This is the one Husker fans have had circled. Nebraska and Indiana are both 5-0, and they meet Saturday, October 10, at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is shortly after 11 a.m. Central on FOX, with Big Noon Kickoff in town for the occasion.
Indiana is the first defending national champion to play in Lincoln since Texas in 2006.
What Nebraska is up against
The Hoosiers went 16-0 last season and have not slowed down. They have won 21 straight games, they are ranked seventh in the AP poll and fifth in the coaches poll, and head coach Curt Cignetti is 32-2 at Indiana. Last week they rolled up nearly 600 yards in a 47-15 win at Rutgers.
Indiana is elite on both sides of the ball:
- Offense: 44.2 points a game, eighth in the country, and 252.6 rushing yards a game, ninth in the country.
- Defense: 10.8 points allowed a game, fifth in the country, and fourth in total defense.
Quarterback Josh Hoover, a transfer from TCU, has thrown 15 touchdown passes without an interception. Running back Turbo Richard has 587 rushing yards and ran for 204 at Rutgers. Lee Beebe Jr. has added 520 more on the ground, and receiver Charlie Becker has eight touchdown catches.
Why Nebraska has a chance
The Huskers have earned their own numbers. Nebraska is ninth nationally in scoring at 43.6 points a game and 15th in scoring defense. Opponents are converting only 21.3 percent of their third downs, the second-best mark in the country. All five wins have come by at least 18 points.
Anthony Colandrea has thrown for 1,142 yards and 13 touchdowns and run for 249 more. Kwazi Gilmer has six touchdown catches. Freshman running back Jamal Rule is expected back after missing the Maryland game, though his workload is not yet clear.
There is also a subplot at quarterback. Colandrea has faced a Cignetti defense before. He threw for 377 yards against Cignetti’s James Madison team in 2023.
The history
Indiana leads the all-time series 11-9-3 and won the last meeting 56-7 in Bloomington in 2024. Nebraska won the last one played in Lincoln, 35-21 in 2022.
The bigger history is Nebraska’s own. The Huskers have not beaten a ranked opponent since a 35-32 win over Oregon in 2016. Their last win over a top-10 team came in 2015 against Michigan State.
Three things to watch
- The first quarter. Nebraska gave up 207 yards in the opening quarter against Maryland and trailed Ohio early in week one. A slow start against this opponent is much harder to erase.
- Stopping the run. Matt Rhule compared Indiana’s offense to a triple option because of how many ways it can attack. Nebraska held Michigan State to 39 rushing yards. This is a different level of test.
- Penalties. Nebraska was flagged 16 times last week, and Rhule had the team review every one of them. Free yards are the fastest way to lose to a team this good.
Indiana is favored by about a touchdown. Rhule called the Hoosiers the best team in the country regardless of what the rankings say. A Nebraska win would mean a 6-0 start for the first time since 2016 and the program’s biggest victory in a decade.
Memorial Stadium will be ready. Go Big Red.
Dr. Bruce Marko is a University of Nebraska alum and a proud supporter of the Huskers. Read more about his Nebraska Cornhuskers roots.
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