Nebraska’s defense is walking into its biggest challenge yet, and Rob Aurich isn’t dressing it up. The Huskers’ defensive coordinator knows Saturday’s meeting with undefeated Indiana will hinge on details - effort, tackling, discipline and the kind of edge that shows up on every snap.
That urgency comes after Nebraska surrendered more yards to Maryland in the first quarter than it allowed against North Dakota over the entire game. Against the Hoosiers, that kind of start would be a problem from the opening whistle.
Indiana brings one of the nation’s most productive offenses into Lincoln. The Hoosiers rank 14th nationally at 489.6 yards and 44.2 points per game, and Aurich made it clear that Nebraska won’t survive on scheme alone.
“Play style, speed, and physicality,” Aurich told reporters Tuesday. “Run to the ball.
I thought two weeks ago we ran to the ball harder than we did last week. I was disappointed in that.
I want people to talk about our defense as the hardest-playing group in the country. So, we’ve got to play extremely hard.”
The tackling part matters just as much. Aurich pointed to Indiana’s backs as a group that can turn routine plays into much bigger ones.
“The backs have a high break tackle ratio,” he continued. “We’ve got to tackle their backs at an elite level, which is something we’re going to work on today.”
Nebraska did allow some explosive plays against Maryland, and that’s exactly the sort of thing that can snowball against an offense like Indiana’s. Still, Aurich believes the Huskers have shown they can tighten up when the field gets shorter.
He highlighted Dwayne McDougle’s 81-yard pick-six in the second quarter against Maryland as a turning point, and said Nebraska has done a good job of making key plays in critical moments.
“He looked at that look all week, and so he had an opportunity to execute something he’s done" Aurich said. "I’ve been extremely pleased with our guys’ ability to toughen up in some big moments.”
That resilience showed, in Aurich’s view, even before halftime.
“I was really proud with how we survived that first half when things were a little noisy,” he continued. “I was really, really pleased with how they responded and we toughened up. And then obviously we went into halftime and had the ability to make the few corrections we needed to make and hold them low in the second half.”
The job gets harder with Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover, who has yet to throw an interception while posting a 15:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Outside of a close game with Northwestern, the Hoosiers have largely controlled things their way.
“He is operating their system,” Aurich said. “There’s a lot of stealing going on in the perimeter right now and he hasn’t forced a ton of throws. ... But yeah, he just hasn’t put the ball in harm's way yet.”
Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CDT Saturday, with FOX carrying the game.
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