One of the least-played matchups in the Big Ten is scheduled for Saturday night when Nebraska hosts Indiana in Lincoln, Neb.
It will be the third time the Cornhuskers and Hoosiers have played since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2012, the last meeting happening in 2019. Indiana won 38-31 on the road, one of many one-score losses during the recently ended tenure of Scott Frost at Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers (1-3, 0-1) are coming off a bye, having lost 49-14 at home to then-No. 6 Oklahoma in the debut of interim coach Mickey Joseph. Since then, Joseph has parted ways with defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, whose unit had allowed 35.5 points and a conference-worst 514 yards per game.
“Chinander is a good man and a good coach, but the numbers did not add up,” Joseph said. “I did not see us getting better. For four weeks, I did not see us getting better from week one to week four. I had to make a decision, the best decision for the kids because it is about the boys.”
Indiana (3-1, 1-0) is coming off its first loss, a 45-24 setback at Cincinnati. The Hoosiers had won their first three games by a combined 19 points, all at home.
“Our first road game last week, we didn’t handle the situation the way we needed to early for sure,” Indiana coach Tom Allen said. “This gives us a chance to be able to go do that again, have the same flow, same schedule in regard to the travel piece of it. We’re going to change up things we do this week with our guys to try to be able to create a faster start for our team. That is going to be happening on a daily basis.”
Indiana has the second-lowest rushing average in the conference, at 114.8 yards per game, but faces a Nebraska run defense that’s last in the Big Ten at 233.5 yards allowed per contest. That includes 214 yards and two touchdowns in the week zero loss in Ireland to a Northwestern team that’s lost three straight games since.
Nebraska, which has sold out a record 385 consecutive home games dating back to 1962, has dropped its last six at Memorial Stadium against FBS opponents. Indiana has dropped five in a row on the road and six straight conference road games.
–Field Level Media