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Nebraska’s last-minute, 17-14 loss at Oregon was difficult to take for Huskers fans, especially with the Dylan Raiola gut punch at the end. One brutal loss is rough enough, but two in two weeks? Grim.
But the Big Ten schedule marches on. With the Huskers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) on their bye week, they have time to dwell, then assess where the season stands and where it might be going.
Maybe the Huskers’ immediate future isn’t as bleak as some fans might think. Battling Oregon (4-2, 2-1) to the very end should tell Nebraska something. Even without starting quarterback Dante Moore, Oregon is talented with a winning history.
But we're not here to sugarcoat Nebraska’s loss. Oregon scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, one week after Indiana scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Successful football teams must finish games. Nebraska hasn’t done that the past two weeks.
One other Big Ten result Saturday could directly affect the Huskers’ fortunes — and that assessment isn’t a reach.
Ohio State won at Indiana, 19-15, ending the defending national champions’ 22-game winning streak. It was a terrific game, back and forth, with the Hoosiers rallying late and missing a potential winning touchdown pass by a mere foot.
The outcome told me that Ohio State — which Nebraska welcomes to Lincoln on Nov. 21 — is beatable. The Buckeyes seem to carry around this aura of invincibility, with a roster loaded with four- and five-star athletes, a great quarterback in Julian Sayin and the potential Heisman Trophy winner in receiver Jeremiah Smith.
When the time comes — and the Huskers have three games to play before the Buckeyes come to town — and the Nebraska coaches and players look at the Ohio State-Indiana tape, they are going to realize that the Buckeyes aren’t this mythical, unstoppable team destined for the national title.
For some added intrigue, Sayin is going to miss “multiple weeks” after an injury to his throwing shoulder suffered against Indiana. Teams would prefer to play against a full-strength team, but every team has injuries.
Nebraska could have/should have defeated Indiana a week ago. Matchups dictate results and there’s no guarantee of anything in sports — ask the Huskers the last two weeks. Just because Nebraska played Indiana so tough doesn't mean the Huskers will play Ohio State the same way. Had Ohio State gone into Bloomington and won, 42-14, this story wouldn’t have been written this way, and the preseason assumptions about the Buckeyes' strength would have been confirmed.
But when Nebraska gets back to work and tries to put these last two games in the rearview mirror, the Huskers should know they can be quite competitive against the Buckeyes.
We’re not sure many people believed that when the season started.
Each Monday, we’ll take a look at how the Big Ten teams on Nebraska schedule (and the rest of the conference) fared over the weekend and what that might mean for the Huskers.
One more thing about the Big Ten: Who would have predicted that by mid-October the only undefeated team would be UCLA? The Bruins are 6-0.
The Huskies ended a three-game losing streak by winning at surprising Purdue, 38-26, on Friday night. Elijah Brown, in his first start, completed 21-of-27 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns for the Huskies (4-3, 1-3). Washington, which had lost to Minnesota, USC and Iowa, is on a bye next week before the Nebraska meeting.
Illinois (3-3, 1-2) enjoyed a bye Saturday. Oregon is next on the Illini’s schedule.
The Scarlet Knights (2-4, 1-2) defeated host Maryland, 37-30, rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit. Someone to watch: The Scarlet Knights have an outstanding player in receiver KJ Duff, who had nine catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He will play on Sundays.
The Buckeyes (6-1, 4-0) did what they had to do at Indiana with the 19-15 win. OSU is on a bye week before playing at USC (6-1, 3-1) on Halloween.
Iowa (5-1, 2-1) had a bye week before going to rival Minnesota (4-2, 2-1) next Saturday.
Sparty deserved better than a 24-21 loss to Northwestern (5-1, 2-1). The Wildcats blocked a 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, then kicked the winning 34-yarder with two seconds to play.
A tough loss for former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, now 2-5, 0-4 in his first season with Michigan State.
A spiraling Maryland (2-5, 0-4) lost to Rutgers, 37-30. The Terps fired defensive coordinator Ted Monachino on Sunday. The Terps have given up at least 35 points in their five consecutive losses.
The Hoosiers (6-1, 3-1) couldn’t keep winning forever but they sure tried against Ohio State.
UCLA (6-0, 4-0) fought off Wisconsin, 17-7, at the Rose Bowl. UCLA backup quarterback Ty Dieffenbach completed 22-of-33 passes for 264 yards. Bruins starter Nico Iamaleava suffered a leg injury a week ago at Oregon. The Badgers are 4-2, 1-1.
Another backup quarterback led his team to win. Michigan freshman Tommy Carr, younger brother of Notre Dame starter C.J. Carr, replaced Bryce Underwood at halftime and sparked the Wolverines to a 21-18 win over Penn State. Michigan is 4-2, 1-2. Penn State, which lost its fourth consecutive game, is 3-4, 0-4.
USC, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa had byes.
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