Nebraska Football Exorcises Demons and Defeats Indiana 35-21

The Huskers will be without IGC

Indiana will be without some receivers as well

Mood check

First Quarter

Nebraska won the toss and deferred. Touchback.

Indiana had to burn a timeout to avoid a penalty. #ThankYouCrowd

Three and out for the defense. Bill Busch sideline shots show a coach that is FIRED up.

Casey Thompson, Trey Palmer and Oliver Martin made short work of the distance between them and the goal. Touchdown!! #ThreePlaysToPayDirt

Nebraska 7 Indiana 0

Okay. The “meh” mood check has gone away. Husker football has pulled me back in again. Sigh.

Another three and out!

The Husker coaching staff was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and flagged for 15.

Anthony Grant appearance! I believe the announcers called him “Spinderella” as he churned and pushed (and spun) forward. Trey Palmer made an appearance to move Nebraska past midfield. Travis Vokolek got in on the action. /Cue Ride of the Valkyries

Trey Palmer had another big gain, but Alante Brown got flagged for a holding to open up the lane. Marcus Washington got in on the catch party (confirmed after review).

An intentional grounding on Casey Thompson moved the Huskers back, leading to a third and 21. Anthony Grant lost 2 (and nearly fumbled the ball to the Hoosiers). Penalties killed a promising drive.

The punt was downed inside the five.

A holding penalty on Tommi Hill gave the Hoosiers a first down. Indiana returned the favor with a delay of game.

Luke Reimer and Ty Robinson had big plays to force third and long, but then pass interference on Quinton Newsome bailed out the Hoosiers.

Newsome and Farmer forced back to back incompletions near midfield and Indiana had to punt. Palmer fair caught the ball at the four or five yard line.

Gabe Ervin sighting! Six straight plays to the young back netted two first downs. A holding penalty on Indiana assisted one of those. On third and two, Mark Whipple didn’t want to make it seven and Thompson took a sack. Punt.

Indiana was flagged for an illegal block in the back, which negated good field position. Blaise Gunnerson was injured, but walked off the field on his own power.

Indiana had a big screen pass (25 yards to start the drive) but Garrett Nelson notched a sack for a loss of seven.

Second Quarter

The Hoosiers converted third and medium to get past midfield. A QB hurry was followed by a run for no gain and incompletion to bring up fourth and 10. Newsome was big on this series.

Punt. Martin fair catch at the 10.

Chubba Purdy is in the game (Casey Thompson was seen getting his wrist taped on the sideline but it was later mentioned he was benched because he held the ball and took a sack on the previous series). The Hukers lost yardage on the first run and it got worse from there as Purdy was chased back into the end zone and fumbled. Indiana recovered. Touchdown Hoosiers.

Nebraska 7 Indiana 7

Husker Nation is bracing for the letdown after the euphoric first (easy) score. It took a quarter plus for Nebraska football to emerge, but here it is, in all its non-glory.

Casey Thompson is back in.

False start, Trey Palmer.

The Eraser (Anthony Grant) is back in. He gains most of the penalty yards back.

Indiana called a timeout on third and eight. The Huskers saw something in the defensive alignment and wanted to take advantage, but Tom Allen saw it too.

Incomplete (nearly a pick by the Hoosiers). Punt.

The Hoosiers got good field position after a short punt by Buschini, but the defense notched another three and out.

THE HUSKERS BLOCK THE PUNT AND RETURN IT FOR A TD!!!! Kolarevic with the block and Hartzog with the scoop and score.

#WeCanHazSpecialTeams

Nebraska 14 Indiana 7

The defense forced a three and out and added an intentional grounding on Indiana for good measure.

Trey Palmer returned the punt 22 yards. This is not a drill!

Sigh. Another intentional grounding penalty backs Nebraska up.

ANTHONY GRANT DON’T CARE. JUST MORE YARDS TO PAD THE STATS. The RB popped off a big run to set up a short yardage situation. Alante Brown cleaned it up for the first down.

Oliver Martin snags one to set up first and goal.

JAQ YANT TOUCHDOWN!!

Nebraska 21 Indiana 7

Indiana went high tempo and adjusted to the Husker man coverage. Touchdown Hoosiers.

Nebraska 21 Indiana 14

Offsetting penalties on the kickoff forced a re-kick. Touchback. The Huskers have just under three minutes in the half.

Another set of offsetting penalties appeared. The stupid-fest continued as Turner Corcoran threw a punch after the next play and got himself ejected.

Brant Banks is now the left tackle for the third and 20 play.

The Hoosiers take advantage of a reeling Husker team and quickly move toward the red zone and toward the goal line.

First and goal. Short.

Second and goal. Touchdown.

Nebraska 21 Indiana 21

Halftime

Mickey Joseph didn’t mince words in his interview as he headed toward the locker room. It was something to the effect of “I’m going to talk to them.”

I hope it works.

Notes from the athletic department:

• True freshman cornerback Malcolm Hartzog made his first career start in tonight’s game. Hartzog had played in all four games, primarily on special teams.
• Hartzog had a 30-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter on a punt blocked by Chris Kolarevic. It marked Nebraska’s first blocked punt return for a touchdown since Justin Blatchford had a 25-yard return of a blocked punt for a touchdown at Baylor on Oct. 31, 2009.
• Kolarevic’s blocked punt was Nebraska’s second punt block of the season (Javin Wright vs. North Dakota).
• The blocked punt touchdown marked Nebraska’s first special teams touchdown of any kind since JD Spielman had a 76-yard punt return touchdown vs. South Alabama on Aug. 31, 2019.

Third Quarter

The Huskers get the ball to start the half.

An incomplete pass (Trey Palmer) was reviewed and changed to a complete pass. Second down near midfield.

That was the highlight as the drive stalled there. Punt.

Note: We are already nearly 2 ¹⁄₂ hours into this game and only have just started the third quarter.

An offensive pass interference penalty by Indiana moved them back. Garrett Nelson was injured on a play, but walked off the field on his own. #Whew

A Luke Reimer interception gave Nebraska fans a tense moment when a flag was thrown. The penalty turned out to be holding against the Hoosiers.

The officials decided to review Reimer for targeting (it was not).

The Husker high didn’t last long as the Hoosiers intercepted Thompson immediately. Hoosier ball on the one yard line.

the defense pushed Indiana back into the end zone, but the whistle had blown (forward progress). Hoosier third down on the two yard line.

Delay of game. Half the distance.

STUFFED! Dangerous punt upcoming for Indiana.

Trey Palmer returned the ball to midfield.

False start on Nebraska. Sigh. Holding Nebraska. Double Sigh.

First and 25. Anthony Grant fumbled, but the Huskers recovered.

Second and 23. Marcus Washington was targeted deep, but the Hoosier DB knocked the ball free.

Third and 23. Incomplete. Casey Thompson is injured.

Buschini COFFIN CORNERS the punt inside the two yard line.

Fourth and one at the eight yard line…Punt. Trey Palmer gets a few yards on the return. Husker ball at the 45ish. Chubba Purdy will likely lead the Husker offense onto the field.

(and he does)

After one play, Thompson is back.

Offensive holding. Good grief.

The third and 18 pass is complete, but very short of the sticks. Punt.

A short punt set up the Hoosiers at the Husker 30. The first play from scrimmage was NEARLY intercepted by Nebraska.

A third and six is converted at midfield. Indiana is going full NASCAR with tempo.

Third and three.

Fourth Quarter

Another near interception (Mathis tip, Tannor attempt to catch). Fourth down.

Another flag! Shocker!! These officials have bottomless pockets tonight.

Third and nine. The long pass to Trey Palmer is…COMPLETE!!! WUT?!?

71 yard touchdown for Nebraska.

Nebraska 28 Indiana 21

Flag on the kickoff!! Indiana unsportsmanlike penalty. #WhoWouldHaveGuessed

An Indiana player made a tough catch, but it was ruled out of bounds. The play is under review because we want this game to last forever.

(still not a catch, but a helluva effort)

Punt. Husker ball near midfield. Again.

The Thompson to Palmer connection netted a difficult first down at the Hoosier 43ish. Anthony Grant churned forward for a few and then a few more for a first down at the 31.

Mark Whipple put a jumbo package in front of Grant and decided to run the damn ball. #GoodCall

Red Zone.

Chancellor Brewington sighting.

Palmer first down.

First and goal. Run the damn ball to the one yard line.

Second and goal. Clock ticking (seven minutes). Casey Thompson touchdown!!

Nebraska 35 Indiana 21

Mark Whipple…making friends in Lincoln tonight.

The defense allowed a first down, but Issac Gifford made a great tackle in space to force a third and long. Incomplete. Punt.

It may be a mirage. It may not last. But, Husker fans are watching competent coaching for the time being.

With 5 ¹⁄₂ minutes left, Whipple dials up more Anthony Grant.

Third and three. Loss of yards. Punt. Buschini’s punt bounces the Hoosier’s way. Indiana ball at the 36.

Ty Robinson sack!! Third and 10. Three and ¹⁄₂ minutes left.

Fourth down. Indiana goes for it on fourth and 16. Luke Reimer nearly intercepts the ball!

Husker ball at the Hoosier 30.

#RunTheDamnBallTime

It was a mostly well-coached performance for Nebraska. The flags were an issue, but that hurt both sides.

Final. Nebraska 35 Indiana 21

This team made serious mistakes. It is still not a good football team but they didn’t fold or make the backbreaking mistake when the going got tough.

A win is a win is a win. I’ll take that every day of the week and twice on Saturday.

Postgame Note

Mickey Joseph in his postgame interview…”we had to stop playing small”