Indiana football travels to Nebraska this weekend. Can they live up to the expectations and get their sixth win of the year?
The Indiana Hoosiers are coming off a solid win on the road against a talented Maryland team which improved their record to 5-2. It was a critical game in the season for the Indiana football program as they should be a virtual lock to secure at least six wins on the season and become bowl eligible for the first time since the 2016 season. This team does not seem content, however.
The Hoosiers’ next task is going on the road once again; this time they travel to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska came into the season with a lot of hype surrounding the program which is under the direction of Scott Frost for the second year. They finished last season 4-8 but improved significantly down the stretch and were actually ranked to start this season.
Currently, they are 4-3 on the season–losing to Colorado and getting smoked by both Ohio State and most recently, Minnesota by a score of 34-7. For a team with hopes of competing for a Big Ten title entering the season, it has been a bit of a disappointing year thus far for the Cornhuskers.
Indiana and Nebraska have squared off twenty times prior to this matchup. The Hoosiers hold the all-time series lead between the two schools, going 9-8-3. However, Nebraska has dominated of late as Indiana has not beaten Nebraska since 1959, going 0-5 during that time.
For Indiana, they may be entering this game without their rising star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. as there has been little information released about the injury he suffered in last week’s win against Maryland.
Key Storylines
Indiana: Can the Hoosiers pull off back to back Big Ten wins on the road and secure bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016? To do so they are going to have to rely heavily on Stevie Scott III and the run game, given the apparent uncertainty regarding Michael Penix Jr.’s availability for the game.
Peyton Ramsey has been solid on the season, completing over 70 percent of his passes for 650 yards in various relief efforts, but he does not bring the same explosive potential to the game that Penix does.
Can Whop Philyor continue his breakout season? The junior receiver has 43 catches on the season for 559 yards and three touchdowns. Regardless of who is in at quarterback, the Hoosiers will need Philyor to continue his impressive play.
Nebraska: Will Adrian Martinez be healthy enough to play? Though the sophomore quarterback has not been as impressive as he was a year ago, the Cornhuskers do not have the same firepower offensively with Noah Vedral behind center. If they want to avoid bringing their season record to .500 Nebraska needs its quarterback back.
Can the defense step up? Nebraska is giving up over 27 points per game this season which ranks 71st out of 130 FBS teams. They are going to need a big game on that side of the ball especially if Penix is healthy.
How To Watch: Game Time, T.V., Radio, More
Kickoff Time: 3:30 PM EST
Where: Lincoln, NE
TV: BTN
Radio: HoosiersTV, TuneIn
Online Stream: Fox Sports App
Betting Odds: Spread, O/U
Opening Line: Indiana -1.5
Current Line: Nebraska -2
Opening Over/Under: 53
Current Over/Under: 53.5
Courtesy of the Action Network