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The Nebraska Cornhuskers have had a week off and are no doubt ready to get back on the field. The Cornhuskers and the Indiana Hoosiers will face off in a Big Ten battle at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Tom Osborne Field at Memorial Stadium. Neither team wants a repeat from their last game since each was dealt a considerable loss.
Nebraska suffered a bitter defeat two weeks ago, failing to capitalize on an early lead against the Oklahoma Sooners. Nebraska took a serious blow against Oklahoma, falling 49-14. Nebraska was in a tough position by the half, with the score already sitting at 35-7. No one had a standout game offensively for Nebraska, but they got scores from WR Trey Palmer and QB Chubba Purdy.
Meanwhile, IU was expected to have a tough go of it last week, and, well, they did. Things couldn't have gone much worse for them as they lost 45-24 to the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Hoosiers were down 38-17 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from. Indiana's loss came about despite a quality game from RB Shaun Shivers, who punched in one rushing touchdown in addition to snatching one receiving TD. Shivers hadn't helped his team much against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers two weeks ago, so this was a nice turnaround for him.
The Cornhuskers are the favorite in this one, with an expected 5.5-point margin of victory. Neither team has fared well against the spread -- they are 0-2, while IU are 0-3.
The losses put Nebraska at 1-3 and the Hoosiers at a reciprocal 3-1. Two stats to keep in the back of your head while watching: Nebraska ranks 12th in the nation when it comes to rushing touchdowns, with 12 on the season. But IU enters the matchup with only two rushing touchdowns allowed, good for 13th best in the nation. We'll see if their defense can keep the Cornhuskers' running backs out of the end zone.
