Nebraska entered Saturday’s matchup against No. 7 Indiana with something to prove. The Cornhuskers were undefeated, off to their best start in a decade and still couldn’t find their way into the national rankings. For most of Saturday afternoon, they looked determined to make voters regret it.
Nebraska pushed the defending national champions to the brink before Indiana mounted a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to escape Memorial Stadium with a 20-17 victory. The loss dropped Nebraska to 5-1, but the final score hardly told the full story. For more than three quarters, the Cornhuskers looked like the better team.
Nebraska controlled possession, moved the football consistently and kept one of college football’s most explosive teams uncomfortable for most of the afternoon. The Huskers entered the game 5-0 for the first time since 2016 and had won each of their first five games by at least 18 points. Despite that start, Nebraska remained outside the Top 25 entering its biggest test of the season.
If the Cornhuskers were looking for extra motivation, they had plenty of it. Indiana arrived in Lincoln ranked No. 7 in the AP poll, riding a 21-game winning streak and fresh off a perfect 16-0 national championship season. Nebraska, meanwhile, was battling a much different kind of history.
The Cornhuskers had lost 30 consecutive games against ranked opponents and had not beaten a top-10 team since knocking off No. 6 Michigan State in 2015. Saturday represented a chance to change that narrative — and for most of the afternoon, Nebraska looked ready to do exactly that. Nebraska grabbed an early 10-3 lead and carried that advantage into halftime, keeping Indiana out of the end zone through the first two quarters.
The Hoosiers finally cut the deficit to 10-6 with a third-quarter field goal, but Nebraska answered early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Anthony Colandrea broke free for a 39-yard touchdown run with 12:10 remaining, extending Nebraska’s lead to 17-6 and sending Memorial Stadium into a frenzy. At that moment, one of the biggest upsets of the college football season appeared to be within reach.
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