Final take: Huskers win ugly, still fighting for respect

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It's almost as if the national narrative going into Saturday's Nebraska game at Indiana was the Huskers were an uninvited guest in the top 10 party.

All week this team has been discredited and questioned by national experts because of their No. 9 and 10 national rankings, but the only thing they can do to control that narrative is win games.

Nebraska's (6-0, 3-0) 27-22 win over Indiana (3-3, 1-2) by no means did anything to silence those national critics, but it once again shows this team is different than they were a year ago. Even at their worst all season on offense, the Huskers found a way to get a play when it mattered. They found a way to chew up 7:41 on a 15 play 60-yard drive in the fourth quarter. They got a pick 6 from Chris Jones and another clutch interception from Aaron Williams to seal the victory.

It was another Big Ten win for Nebraska, matching their total from a year ago and producing the program's first 6-0 start since 2001.

“I honestly could care less what people say,” senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong said. “We are 6-0. Tell me any other teams that are 6-0.

"I don’t care what people say and I don’t care that other people may laugh at us talking about if we are 'real' or really a 'great team.' Great teams win games. That’s all I’ve got to say about it. You can say what you want to say about my team, but at the end of the day each week we come out and we win."

Senior linebacker Josh Banderas said the team even noticed on ESPN this morning the questioning of their ranking and even Kirk Herbstreit's back-handed compliment where he sarcastically praised the Huskers. Herbstreit has been criticized by Husker fans on social media the last few weeks and even vented at them on Twitter following being called out after NU's win at Northwestern.

“I know a lot of the guys watched College Gameday this morning, and there was a lot of laughing and sarcasm and throwing us around," Banderas said. "You take that for what it is, they pick every week and who really cares. But we want to be taken seriously. We’ve put in the work and we’re 6-0. How many teams in the country are 6-0?

"No matter who you’ve played, you’ve got to come out and play the game. We’ve done the work that we’ve needed to do, and it would be nice to be recognized for it, but if people like that don’t, then whatever.”

And let's not kid ourselves, there still is plenty of work that needs to get done. You hope the offense can get back on track at home against Purdue, but the main issue continues to be the health of the offensive line.

It's pretty hard for offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf to build a game plan if the execution isn't there up front.

Armstrong gets a lot of criticism from Husker fans, but his mobility to avoid sacks and keep plays alive saved Nebraska on Saturday. He bailed out an injured offensive line and did what was needed to win.

“We had a hard time with a lot of stuff, but the fact that they kept fighting is a credit to our team,” Langsdorf said. “They don’t quit. It was tough sledding for a long time in that game – the middle two quarters especially. We kept fighting and found a way to win in the end.”

Now on to the grade out...

***Junior right tackle David Knevel was injured on the first play of the game and was replaced immediately by sophomore Cole Conrad. There was also a short time where senior center Dylan Utter left the game with a wrist injury forcing senior Corey Whitaker to step in for him. Then after the game we learned sophomore Nick Gates was playing on a sprained ankle Saturday.

All and all it was that kind of day for the offensive as Nebraska could not establish the line of scrimmage the entire game.

***Freshman punter Caleb Lightbourn said on the blocked punt there was a miscommunication up front with the blocking shield. Luckily that only resulted in a safety and not a touchdown.

***There were easily 10,000 to 15,000 Husker fans that made up the 48,254 fans in Bloomington. In fact on my walk to the stadium I almost saw more Nebraska fans in the parking lot than Indiana fans.

***Defensive coordinator Mark Banker said they changed up their play calling on Saturday by using cards with pictures/symbols on them. Banker joked everything from well known media members to Ken Bone were featured on Saturday's play cards.

***Speaking of Banker, his guys came to play on Saturday. I thought it was collectively the Huskers best defensive performance of the season.

***My defensive game balls go to cornerback Chris Jones and safety Nate Gerry. Jones was big time with his pick 6 and two pass break-ups, while Gerry flew around the field with 8 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. I also loved the new pressure packages Banker mixed in on Saturday.

***Was anyone else surprised to see Indiana playing with a 6 and 7 man box to stop Nebraska's running game in the fourth quarter at times. The Huskers had easy advantages there and it played a big part in making that 15 play 60 yard drive work. The Huskers had runs of 3, 12, 5, 5, 5, 4, 13 and 14 yards to eat up 7:41 of clock.

***I was standing at field level during Terrell Newby's fourth quarter reviewed fumble. At first glance I thought it was out. I also was confused that one official appeared to rule it a fumble but the run was actually called down. Then the referee trying to explain the call even confused me more.

Rushing offense: C-

Nebraska had just 85 yards rushing through the first three quarters, but they managed to ice the game with 67 rushing yards on 18 carries in the fourth quarter, possessing the football for over 11 minutes. The final total was 152 yards rushing on 45 carries. The big disappointment was after the 102 yards NU got from Terrell Newby, running backs Trey Bryant and Devine Ozigbo combined for just 3 yards on 6 carries.

Passing offense: D+

The lack of protection up front on Saturday was scary at times, which plays a large part in my final grade. Armstrong finished just 10-of-26 for 208 yards, but his 72 yard TD pass to Stanley Morgan Jr. changed the game. It too was a breakdown in protection, but Armstrong just made a play. He also threw two interceptions, but luckily the defense was able to bail him forcing a field goal and a three-and-out after the two picks.

Rushing defense: A

The boys up front came to play on Saturday. Indiana had just 88 rushing yards and could not run the ball when they needed to. The Huskers controlled the line of scrimmage up front and more often than not the Hoosiers were stuffed for 1 and 2 yard gains.

Passing defense: A

The Huskers forced two interceptions, 7 points, three pass break-ups and three quarterback sacks with their pass defense on Saturday. The Lockdown U crew held the Big Ten's best passing offense to just 245 yards through the air. The Hoosiers had just two pass plays longer than 20 yards.

Special teams: D

Nebraska was able survive a blocked punt and a big punt return allowed from Mitchell Paige. The positives were two big field goals from Drew Brown and great tackling on kickoff coverage.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesday's at 7 pm.