Huskers Hapless, Hammered, Humbled and Humiliated in a Hoosier Horror show

ThotDoc's Brain Droppings on the Indiana game. .

Indiana's Shawn Asbruy II (1) returns an interception during the Indiana versus Nebraska football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On an absolutely beautiful and sunny fall day in Bloomington, Indiana, the Nebraska Cornhuskers were pummeled from start to finish by the #16 ranked Indiana Hoosiers 56-7… and it could have been worse. Both teams were coming off a bye week and the Huskers seemed as ill-prepared and clueless as the Hoosiers seemed confident, capable and competitive. On paper, Nebraska may have the more highly skilled recruits, but Indiana manifested better schemes, coaching, and nearly flawless execution. It was the worst defeat for the Cornhuskers since a 62-3 beatdown in 2016 by Ohio State.

Before the season, Indiana was predicted to finish 17th out of 18 Big Ten teams. They now are tied for first in the conference at 7-0 and have a great shot at finishing 11-1 with a possible loss to OSU. They just have to beat Washington, Michigan State, Michigan and Purdue. If they prevail, they are most likely a playoff team. They are not a great team but play the kind of complimentary football that yields great results.

Indiana was 3-9 last season before they hired James Madison’s somewhat mercenary head coach Curt Cignetti. Cignetti retained 36 scholarship players and filled the team with veteran transfers, 13 of them from JMU. The result was an all-new veteran squad with 25 junior or senior transfers on the two-deep offense and defense. Colorado has attempted something similar, but Cignetti is a better coach, has a better staff, and has a more balanced portfolio of players.

Meanwhile, in the Nebraska reconstruction project, the Huskers are staring at another 5-3 record heading into November, with no gimme left on the schedule. The one supposed easier opponent, UCLA, just flew across the country and beat Rutgers in Piscataway 35-32. Nebraska also just dropped their 26th straight game to a ranked opponent and fumbled their chance at the first statement win in Matt Rhule’s tenure.

The first quarter was kept reasonably close despite the defense yielding an 8-play 75-yard scoring drive on Indiana’s initial possession. After Nebraska punted and the defense stopped the Hoosiers with a sack on 4th and 2, the Husker offense moved the ball 53 yards on 9 plays to the Hoosier 12-yard line bringing up a 4th and 1. Dante Dowdell made the mark to gain, but the ball did not as it was fumbled. With :56 to go in the first quarter, had Nebraska scored to knot it at 7-7, would the game have proceeded differently? Instead, Indiana went 88 yards on just 6 plays to go up 14-0 scoring the first of the 28 points off turnovers they would produce out of five takeaways, the only points scored by an opponent off turnovers all year.

Speaking of turnovers, Nebraska came into the game +6 with 10 takeaways and 4 giveaways (a fumble and three picks). After the three-interception performance by Raiola along with a strip-sack fumble and the fumble by Dowdell, despite the last play of the first half interception by Hartzog, the Huskers are now just +2 with 11 takeaways and 9 giveaways. One of the reasons for the Huskers success through 6 games was the quarterback limiting turnovers, but Saturday’s total of five exceeds the Husker total through the first six games (4).

The Husker defense was not a Blackshirt-worthy performance. The Hoosiers were 7-of-7 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Indiana had over 500 yards in offense before the last three kneel-downs netted them 495 yards with a balanced 215 on the ground and 280 through the air. This ended the Nebraska streak of 13 straight games the opposition was held to fewer than 400 yards. Through the first six games, the Huskers had given up just 12 plays of 20 yards or greater, which was the second fewest behind only #1 Texas. Saturday, the defense surrendered 15 plays of 10 or more yards and 7 plays of 20 or more yards. Being the only team in the FBS to not yield a rushing touchdown was torched as Indiana scored five times on the ground. It was total domination.

There were virtually no defensive highlights, but rover Isaac Gifford made eight tackles increasing his career total to 207 and becoming the 10th defensive back and 43rd player in school history to top 200 career tackles. Malcolm Hartzog Jr. intercepted a pass to end the first half, marking his team-leading third interception of the season, and linebacker Mikai Gbayor had a nine–yard sack on a 4th and 2 and had a career high two tackles for loss. Those two plays ended two of the three drives Indiana was stopped. They punted once and scored touchdowns on their other eight drives.

Offensively, Dylan Raiola was 28 for 44 for 234 yards with the aforementioned three picks. He did not play well. Tight end Thomas Fidone set career highs with six catches and 91 yards. He also redeemed himself following a horrible blocking attempt with an excellent block on Jacory Barney’s 7-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter. Barney had eight receptions in the game, setting a career high, bettering his six catches against Colorado. Jaylen Lloyd also had a career high with three receptions, bettering his two receptions against Rutgers two weeks ago.

To emphasize the lack of a rushing attack, Heinrich Haarberg led NU rushers with 32 yards on 5 carries. Emmett Johnson added 24 yards on 8 carries and Dante Dowdell had 16 yards on 7 carries. The anemic rushing total was just 70 yards on 29 carries (a 2.4-yd average). The Huskers can’t seem to block on the perimeter, the receivers can’t seem to block well or get separation on pass routes. The offense seems to be in disarray with no clear identity or consistency.

Special teams continue to be a clown show as demonstrated by Jacory Barney stepping out at the 1-yard line on the initial kickoff to the Huskers and two other kickoffs were bobbled. There appears to be no confidence in kicking field goals as the offense stayed on the field and went 0 for 5 on fourth down attempts and was just 1 for 4 in the red zone. Brian Buschini averaged 41.0 yards on three punts but one traveled just 25 yards. Kwinten Ives was the sole highlight with a 40-yard kickoff return. I have seen very little improvement this year from Ed Foley’s crew.

If you thought this week was ugly, what will happen next Saturday at the Horseshoe in Columbus as the Huskers face a pissed off 5-1 Ohio State team who will be coming off a bye week after losing a heartbreaker in Oregon 32-31. I sincerely hope that Matt Rhule can get the team focused enough to be competitive against the Buckeyes, or any confidence gained in the first half of the season will be circling down the drain. There are winnable games left on the schedule, but not by the team that showed up in Bloomington Saturday.

Go Big Red!!

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