Nebraska’s last two losses have been brutal, and the timing couldn’t be much worse. The Huskers dropped a 17-14 heartbreaker at Oregon after Dylan Raiola’s late gut punch, then had another close game swing away after Indiana scored 14 fourth-quarter points the week before. For a team sitting at 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, the bye week now comes with a lot of pain to sort through.
Still, there’s another way to read those two games: Nebraska was right there with Oregon until the end, and Oregon remains a talented program even without starting quarterback Dante Moore. The Huskers have not finished the job in back-to-back weeks, and that’s the hard truth.
Oregon put up 11 points in the fourth quarter, and the week before Indiana did the same kind of late damage. Good teams close.
Nebraska hasn’t done that lately.
There is, however, a Saturday result that should matter to Nebraska’s outlook, and it came from Bloomington. Ohio State went into Indiana and escaped with a 19-15 win, snapping the Buckeyes’ 22-game winning streak in a game that was tight all the way through. Indiana pushed hard late and came within a foot of a winning touchdown pass.
That game changed the lens on Nebraska’s Nov. 21 matchup with Ohio State in Lincoln. The Buckeyes still look loaded, with Julian Sayin at quarterback and Jeremiah Smith drawing Heisman buzz at receiver.
But they also looked human at Indiana. They are not the untouchable machine many projected them to be.
There’s even more to consider now, because Sayin is expected to miss “multiple weeks” after injuring his throwing shoulder against Indiana. Nebraska would obviously rather face a full-strength Ohio State team, but injuries are part of the sport. And if the Huskers watched the tape from Indiana, they should come away understanding that the Buckeyes can be pushed.
That doesn’t mean Nebraska will duplicate what Indiana did. Matchups change everything, and the Huskers’ own last two weeks are proof of how unpredictable football can be.
They could have beaten Indiana. They nearly beat Oregon.
The point is not that Nebraska is suddenly guaranteed anything against Ohio State. It’s that the matchup is not the automatic mismatch many assumed it would be.
If Nebraska gets past the bye and handles the three games ahead of Ohio State, the coaches and players will have a clearer picture of what kind of team they are. For now, though, the lesson from Bloomington is simple: the Buckeyes are beatable, and Nebraska has every reason to believe it can compete with them.
Around the Big Ten, the weekend brought its own surprises. UCLA is the only undefeated team left in the conference at 6-0 after holding off Wisconsin 17-7 at the Rose Bowl.
Washington ended a three-game losing streak with a 38-26 win at Purdue, and Elijah Brown made his first start count by going 21-of-27 for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Washington is 4-3 and 1-3, and it gets a bye before facing Nebraska.
Rutgers also made noise, rallying past Maryland 37-30 on the road after trailing by 10 at halftime. Receiver KJ Duff stood out again with nine catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Nebraska’s schedule also includes Illinois, which was off this week, and Oregon, which is next for the Illini.
Michigan State had one that got away in a 24-21 loss to Northwestern. The Wildcats blocked a 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and then nailed the winning 34-yarder with two seconds left, leaving former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald with a rough result in his first season in East Lansing.
Maryland’s slide deepened in that loss to Rutgers. The Terps are 2-5 and 0-4, and on Sunday they fired defensive coordinator Ted Monachino. They have now given up at least 35 points in five straight losses.
Minnesota and Iowa are headed for a rivalry matchup next Saturday after both had byes, and Penn State’s struggles continued in a 21-18 loss to Michigan. Freshman Tommy Carr stepped in at halftime for Bryce Underwood and helped lift the Wolverines, who are now 4-2 and 1-2. Penn State has dropped four straight and sits at 3-4, 0-4.
Ohio State, now 6-1 and 4-0, is idle before heading to USC on Halloween. Nebraska’s turn with the Buckeyes is still weeks away, but after what happened Saturday in Indiana, the game looks different than it did before.
In Other News...
Oregon Suddenly Faces A Big Evan Stewart Question
Evan Stewarts status has become another uneasy subplot for Oregon, which is already managing his return from injury after he missed the recent game. The wide receiver was booked into Springfield Municipal Jail on a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants and released about an hour later, turning what should have been a football-focused week into a fresh off-field concern for the Ducks.
Springfield Police also moved quickly to shut down the noise around the incident, saying rumors of street racing involving Oregon players were unfounded and that Stewarts arrest was not tied to a separate police pursuit. For a team counting on Stewart as part of its offensive mix after his recovery, the bigger question now is less about what happened in Springfield and more about how Oregon handles the situation from here. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Exposed A Nebraska Problem That May Get Worse
Oregons defense left Nebraska searching for answers after holding the Huskers to 242 yards on 67 snaps, a performance that exposed how much work still remains for an offense trying to find any rhythm. Anthony Colandrea finished 18 of 33 for 164 yards and a touchdown while adding 38 rushing yards and a score on the ground, but the passing game rarely found easy openings and the run game never really got going.
The bigger concern is how many different parts of the offense looked stuck at once. Nebraskas primary backs managed just 58 yards on 18 carries, injuries took a toll on both the offensive line and the backfield, and wide receivers had trouble separating against Oregons coverage. The line gave up only one sack but allowed five pressures and was flagged four times, leaving a problem that could get a lot harder to solve if the protection and health issues linger. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Left Wondering After Two Late Replay Moments Swung Everything
Nebraska spent the final minutes of its loss to Oregon wrestling with two replay moments that ended up defining the finish. The Cornhuskers had a touchdown catch by Kwazi Gilmer upheld after review, with officials saying there was not enough clear evidence to overturn the call, and the Ducks kept hanging around until they finally grabbed their first lead with 28 seconds left.
Isaiah Mozee then became part of the late-game frustration when a potential Nebraska fumble was not reviewed, leaving the Huskers in possession and the sequence unresolved in real time. For Oregon, it was another close escape in a game decided by a handful of snaps and a couple of calls that Nebraska will be replaying for a long time. [Read more 🡒]