At one point, Nebraska looked like the obvious better team on the field against the defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday. In fact, it looked like all they had to do just not let the Hoosiers make a big play and they had their first win over a Top 25 team in 31 games.
And then, they let the Hoosiers make not one, but two massive plays. The first was a 75-yard pass to Nick Marsh down the middle, giving the Hoosiers a 17-6 lead and making it 17-13. From that moment on, the Cornhuskers went back to the upstart trying to tug on Superman's cape. To their credit, they continued fighting to the very end, including a drive from the shadow of their goal line all the way to midfield.
Moral victoies need to be replaced by real ones at some point
For three quarters, Nebraska was sending a message to the rest of the Big Ten: "We're back." In the fourth quarter, the way in which it lost, and the way it performed when someone needed to step up and carry the team was just too familar.
When the Huskers are really ready to turn the corner and start winning these games, they won't allow a 75-yard touchdown pass just after taking an 11 point lead. However, they also won't let that long pass turn the momentum the way they did on Saturday afternoon.
Even good teams will get upended by Indiana. Great teams shrug off that mistake and take control of the game back.
In a lot of ways, Hoosiers' head coach Curt Cignetti showed Nebraska exactly what it needs to become. There Huskers were rolling and riding high after the long Anthony Colandrea touchdown run that gave his team a two-score lead.
Indiana didn't panic. They didn't get jittery. Instead, they caught the Huskers trying to do too much while picking on a safety position that's been a weak spot for the defense all season long.
The bright spot on Saturday is that this game was not in any way, shape or form, a repeat of the 56-7 drubbing Nebraska got the last time it faced Indiana. Now the Huskers need to show this game was actual progress and turn one of these hard fought losses into a signature win.
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