Usual heartbreak as Hoosiers handle Huskers with late Hoover heroics

On a hot and windy Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers squandered an 11-point fourth-quarter lead with just 4:48 on the clock and lost to the No. 7-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, 20-17. Although they dominated the defending national champions for the first 53 minutes of the game, two huge defensive breakdowns led to plays of 75 and 44 yards to extinguish all the goodwill and momentum the Huskers had built over three quarters of play.

When Anthony Colandrea rushed for a 39-yard run with 12:01 to play, Nebraska took a 17-6 lead, the Husker faithful shook the foundations of the Old Gray Lady as it appeared that Nebraska’s 30-game losing streak against ranked opponents and Indiana Nation’s 21-game winning streak might finally be snapped. But on the first play of the ensuing possession, safety Caleb Benning stepped up to the snap and was beaten by Hoosier receiver Nick Marsh for a 75-yard score. On Indiana’s next possession, they faced 4th and 1 from the Nebraska 44-yard line and as the Blackshirts engaged in the rush, Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover had his pick of wide receivers open and found Marsh for an easy score. Apparently there was confusion on the Husker side as to which personnel group they should be in, and Owen Chambliss admitted he should have called a timeout before the snap.

For most of the game, Nebraska appeared to be the more physical team, something we Husker faithful haven’t seen against ranked opponents in quite some time. Indiana entered the game ranked 9th in the nation averaging 252.6 yards per game. The Hoosiers’ two-headed monster running back duo, Lee Beebe and Turbo Richard, had combined for 1,107 rushing yards, nine touchdowns and an average of 7.55 yards per carry. The Blackshirts gave up just 41 yards on 17 carries by this pair and just 65 total rushing yards. The conventional wisdom was “stuff the run and make Hoover beat you with his arm.” The Husker secondary allowed 199 yards on four explosive plays and only 64 more passing yards the rest of the game. The defense survived two of those big plays in the first half and only gave up one field goal, but the last two told the story.

One look at some stats and you wonder how the Huskers lost this contest. The defense forced Indiana into 6 punts and just 1 of 10 on third down. Nebraska held a 25-13 advantage in early downs and nearly doubled the Hoosiers in time of possession 39:33-20:27. They beat Indiana 391-328 and outscored them 128-65. When Nebraska scored with 12 minutes left, they held a total offensive advantage of 332-186. But from there until the end, Indiana outscored the Huskers 142-59 with 119 of those yards coming on the two aforementioned plays. Two misses, two long scores and all the momentum and advantage was wasted.

The change in dynamic has been monumental. Despite the talk of “one game at a time” and “shake it up”, the weight of the long losing streak began to seep into the Husker mindset and both play and execution suffered over time. Despite two legitimate possessions in the final 7:13, Nebraska couldn’t get past its own 45-yard line. Completing these kinds of games is what Nebraska needs to do to break the curse and be taken seriously nationally again. They are getting so close… but we are not there yet.

An improvement would be to make the most of the opportunities given and miss the basket (with the wind) on the last drive before halftime comes back to haunt the Huskers. They needed at least these three points. Not to mention Luke Lindenmeyer was attacked two plays earlier. The Huskers also have to figure out how to win when officials refuse to call penalties on the favorite. There were two late hits, two false starts and that obvious DPI wasn’t called, as well as several catches on our edge rushers, and that was only in the first half. No penalties have been called on Indiana for seven straight quarters. How is this possible?

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea completed 25 of 43 passes for 263 yards and added 47 rushing yards on 17 carries despite losing 48 yards on 5 sacks. He also threw an arm punt interception toward the 2-yard line on a 3rd-and-16 in the third quarter. His 310 total offensive yards in the game marks the fifth time in six games that Colandrea has accounted for at least 250 total offensive yards.

Receiver Nyziah Hunter scored his first touchdown of the season on a 10-yard run in the first quarter. It was his first career touchdown, to go along with 10 career scores. He finished the game with a season-high five receptions and 43 yards as the Huskers actively prepared to involve Hunter more. Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer had seven receptions for 45 yards, tying his career high in receptions. Receiver Jacory Barney Jr. had nine receptions for 108 yards, marking his third game this season with at least five receptions. Barney has one catch in all 32 games of his career, tying the fifth-longest streak in NU history. Kwazi Gilmer had less of an impact as he was limited to just three grabs for 31 yards. Mekhi Nelson made a big catch and ran for 36 yards.

Running back Jamal Rule was back from injury but was limited to 53 yards on 15 carries (an average of 3.5 yards per carry). Mekhi Nelson added 18 yards on 4 carries as the Hoosiers contained everyone except Colandrea, who repeatedly converted third downs with his legs.

The defense was led by Dwayne McDougle with 6 stops and Owen Chambliss who added 5 tackles. Andrew Marshall had 4 tackles and at least one pass breakup, but was burned on a 43-yard pass that led to a field goal in the first quarter. Vincent Shavers and Owen Stoudmire were each credited with 3 tackles and a sack. The Blackshirts had 5 total tackles for loss and they pressured and rushed Hoover on several occasions. Jamir Conn was injured on a tackle and ended the game in a sling, so let’s hope for a quick recovery.

The ugliest special teams contribution was Kyle Cunanan’s missed 40-yard field goal late in the first half. These were points that Nebraska absolutely had to have. Cunanan converted for 28 yards on Nebraska’s opening drive. On the other hand, punter Archie Wilson had his best day as a Husker with a career-high 68-yard punt in the fourth quarter, bettering his previous long of 60 yards in the second quarter. He also had a successful punt at the Indiana one-yard line with a great stop from Jeremiah Charles. Wilson completed three punts for an average of 57.3 yards in the game, just below Dan Hadenfeldt’s school record average of 57.6 yards per punt against Colorado in 1999. There were no punts or kickoffs returned by Indiana and only one punt return by Jacory Barney for 2 yards.

Losing hurts and moral victories don’t win championships, but the Huskers stepped up and competed well for most of the contest. Indiana must feel incredibly lucky to survive. They may not fare as well next week when they host Ohio State. Meanwhile, Nebraska travels to Eugene to face the Ducks who lost Saturday afternoon at home 17-15 to UCLA to fall to 3-2 on the year. Does anyone want Dylan Raiola back? With Dante Moore still recovering from a concussion, Raiola was 6 of 19 passing for 43 yards and two picks before being replaced by Oregon’s third signal-caller. Raiola also lost 7 yards on 2 carries. Sound familiar? The Huskers will have another opportunity to break the streak and beat a ranked team, as No. 13 Oregon likely won’t make it out of the Top 25. It’s about time it happened. Go big red!!

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