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Indiana's trip to Nebraska didn't go as planned on Saturday, falling in defeat 35-21.
Actually, saying IU's trip didn't go to planned is a bit of an understatement. This was about as disappointing of a performance we've seen from IU this season, and excluding the final two offensive drives of the first half, it felt as if Indiana was seemingly never really in this game. It may be one of the more infuriating losses the Hoosiers have endured over the past year or so, and that includes all 10 of last year's.
Nebraska tried to give Indiana this football game. On multiple occasions, Nebraska stood with a win in hand and all they had to do was put their foot on the gas. It wasn't until the Huskers had no other choice but to put the game away that it finally occurred.
How does this happen? A football program that just two years ago was on top of the world, framed as America's darling that looked set to challenge the powers that be in the Big Ten and shake up the foreseeable future. Even though things ended on a bit of a sour note that season, IU spent the whole season under the bright lights of the college football landscape and continually outshined themselves.
A year later, Indiana had a complete dud. Winning two games immediately after only losing two the season before is one of the more staggering 180-degree turnarounds that only comes to programs that is on track to become the first FBS school ever to hit 700 losses.
Still, we had seen enough from the 2022 Indiana team to come into tonight seeing a reasonable cause for victory. A win in Lincoln would've brought Indiana to 4-1, needing just two wins from their final seven matchups in order to play postseason football. For much of the night though, Indiana never seemed like they weren't going to win the football game.
They didn't. In all reality, Indiana lost to a bad Nebraska team Saturday night. Here's some of my final thoughts as to why it happened and where Indiana goes from here.