Josh Hoover didn’t need a perfect afternoon to give Indiana the kind of moment every championship contender eventually needs. In a messy, wind-blown fight in Lincoln, he delivered the answer when Nebraska looked ready to break the game open.
Indiana escaped with a 20-17 win, and Hoover’s stat line was rough enough to back up how difficult the day was. He finished 12 of 22 through the air, easily his worst showing since arriving at Indiana.
A steady wind at Memorial Stadium kept knocking throws off course, sending some sails wide of open receivers down the sideline and leaving others short by as much as 10 yards. If not for those misses in the first half, Indiana may never have been forced into the kind of late-game scramble that Hoover eventually settled.
Nebraska did plenty to put itself in position to pull the upset. The Huskers controlled the ball and ran 83 plays to Indiana’s 44, but all that activity didn’t translate into enough points. Not until Anthony Colandrea broke free for a 39-yard touchdown run to put Nebraska ahead 17-6 with 12 minutes left did the stadium really feel like it might be slipping away from the Hoosiers.
That was the moment Indiana had to answer, and Hoover wasted no time. On the first play of the next possession, he hit Nick Marsh on an RPO for a 75-yard touchdown. One snap, one strike, and the noise in the building flipped from celebration to tension.
Curt Cignetti had pointed to Indiana’s defense and run game during the offseason after Sonny Dykes’ criticism about turnovers, saying he had something at Indiana he never had at TCU. The run game never showed up here, but the defense did enough to force Nebraska to punt after the long touchdown.
Indiana’s next scoring drive took a little longer, but the result was the same. On fourth-and-2, the Hoosiers went back to a play-action look that echoed the RPO from the previous touchdown.
Nebraska bit hard again. Hoover found both Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker wide open, then chose Marsh once more for a 44-yard touchdown that gave Indiana its first lead of the game.
Neither scoring throw was especially difficult. Both were straightforward reads and clean throws.
But after a day full of accuracy problems, Hoover’s ability to reset and hit the right plays in the biggest spots mattered. That kind of quick recovery is what quarterbacks need when the game tightens, and Indiana may lean on it again.
Ohio State.
In Other News...
Indiana Gets A Huge Break Before Undefeated Test At Nebraska
Indiana is heading into its matchup at Nebraska with a healthier roster than it has had in recent weeks, and that matters with both teams undefeated and carrying 5-0 records into a noon kickoff on FOX. The Hoosiers are expected to have key players A.J. Harris and Daniel Ndukwe available, a welcome development as the stakes rise in a game that could carry real weight in the Big Ten race.
The availability report still leaves some absences on both sides, with four Indiana players and six Nebraska players ruled out. But for a Hoosiers team trying to prove it can keep rolling on the road, getting close to full strength before a test like this is about as good a break as it could ask for. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Faces A Huge Road Test That Could Expose One Weakness
Indiana heads to Lincoln for a Big Ten showdown that could tell us a lot about where this team really stands. Both the Hoosiers and Nebraska are unbeaten in league play, but the contrast in styles makes this one especially interesting: Indiana has been cleaner with penalties and more balanced on offense, getting meaningful production from several players instead of leaning on one obvious source.
Nebraska brings a different kind of stress test, with quarterback Anthony Colandrea driving an offense that can hurt defenses through the air and on the ground. Add in the forecast for strong winds, and the game could turn into a tricky afternoon for passing and kicking alike. For Indiana, the challenge is not just keeping pace in a hostile road environment - it's showing that one of its quieter strengths can survive when conditions get messy. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Sends Clear Message As Indiana Faces Tougher Nebraska Test
Indianas strong start has not dulled Curt Cignettis sense of how much work still sits ahead, and his latest comments made clear the Hoosiers are treating Nebraska as another step in that process. Cignetti pointed to the continued growth of quarterback Josh Hoover, along with the teams focus on handling communication in a loud road-style environment, as the kind of details that matter when a season starts to draw bigger attention.
Nebraska brings its own test, especially with quarterback Anthony Colandrea helping drive the offense, and Cignetti framed it as the sort of challenge Indiana needs right now. Even with the early success, he made it plain the Hoosiers still see room to climb, which is a useful reminder as the schedule gets tougher and the margin for clean execution gets smaller. [Read more 🡒]