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Nebraska vs Indiana Postgame: The Huskers Won the Stats and Lost 20 to 17

Graphic reading The Numbers Said Nebraska Won, Nebraska 17, Indiana 20, with yards, first downs, possession and third down totals.
Graphic by The Blackshirts. Photo by Denny Paulsen

The numbers say Nebraska won this game. The scoreboard says Indiana did.

On Saturday at Memorial Stadium, in front of 85,653 fans, No. 7 Indiana beat Nebraska 20 to 17. The Huskers fall to 5 and 1 (2 and 1 in the Big Ten). The Hoosiers move to 6 and 0. And almost every box score line outside of the one that matters points the other way.

The numbers that make this one hurt

Nebraska ran 83 plays to Indiana’s 44. The Huskers held the ball for 39:33 to the Hoosiers’ 20:27. Nebraska out-gained them 391 yards to 328, and had 25 first downs to 13.

On third down it was not close. Nebraska converted 10 of 19. Indiana converted 1 of 10. Nebraska came in as the only team in the country in the top 10 in both third down offense and third down defense, and it played like it.

The defense took away what Indiana does best. The Hoosiers came in averaging 490.6 yards a game and left with 328. They rushed 22 times for 65 yards, 12 of them in the first half, against a rushing offense that ranked ninth nationally.

What went wrong

Three plays. Indiana gained 155 of its 328 yards on three plays, and two of them were touchdowns.

Nebraska led 17 to 6 early in the fourth quarter after Anthony Colandrea’s 39 yard touchdown run. Ten seconds later, Indiana quarterback J. Hoover hit receiver N. Marsh for a 75 yard touchdown. On Indiana’s next possession, Hoover found Marsh again, this time for 44 yards, and Indiana had the lead with 7:13 to play.

Nebraska had chances to answer. The drive after Indiana’s go ahead score went 6 plays and ended on downs at Nebraska’s own 44. The next possession went 9 plays and ended on downs again at the Nebraska 39, with 1:15 left.

There were other moments. A 40 yard field goal try missed wide right at the end of the first half. Nebraska was 2 for 3 in the red zone. An interception in the third quarter stopped a 10 play drive. Those are the points that were left on the field in a three point game.

Who played well

Anthony Colandrea had 310 yards of total offense, 263 passing and 47 rushing, his fifth game in six with at least 250. He added that 39 yard touchdown run, his second run of 35 or more yards in two weeks.

Jacory Barney Jr. caught nine passes for 108 yards, his fourth 100 yard game and his second this season. He has caught a pass in all 32 games of his career, tying the fifth longest streak in Nebraska history.

Nyziah Hunter scored his first touchdown of the season on a 10 yard run, the first rushing score of his career. He finished with five catches for 43 yards.

Luke Lindenmeyer caught seven passes for 45 yards, tying his career high. He now has 53 career receptions and is the 12th tight end in Nebraska history with at least 50.

Archie Wilson had a career long 68 yard punt in the fourth quarter, downed another at the Indiana 1 yard line, and averaged 57.3 yards on three punts. The school record is 57.6.

What the players said after

The locker room did not sound like a team that thinks it was outplayed.

Colandrea: “We’ll watch it, we’ll learn from it.”

Barney: “We just got to play better.”

Chambliss: “We got to just be more consistent.”

Jones: “Don’t let one game beat us twice.”

Stoudmire: “We got a lot of work to do.”

Head coach Matt Rhule: “I’m gonna go to work tomorrow.”

Watch every interview on The Blackshirts YouTube channel:

What it means

Nebraska is 5 and 1 and lost to a top 10 team by three points while controlling nearly every part of the game it could control. The mistakes were fixable ones: a missed kick, a turnover, a few stops that did not come, and two explosive passes. That is a team that is close, not a team that is lost.

I will have more from the locker room all week. Follow @DennyPaulsen on X and subscribe to The Blackshirts on YouTube.

Video courtesy of Nebraska Athletics. Statistics from the official postgame notes and box score.

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