Nebraska football suffers crushing 56-7 loss to No. 16 Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — As the Indiana Hoosiers took the field for one of the school’s biggest home games in recent memory, its student section answered the call.

The Indiana faithful roared, waving white towels over their head as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blasted over the stadium’s speakers. No. 16 Indiana brought the thunder from the game’s opening snap and Nebraska was left awestruck, condemned to chase the Hoosiers from there on out.

An Indiana team that hadn’t trailed a minute all season entering the contest extended that streak with a dominant 56-7 win over Nebraska on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

In every aspect of the game, it was the exact start Nebraska (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) would’ve hoped to avoid. The Huskers knew they’d need to avoid falling behind against an Indiana (7-0, 4-0) team which had previously outscored its opponents 73-0 in the first quarter — yet the Hoosiers raced out to a lead which they never surrendered.

The miscues began from the get-go for Nebraska when multiple missed tackles allowed Indiana’s Justice Ellison to break off a 43-yard run on the game’s opening possession. With the help of a key fourth-down conversion, Ellison eventually punched in a 5-yard rushing score to mark the first rushing touchdown Nebraska had allowed all season.

Perhaps needing a quick response on offense, Nebraska’s special teams struggles again reared their head. A kickoff attempt to the sideline flummoxed freshman Jacory Barney Jr., whose attempt to catch the ball out of bounds for a Hoosier penalty instead resulted in him stepping out at the 1-yard line.

Nebraska managed a first down to give punter Brian Buschini room to kick — but even that went poorly as a long kick from Buschini resulted in a 20-yard Indiana punt return. The Huskers still had a chance to even things up after stopping Indiana on fourth down, but a long drive into Hoosier territory ended in a turnover.

Running back Dante Dowdell coughed up NU’s second fumble of the season, and the first since he put the ball on the ground in a season-opening win over UTEP. From there on out, Nebraska’s path back into the game became much more tenuous if not downright impossible.

Whereas Nebraska ended the half with a pair of three-and-outs, three consecutive touchdown drives led to a dominant 28-7 first half lead in Indiana’s favor.

Quarterback Kurtis Rourke picked apart the Husker secondary time and time again, completing passes of 28 and 36 yards on a scoring drive which ended in a Myles Price 7-yard touchdown grab. NU’s attempts to pressure Rourke and limit his time in the pocket mostly fell short as the quarterback completed 17-of-21 passes for 189 yards in the first half.

Rourke led a 10-play touchdown drive to put the Hoosiers up 21-7, then following a Husker punt, needed just four plays to author another scoring drive. Ellison broke free for a 31-yard touchdown run, turning Husker safety DeShon Singleton inside out as he scored the Hoosiers’ third rushing touchdown of the first half.

Indiana outgained Nebraska 343-133 during a first half where the Huskers were forced into a pass-heavy attack as they chased the lead.

Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola did lead an impressive 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in which he completed passes of 25 yards to tight end Thomas Fidone and 19 yards to wide receiver Jahmal Banks. But apart from that drive, which ended in a 7-yard Barney rushing touchdown, Nebraska’s chances of keeping pace with Indiana continued to lessen as the game progressed.

And when Nebraska failed to turn its opening drive of the second half into a touchdown, the Huskers’ fate was just about sealed for good. Needing to convert a 4th-and-8 from inside the Indiana red zone, Raiola forced a throw into a tight window which was intercepted by Indiana’s Shawn Asbury.

Running back Rahmir Johnson ran down the defender to prevent a pick-six, but Indiana found the end zone three plays later. Another interception from Raiola on the ensuing drive again led to a Hoosier touchdown, one which extended their lead to 42-7.

Raiola finished the game 28-of-44 passing for 234 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions.

Indiana did enough of the hard work early on that its starting quarterback, Rourke, was able to sit out the entire second half after injuring his hand. Backup Tayven Jackson completed the first six passes he attempted, including two for touchdowns, to continue the Hoosiers’ offensive dominance.

When it was all said and done, a Nebraska defense which entered the day allowing the seventh-fewest points per game in the nation (11.3) surrendered nearly 500 yards of offense and had 56 points hung on it.

It’ll be back to the drawing board for Nebraska ahead of an equally difficult road test at No. 4 Ohio State next week. The Huskers have now lost their last 26 games against ranked opponents and are still searching for an elusive sixth win which would secure the program’s first bowl game since 2016.