When you watch the Hoosiers, they look like a championship team. Their body language exudes confidence, fueled by their accomplishments. In the Hoosiers\u2019 56-22 CFP semifinal win over Oregon, they looked faster, stronger, more intense.<\/p>\n
Indiana was helped by Oregon\u2019s early turnovers but the Hoosiers\u2019 lines looked dominant. Indiana\u2019s defense took apart Oregon, sacking Dante Moore three times and putting relentless pressure on him. It was almost unfair how the normally potent Ducks offense could do so little against the Hoosiers.<\/p>\n
Once, that sounded like Ohio State, which might be trying to figure out Indiana this offseason, too.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s face it: Until Cignetti arrived at Indiana, he largely was unknown. He was a career assistant coach until landing head-coaching jobs at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2011-16), Elon (2017-18) and James Madison (2019-23).<\/p>\n
He had two outstanding seasons as a head coach at James Madison, going 19-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. There was little indication he would jump into the Big Ten and turn into Knute Rockne.<\/p>\n
What in the name of Bobby Knight is going on?<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next for Huskers?<\/p>\n
If there were a sure-fire formula for Indiana\u2019s level of success, everyone would try it. How to start for the Huskers? Recruiting, transfer-portal prosperity and luck, and the most important factors, both lines and the uncertain quarterback position.<\/p>\n
Nebraska allowed 33 sacks this season and with Dylan Raiola at quarterback for eight-plus games, his lack of mobility was glaring. Sacks are drive-killers.<\/p>\n
Indiana\u2019s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza was sacked 21 times this season but generally, it was a case of him trying to extend plays, not sitting in the pocket holding the ball too long, which was a valid criticism of Raiola.<\/p>\n
Nebraska must improve against the rush \u2014 emphasize \u201cmust\u201d. The Huskers allowed an average of 175.4 yards per game on the ground, 98th in the nation. What in the name of Tom Osborne was going on?<\/p>\n
Teams gashed the Huskers on the ground and while Nebraska\u2019s pass defense finished third in the nation at 154.1 yards per game, the run defense at times was brutal.<\/p>\n
Another Nebraska problem, and a major one at that: Its red-zone defense ranked next to last in the nation. Opponents has 38 red-zone trips and scored on 37 of them. Incredible, if not impossible. The breakdown: 24 opponent rushing touchdowns, six passing touchdowns and seven field goals.<\/p>\n
Look at 2025. Nebraska\u2019s portal players made important contributions but they weren\u2019t season-changing. The Huskers needed players who could influence a game\u2019s outcome, or grab a game by the throat and win it.<\/p>\n
![\"Nebraska](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/01k91ad4qwcj89qmmfsb.jpg\" "\\"Nebraska")
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Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef drops back to pass against USC. Could Lateef be the answer at QB for the Huskers? | Kenny Larabee, KLIN<\/p>\n
Quarterback is an area of great uncertainty for Nebraska. Is TJ Lateef the answer?<\/a> Someone from the transfer portal?<\/p>\n Look at Indiana. When the Hoosiers brought in Mendoza, who knew he would win the Heisman? He came from the University of California, where he had two nice seasons but gave no indication he would turn into the sport\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n Mendoza stepped in and the Hoosiers followed, knowing what they had in their new quarterback and what it could mean.<\/p>\n Big Ten bullies and where Huskers fit in<\/p>\n The last two national champions are from the Big Ten \u2014 Michigan, Ohio State. Indiana is warming up in the bullpen, a win over Miami away from the title.\u00a0<\/p>\n Skip past Indiana for a second and you have Ohio State \u2014 the biggest of the Big Ten bullies. Yet, the Buckeyes haven\u2019t won the Big Ten championship since 2020. Ohio State hasn\u2019t had a losing season since 2011. The Buckeyes\u2019 record since 2011: 165-21 with national titles in 2014 and 2024.<\/p>\n Eight Big Ten teams won at least nine games in 2025. A ninth team, Minnesota, won eight games. Minnesota, which beat up Nebraska in Minneapolis and dropped the Huskers to 5-2, maybe changed the trajectory of Nebraska’s season.<\/p>\n Nebraska coach Matt Rhule looks skyward in second half of Las Vegas Bowl loss to Utah. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Nebraska (7-6 for the second consecutive season) is one of three B1G teams that won seven games. That\u2019s 11 other Big Ten teams on the same level or having better a better record than the Huskers. And that doesn\u2019t include two four-win teams \u2014 Wisconsin and Michigan State \u2014 with a history of success. The Badgers and Spartans won\u2019t be dormant for long.<\/p>\n Ohio State and Indiana are the monsters of the midway. Big Ten teams have to deal with these two teams, and Oregon, if they ever hope to rise to the top of the conference. Michigan, Penn State and USC probably will be better next season \u2014 they aren\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n That leaves Nebraska slugging it out with Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Washington for a place at the Big Ten big-boy table. And there\u2019s an enormous step up to the elite teams.<\/p>\n Yep, the Big Ten has changed, as has college football itself.<\/p>\n Rhule\u2019s changes<\/p>\n Nebraska coach Matt Rhule did what coaches of underachieving teams normally do \u2014 he made significant changes to his coaching staff. He fired offensive line coach Donovan Raiola and replaced him with Geep Wade from Georgia Tech.<\/p>\n He hired a new defensive coordinator. San Diego State\u2019s Rob Aurich replaced John Butler, who was fired. Butler arrived in Lincoln with a ton of NFL experience. Either Butler\u2019s message didn\u2019t get through, or he didn\u2019t have the talent to play his system at this level.<\/p>\n Nebraska’s new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich came to the Huskers from San Diego State. | San Diego State Athletics<\/p>\n Nebraska also hired Roy Manning to work with the edge rushers. Got to go get the other guys\u2019 quarterbacks.<\/p>\n The lines, more than anything else, are the quickest road to success \u2014some think the only road to success \u2014 whether it\u2019s the Big Ten or high school ball. When teams lose the line battles, they usually can kiss the game goodbye. Having a quality quarterback is a given for success but without a strong offensive line, a quarterback is limited.<\/p>\n Savvy football people and fans know this. Glamour positions and skill-position players get the attention. Think about this a second: Nebraska had one of the best running backs in the nation in Emmett Johnson, who gained 1,451 yards on the ground. That total was fourth in the nation and Johnson didn\u2019t play in the bowl game.<\/p>\n And still, the Huskers didn\u2019t dominate many Big Ten defenses. Nebraska was 4-5 in the conference and didn\u2019t beat a Big Ten team with a regular-season winning record \u2014 Michigan State (4-8), Maryland (4-8), Northwestern (6-6) and UCLA (3-9).<\/p>\n Nebraska\u2019s final three games looked like a program either in decline, or simply outmanned on the field and on the sideline. Penn State scored 37 points, Iowa scored 40 points, and Utah scored 44 points. In those three games, Nebraska was outscored, 121-48.<\/p>\n These were hugely important games for Nebraska. Going against reeling Penn State looked like an opportunity. Nebraska was long overdue for some payback against rival Iowa. You always want to win a bowl game, and the Las Vegas Bowl offered Nebraska a chance for an improved record over 2024, and the opportunity for a less stressful offseason and a jump start for 2026.<\/p>\n In his postgame news conference after losing to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl, Rhule looked ahead, as he should. He talked about the coaching changes. He sounded upbeat about the portal. He talked about all of the young guys who played against Utah. To his credit, he didn\u2019t make excuses.<\/p>\n All in all, Rhule talked with some level of optimism about 2026. Did he have any other choice?<\/p>\n More From Nebraska On SI<\/p>\n Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI<\/a>, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube<\/a>, and visiting HuskerMax.com<\/a> daily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As we watch Indiana football destroy whatever is in its path, several Nebraska-related questions. * Are there lessons…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-404301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Nebraska](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/01keqzxag98r31h2tda2.jpg\" "\\"Nebraska")
<\/p>\n![\"Nebraska's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/01kbxmfr09p62c2bhav3.jpg\" "\\"Nebraska's")
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