No. 7 Indiana heads to Lincoln on Saturday with a perfect record intact, but the road ahead gets steeper fast.
The Hoosiers are 5-0 after flattening Rutgers 47-15 on Oct. 3, a win that pushed their streak to 21 straight and showed just how explosive this offense can be away from home. Indiana piled up 593 yards against the Scarlet Knights, with junior running back Turbo Richard and redshirt senior running back Lee Beebe Jr. doing the heavy lifting on the ground.
The pair combined for 326 rushing yards. Redshirt senior quarterback Josh Hoover was sharp as well, completing 20 of 27 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns.
That production has become the norm for Indiana, which brings a top 10 rushing attack into its second road game of the season. The Hoosiers are averaging 252.6 rushing yards per game, and Richard and Beebe sit atop the Big Ten rushing leaderboard with 587 and 520 yards, respectively.
“That’s the standard here,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Joe Brunner said Tuesday. “You want to be able to run the ball.
We have incredible running backs who run their tails off every week and credit them for doing a spectacular job. For us, it’s about putting our heads down and working.”
The ground game wasn’t the only thing working against Rutgers. Junior wide receivers Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh combined for 15 catches, 227 yards and three touchdowns, giving Indiana four players with more than 100 yards in the game. That made the Hoosiers the first Big Ten team since 1995 to have two running backs and two wide receivers all top 100 yards in the same game.
“Good road win Saturday night,” head coach Curt Cignetti said at a press conference Monday. “We did a lot of things well. Still some things to clean up.”
Now comes Nebraska, another unbeaten team and a much tougher measuring stick. The Cornhuskers are 5-0 and hosting Indiana at noon Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Matt Rhule is in his fourth season at Nebraska, and the program has turned the corner after a 5-7 start in 2023. Since then, the Cornhuskers have strung together back-to-back winning seasons. Rhule arrived in Lincoln after nearly two and a half seasons as head coach of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, and before that he led Baylor to an 11-win season and a Sugar Bowl trip in 2019.
Nebraska has been rolling offensively in 2026, putting up 43.6 points per game while winning by an average margin of 29.4 points.
“We've got a tremendous challenge this week in Nebraska,” Cignetti said. “Very impressive team on tape. A lot of respect for Coach Rhule, what he's accomplished throughout his career, the kind of person he is, what he represents and what they put on tape.”
The Cornhuskers have plenty of ways to hurt teams. Senior quarterback Anthony Colandrea has thrown for 1142 yards and 13 touchdowns and added 249 rushing yards and two more scores.
Cignetti also pointed back to the last time he coached against Colandrea, a September 2023 game at James Madison when the Dukes erased an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Virginia 36-35. Colandrea threw for 377 yards in that one, while D’Angelo Ponds, Ty Son Lawton and Kaelon Black all scored for James Madison.
“He's had a lot of success throughout his career,” Cignetti said of Colandrea. “He's very talented.
He's savvy, first of all, and I think he sees the field really well, and he's very mobile and elusive too. So, if there's nothing there, he has the ability to create plays with his arm and his legs.”
Nebraska’s backfield is deep as well. Junior running back Mekhi Nelson, sophomore running back Isaiah Mozee and freshman running back Jamal Rule each have at least 195 rushing yards, with Rule leading the group at 333 yards and five touchdowns.
In the passing game, junior wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer has become the main target. The 6-foot-2 receiver has 29 catches for 387 yards and six touchdowns, including two in a 25-point win over Maryland on Oct. 3.
Nebraska’s defense has been just as dangerous. The Cornhuskers lead the Big Ten with 16 sacks and have also forced six interceptions and five fumbles. Six different defenders have picked off passes, and the defense is spread out across the stat sheet, with four players at 20-plus tackles and six players with at least two sacks.
Indiana won the last meeting in convincing fashion, beating Nebraska 56-7 in October 2024. This time, the Hoosiers are walking into a much different scene.
“It's a Big Ten game on the road against an undefeated team,” Cignetti said. “So, it's a huge challenge.”
In Other News...
Indiana Faces A Road Test That Could Shake Its Top 10 Rise
Indianas climb into the top 10 has brought a new kind of pressure, and Saturdays trip to Nebraska looks like a good test of how real this rise is. The No. 7 Hoosiers are headed into their second Big Ten road game of the season, this time against an undefeated Cornhuskers team that has handled business at home and figures to make this one uncomfortable from the start.
The matchup gives Indiana a chance to lean on its rushing attack, with Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr. leading the way, but the Hoosiers will also have to deal with Nebraska quarterback Anthony Colandrea and the way he can stress a defense with his legs and arm. Just as important, Indianas defense has to win on third down and keep Nebraska from extending drives, because thats where a road game like this can start to slip away quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana May Be Unleashing A Perimeter Weapon Fans Didn't See Coming
Darren Harris arrived at Indiana with a rsum that already hinted at real upside, but the bigger opportunity now seems to be tied to how quickly he can expand his role in Darian DeVries offense. The former Duke guard and top-40 recruit is expected to be more than just a depth piece for the Hoosiers, and the early tone from the staff has been encouraging for anyone looking for a perimeter threat to emerge.
DeVries has been especially confident in Harris three-point shooting, enough to give him a clear green light from long range, and that belief has been echoed by teammate Markus Burton as Indiana prepared for the season at Big Ten Media Days. With an exhibition against Butler and then a regular-season opener against Eastern Illinois on deck, Harris has a chance to turn that praise into an early storyline the Hoosiers can actually build on. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Finally Looks Deeper Than Ever But Two Jobs Are Still Open
Indianas mens basketball roster has been rebuilt in a major way for 2026-27, with 11 newcomers arriving to give Darian DeVries a group that looks bigger, longer and far more versatile than the one it is replacing. The transfer haul alone brought in familiar names from major programs, including Aiden Sherrell from Alabama, Samet Yigitoglu from SMU and Markus Burton from Notre Dame, while a wave of freshmen adds even more layers to a roster that should be deeper on both ends of the floor.
What stands out most is how many different combinations DeVries can now consider. The Hoosiers believe they have improved their size and rebounding, and the backcourt has a different look with Burton in the mix, but the next step is figuring out how all of those pieces fit together once practice and lineup decisions begin. For a team that spent the offseason loading up, the biggest question now is not who Indiana has, but which two roles are still waiting to be claimed. [Read more 🡒]