This acoustic track by The Samples would definitely be on my Mount Rushmore of best long highway/interstate drive songs and I’ll definitely be singing it as I make my through the mountains heading to Eugene next week. It’s got solid sound for YouTube and is on Spotify as well and I offer it in the spirit of safe and happy travels to any Hoosiers making their way to Lincoln today.
That being said, let’s get to today’s notes and nuggets.
There’s much going through my twisted head with this game coming
up, and rather than pay a psychologist, I’d rather just share a little with you, my faithful readers, as Stephen King likes to call them – and, yes, he has a couple more. And following that, perhaps a couple of shot-sized sips of Sailor before an early evening and an early Saturday morning drive to Lincoln for (shakes head) “Big Noon”.
Let’s get to it.
“I think they’re the most efficient offense in the country right now. You know, (Charlie) Becker and (Nick) Marsh continue to make plays at an unbelievably high level. The run game is excellent, and (Josh) Hoover is an excellent quarterback. You know, Dana (Holgorsen) was at TCU before he got here, helping out. So, he obviously knows their quarterback well.” – Matt Rhule on Indiana
- As everyone knows, Husker fans are the finest and friendliest in the nation and the good-natured ribbing on Twitter/X is an example that-
- OK, a little online searching reveals some pretty good and pretty bad trash talk on both sides. For example, Nebraska fans do not, in fact, “eat corn with their ass” as suggested by one Hoosier poster.
- But I think we CAN safely say that Indiana fans eat corn the long way.
- 😁
- Just kidding, of course. Hoosier fans, introduce yourself to some strangers as you make your way through the tailgating and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll leave having made some new friends and perhaps with a cold drink as well.
“These guys, they’ve had (only) three teams in the last year and a half rush for 100 yards on them. They’re sound on the back end. They’ve got a great system. They got great continuity. You know those coaches have been together for a long time. So my perspective, and I would say it’s pretty much a national perspective, is their defense has as much respect as their offense does. You don’t win 21 straight games in a row if you don’t. – Dana Holgorsen on the Indiana defense
- Here are Indiana’s team stats below if you need an idea of their line play. They only give up 64.4 yards pg on the ground and as Dana stated above check how often they’ve given up over 100 in a game recently.
- Offensively, I’ve seen where some have criticized Hoosiers QB Josh Hoover. The former TCU signal-caller is Curt Cignetti’s 3rd consecutive transfer QB starter after Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza and 49ers’ backup QB Kurtis Rourke. Hoover is currently 76-107 for 1101 yards, a 71% clip, and has thrown 15 TD passes with no interceptions, after coming to Bloomington with a reputation for being turnover prone.
- Curt Cignetti greatly improved Mendoza and Rourke and appears to be working his magic again. Anyone want to bet against him? Throw in the aforementioned Becker and Marsh and the Huskers secondary, stout thus far, will be facing their biggest challenge. Andrew Marshall is proven, but could Victor Evans be targeted?
“They they do what they do as a program. They have an excellent identity in the run game. It’s amazing how similar they are at times in the way they read and respond to blocks. You can tell they’re well coached. I think they have a lot of commitment to the style that they run the ball. What impresses me about the most is they don’t run out of bound…So you’ve got to be ready to tackle go to work.” – Rob Aurich on the Indiana run game.
- Last year’s Nebraska Cornhuskers were an imperfect team, but their weakest link was the run defense giving up 175.4 ypg rushing, good for 100th in the country among FCS/D1 teams. Granted, it’s against the weakest part of their schedule, but currently they are 30th, giving up only 100.6 ypg.
- Indiana, per above, is 9th nationally in rushing offense at 252.6 ypg. They are led by Turbo Richard (9.3 ypc) and Lee Beebe Jr. (5.8 ypc).
- This is where Nebraska’s chances to pull an upset lie. Yes, a big play a la the Johnny Rodgers “Man, woman and child” punt return or Black Flash 41 Reverse could truly turn the tables, But it will have to begin with the Huskers cracking that 100 yard battle on the ground, while asking the D-line for their biggest efforts since 2024 and not letting the Hoosiers run wild on them.
- They don’t have to win these match-ups decisively, but they’ve got to make headway against those Indiana averages to have a chance. And this has been Indiana’s game for over two years, while Nebraska is working its way back. A tight game, and of course an upset, would mark the biggest progress in years.
- Hey, speaking of former Indiana players – okay, fine, I just brought it up, how about an Antwaan Randle El reel?
- And here’s some highlights from previous games – yes, the Trey Palmer bomb is included.
- One final word about the Matt Rhule cameo in Lanterns. (No, I’m not retelling the whole thing, wouldn’t do THAT to you. CLICK HERE to see Monday’s piece if you like.) I just wanted to say the best thing about it to me was recruits texting him afterward to say that saw it, that was cool, etc.
- Folks, we’re in Nebraska – I’m all for getting the brand out there whenever possible.
Win, lose, draw (hey, there’s soccer and like Crash Davis said, sometimes it rains…or lightnings. Dammit, Akron.), it’s GO BIG RED every day.
