualified in 2016 but also went to the 2020 Alamo Bowl — the Buffs have five ranked wins since the Huskers’ most recent. Only two FBS teams carry longer active full-season bowl droughts in Massachusetts (11, since transitioning up in 2012) and Louisiana-Monroe (10).

Younger NU players debated their status as underdogs for the first time this season. “We like it,” freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola said. “I would say it’s just playing Nebraska football,” sophomore running back Emmett Johonson posited.

Sixth-year defensive lineman Ty Robinson cited a quote that position coach Terrance Knighton often shares with his group. Even though former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant was hunted by others, he remained a hunter hunting hunters. Such is why the Huskers grind.

Should Nebraska bag its elusive prey Saturday, the prize would be on par with any win from the last seven and a half autumns. A merciful end of two trends.

And maybe the start of something new.

“There’s going to come a time again where we’re those guys, where we’re going to be ranked and people are going to be coming for us,” Robinson said. “That’s the mentality we’ve been having this season is it’s time to stop being the hunter. Let’s be the hunted.”

Losses by 21 or more points: 10. Includes four to Ohio State in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

Losses by 10 or fewer points: 11. Six of those came in 2021, when the Huskers lost by seven, three, three, nine, seven and seven.

Largest margin of loss: 59, Ohio State 2016.

Smallest margin of loss: 3, Michigan State 2021, Michigan 2021 and Iowa 2023.

Losses by team: Ohio State 6, Wisconsin 5, Michigan 4, Iowa 3, Oklahoma 2, Illinois 2, Michigan State 1, Penn State 1, Colorado 1.

Three losses: No. 6, No. 9 No. 19

Two losses: No. 3, No. 5, No. 17, No. 20

One loss: No. 2, No. 8, No. 11, No. 13, No. 15, No. 16, No. 22, No. 24

No. 11 Wisconsin 23-17 (OT)

No. 20 Michigan State 23-20 (OT)

No. 24 Illinois 31-24 (OT)