Nebraska falls 20-17 to No. 7 Indiana, but the Huskers showed they can play with anyone

Nebraska's unbeaten season ended Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. No. 7 Indiana scored the last 14 points and won 20-17. For most of the night, though, the Huskers looked like the better team against the defending national champions.

Nate McHugh of SB Nation's Corn Nation wrote in his morning-after column that the loss should not be read as a moral victory or as another case of Nebraska barely hanging on against a better opponent. He saw two good teams trading blows, with the Huskers coming up two explosive plays short of their biggest win in more than a decade. "To be clear, this is not a moral victory," McHugh wrote, adding that he hopes those days are over in Lincoln.

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea ran 39 yards for a touchdown with 12:01 left in the fourth quarter, putting Nebraska up 17-6 and sending the crowd into a frenzy. Then Indiana wide receiver Nick Marsh took over. He caught a 75-yard touchdown pass, then added a 44-yard score on what McHugh called a strange fourth-down play. Those two catches turned the game around and sent the Hoosiers home with the win.

McHugh contrasted the loss with Nebraska's 32-29 home defeat to ninth-ranked Michigan in 2021. In that game, Adrian Martinez lost a fumble with 1:45 left and the Wolverines kicked the go-ahead field goal. To McHugh, that team looked like it was hanging on against a stronger opponent. He saw nothing like that Saturday.

Other coverage collected in the column says plenty of people around the program weren't ready to hear that. Steven Sipple of On3 wrote that the Huskers outplayed Indiana for much of the game, but fans, players and coaches were in no mood to hear it right after the loss. The Athletic noted that Nebraska has now lost 31 straight games to AP-ranked opponents, and 13 of those losses came by one score. That list includes two losses each to Ohio State and Michigan, plus repeated close losses to Iowa.

Indiana improved to 6-0 and stretched its winning streak to 22 games. Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana site, called it a hard-fought win in which the wind, the officiating and the crowd all seemed to work against the Hoosiers. Indiana plays Ohio State next week with a chance to tie the Big Ten's record for consecutive wins in the College Football Playoff era.

Nebraska, now 5-1, has to recover quickly. The Huskers travel to Oregon next week. McHugh believes Matt Rhule's team can win there, though nothing will come easy. The Ducks are coming off a loss to UCLA in which, by McHugh's account, they apparently benched quarterback Dylan Raiola, and he likely won't start against the Huskers. Raiola began his college career at Nebraska before transferring to Oregon, which adds another storyline to the trip.

McHugh's view is that the season is still there for Nebraska to take, as long as the Huskers can finish the next time a big win is within reach. After Saturday's late collapse, the trip to Eugene is their next chance to do it.