Nebraska had No. 7 Indiana on the ropes for three quarters, but the finish in Lincoln looked painfully familiar for Matt Rhule.
The Cornhuskers carried a 10-3 lead into halftime and stretched it to 17-6 with an early fourth-quarter touchdown. Then Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers flipped the game, ripping off two unanswered touchdowns and escaping with a 20-17 road win.
For Rhule, it was another painful entry in a long and lopsided ledger against ranked teams. The loss dropped him to 2-25 all-time against ranked opponents, and it pushed his Nebraska mark against Top 25 teams to 0-9 over four seasons in Lincoln.
Rhule’s only wins over ranked teams came at Temple. In 2014, his Owls beat then-No.
21 East Carolina 20-10. His most recent victory over a ranked opponent came in the AAC Championship Game in December, when Temple beat then-No.
19 Navy.
At Baylor, he never managed to knock off a Top 25 team in three seasons.
The Nebraska run has been especially rough. Since arriving in 2023, Rhule has taken losses to No.
22 Colorado, No. 2 Michigan, No.
20 Iowa, No. 24 Illinois, No.
16 Indiana, No. 4 Ohio State, No.
21 Michigan, No. 23 USC, No.
15 Utah and now No. 7 Indiana.
Rhule’s latest setback comes with his contract situation still very much in place. Last season, he signed a new two-year extension that runs through 2032. On3 Sports reported that he is making $8.5 million from Nebraska this season.
That deal also came with a much larger buyout, rising to $15 million from $5 million after his name was tied to the open Penn State job last year. Nebraska ended up keeping him, and the school finished 7-6 last season, the same record it posted in 2024.
In Other News...
Ohio State Now Gets The Undefeated Indiana Showdown Everyone Feared
Indiana kept its unbeaten run intact with a 20-17 win over Nebraska, the kind of tight road test that can reveal as much as it masks. The Hoosiers, still riding a 21-game win streak as the defending national champions, leaned on Curt Cignettis game management and a defense that did enough to survive a late Nebraska push.
Nebraska quarterback Anthony Colandrea helped spark the fourth-quarter tension with a 39-yard touchdown run, but Indiana answered when Josh Hoover connected twice with Nick Marsh for touchdowns. It was another reminder that the Hoosiers can win in different ways, and it sets up an Ohio State showdown with all the pressure and anticipation that comes with facing an undefeated Indiana team this late in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Hoover Answered Indianas Biggest Late-Game Question
With the wind making life difficult for both offenses, Indiana found itself in a tight one against Nebraska before Josh Hoover settled things just enough late. The Hoosiers were outplayed in terms of volume, with Nebraska running far more snaps, but Indiana made the decisive throws when it mattered most and held on for a 20-17 win.
Hoover was not sharp for long stretches, and the conditions clearly affected his accuracy, but he kept working through it and found Nick Marsh twice for touchdown passes in the final stretch. For Indiana, that was the difference between a frustrating loss and a hard-earned finish, especially in a game where Nebraska had chances but could not turn all of its possessions into enough points. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Gets A Huge Break Before Undefeated Test At Nebraska
Indiana heads into its trip to Nebraska with a welcome injury-report boost, as the Hoosiers are expected to have key players A.J. Harris and Daniel Ndukwe available for a matchup that suddenly carries major early-season weight. It is the kind of road test that can tell you plenty about where a team stands, and Indiana will get to take it on without being nearly as thin as it might have been.
Both teams come in undefeated at 5-0, which gives this noon kickoff on FOX a little extra edge even before the ball is snapped. Indiana still has four players listed out, while Nebraska has six, so the availability picture is far from perfect on either side, but the Hoosiers at least avoided the kind of setback that can alter a game plan before it starts. [Read more 🡒]