Indiana secured its sixth win the earliest it has since 1993 and earned bowl eligibility for the first time during the Rom Allen Era on Saturday after a __ win at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers fell to 4-4.
Missing players and injuries
Both entered this weekend's game intending to decide Saturday afternoon which quarterback would play. Mike Penix and Adrian Martinez both didn't play, despite warming up before the game. Nebraska dynamic offensive weapon Wan'Dale Robinson played as well, but Indiana right guard Simon Stepaniak did not play. Mackenzie Nworah started at right guard.
Noah Vedral started at quarterback for Nebraska, and by the second quarter, he had rushed for two touchdowns, thrown a 46-yard pass and caught a 22-yard pass. The former UCF quarterback was injured on a carry to the left side, though, when he fumbled a ball at his own 11-yard line. Freshman quarterback Luke McCaffrey, the brother of Carolin aPanthers running back Christian McCaffrey, came in to play.
Peyton Ramsey logged one of his most impressive performances in an Indiana uniform.
Wan'Dale Robinson taking over for Nebraska
Freshman receiver Wan'Dale Robinson was in street clothes earlier this week at Nebraska's practice, and the Cornhuskers weren't sure if he'd play Saturday. But he played and was the most effective offensive weapon Nebraska had.
Robinson had 550 yards from scrimmage heading into the weekend, and he added 154 more in what was one of the best games of his young career.
Indiana's tackling was not up to par by any means in Lincoln, but Robinson made Indiana defenders look silly in open space. He out-touched Nebraska No. 1 running back Dedrick Mills.
Robinson also scored a touchdown late in the game that brought Nebraska within a score
Takeaways and Turnovers
The pivotal play of the first half, in terms of Indiana swinging the momentum, came by way of a takeaway. Takeaways have come fewer and farther between than they did in 2018, but early in the second quarter, safety Jamar Johnson came flying around the edge unblocked, as he and Marcelino Ball did from the husky position often Saturday, to force a fumble that was recovered by senior defensive end Allen Stallings.
While Johnson allowed the only trailing defender to reach Stallings by the eight-yard line, Peyton Ramsey hit Ty Fryfogle for a score on the next play to give Indiana a 16-14 lead and the momentum.
Indiana carried that momentum into its next two defensive drives – forcing two early third-down stops but allowing one drive to continue via a facemask penalty and end in a missed field goal.
When it appeared like Indiana would carry that momentum sparked by the Johnson-Stallings fumble, Ramsey tried to hit Whop Philyor on a two-yard pass, but the ball went off Philyor's hands and was intercepted.
After allowing a quick scoring drive before halftime in East Lansing, Indiana did it again at Nebraska, as the Huskers drove 74 yards in 1:13 to take the lead, 21-16.
Nebraska then fumbled near midfield in the fourth quarter, and the ball was recovered by safety Juwan Burgess, who had a fumble recovery last week at Maryland as well. That turnover set up a touchdown drive that put Indiana up by two scores early in the fourth quarter.
Penalties hurt the Hoosiers
In the first half, Indiana made a third-down stop deep in Nebraska territory, but a facemask penalty negated the stop, and the Cornhuskers drove deep into Hoosier territory and attempted a field goal. It was missed.
But, after committing 11 penalties at Maryland, Indiana continued to draw flags Saturday. The most significant penalty combined two fouls into one, when a late-hit penalty compounded with a roughing the quarterback penalty, resulting in 30 yards gifted to Nebraska. The Huskers scored a touchdown to make a fourth-quarter, two-possession game, a one-score game.
Not a strong rushing day
Nebraska allowed an average of 268 yards on the ground in Big Ten play (four games) before Saturday's game, and with Indiana running back Stevie Scott coming off two consecutive 100-yard games and a good performance agains tMichigan State before those, it seemed like a prime time for the Hoosiers to have another successful rushing day.
That didn't come to fruition in Lincoln. Scott had just 19 yards by halftime, and Indiana had 35 as a team.
When the Hoosiers needed short-yardage touchdowns, running the middle up the middle was hardly an option. Freshman receiver David Ellis scored on a sweep from one yard out, and Ramsey made a pass to Matt Bjorson for a two-yard score.
But in the end, when Indiana got a fourth-down stop to get the ball in its own territory an just a few minutes remaining, Scott carried the Hoosiers in a way that hadn't been seen in similar scenarios from recent IU teams and ran down the clock to finish the game.
Whop Philyor returns
After having just two catches for six yards against Maryland, Whop Philyor made another appearance paralleled with the season he's been filing. He had nine catches for 107 yards in the first half.
Perhaps Philyor's biggest catch of the game was on 4th-and-7, when he inches his way toward a first down to get Indiana to the nine-yard line with a seven-point lead. The next play, a touchdown run by Scott, gave Indiana a two-possession lead early in the fourth quarter.
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.