By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director
There are many firsts that Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti has accomplished since he arrived in Bloomington but there is a another first, he will personally achieve this weekend. Cignetti will visit the State of Nebraska for the first time in his 65 years on earth as lead the #7 Indiana Hoosiers into Lincoln inside Memorial Stadium to take on the unbeaten Nebraska Cornhuskers at Noon on FOX. Cignetti told the Media during his weekly Monday Press Conference “I’ve never been to Nebraska. I have never been to the State of Nebraska; I am looking forward to it.”
The Hoosiers are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten and are coming off a 47-15 win at Rutgers Saturday Night. The Hoosiers have won 21 Straight which is the longest current winning streak since Georgia won 29 in a row from 2021-23 and it’s the longest in the Big Ten since Ohio State won 23 in a row from 2013-14. Indiana leads the all-time series between the two programs, 11-9-3. Indiana won the last meeting, 56-7, in 2024 when the teams met on FOX in Bloomington. The last game played in Lincoln was a 35-21 win for Nebraska in 2022.
Cignetti is 32-2 as the head coach of the Hoosiers and 152-37 overall in his coaching career. Indiana is 19-1 in the Big Ten. If Cignetti wins on Saturday he will be tied with James Horne and Tom Allen who both won 33 games at Indiana. Horne went 33-21-5 from 1898-1904 and Allen went 33-49 from 2016-23.
Nebraska is 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big Ten and this matchup is between two of the last 15 Unbeatens in the FBS along with Miami (Florida), Pittsburgh, Duke, Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, UCLA, Notre Dame, North Dakota State, Alabama, Georgia, Texas and James Madison. The Cornhuskers won at Michigan State 31-13 and Maryland at Home 48-23 along with their three non-conference home wins over Ohio 49-21 Bowling Green 56-7 and North Dakota 34-7. Nebraska has lost 30 straight against Top 25 opponents.
It will be a sea of red no matter which team you root for it will be sold out with 85,458 fans and Indiana Offensive Lineman Joe Brunner told the Media Tuesday Evening when asked about facing the opposing Teams 12th Man “It’s Exciting I’ve been lucky enough to go there and play twice, and it’s an awesome atmosphere. There is nothing like going out there with your 70 guys as a family with your backs against the wall, to play a Big Ten Football Game. It will be fun, and it will really challenge us to see where we are as a team right now.”
Indiana played its First road game of the season last week at Rutgers and Linebacker Rolijah Hardy told the Media Tuesday Evening “I think we managed the last game really well. We always talk about preparation, going into other environments and being able to play keep that hot standard.” When the Hoosiers practiced this week especially getting ready for an important road game like Nebraska pumping in crowd noise is always important and helpful which Rolijah Hardy agrees with. “Yeah, It’s definitely helpful. We find those things where you’ve got to be able to signal and be able to communicate very efficiently within the team.”
The game against Rutgers marked the first time Indiana committed zero penalties and did not commit a turnover in the same game since at least 1972. In that time, IU had five games with zero penalties, most recently against Penn State at FedEx Field in 2010. “That’s a key point. All the way from Coach Cig to the players. We always talk about wanting to be a penalty-free team. You don’t want to beat yourself” Linebacker Rolijah Hardy Said.
Josh Hoover threw for four touchdown passes for the third time this season against Rutgers. He is one four quarterbacks nationally with 10-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions on the season: Maddux Madsen (Boise State), Darian Mensah (Miami (Fla.)) and Austin Simmons (Missouri). Hoover has completed 76 of his 107 passes 1,101 yards with 15 touchdowns and no interception as the Hoosiers Offensive Line has done a great job of protecting their quarterback. “Our number one job is to protect the quarterback. Josh is a phenomenal player, and any one of the five of us would lay our life on the line for that guy. Your number one job is to keep him healthy, and we’ll continue to do that for the rest of the season” Offensive Lineman Joe Brunner Said.
Curt Cingetti will face a dual threat quarterback that he has seen before in Anthony Colandrea who started his career at James Madison then transferred to UNLV and now comes to Lincoln and the Big Ten to Play for the Cornhuskers. Colandrea was the Mountain West offensive player of the year, and the Nebraska defense has a conference-leading 16 sacks, one more than the Hoosiers. Cignetti and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines have schemed against Colandrea. Cignetti was coach at James Madison in 2023 when the Dukes played at Virginia, the first of Colandrea’s three schools. Colandrea was making his first career start that day and threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns. James Madison won 36-35, scoring the winning touchdown in the final minute.
Colandrea has completed 94 of 143 passes for 1,142 yards with 13 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions. “We’ve played guys that are mobile and can throw it,” Cignetti said. “A guy that can spin it pretty good and process and get it where it’s got to be accurately as quickly as possible, on time, on rhythm, that can also extend plays and make his with his legs, that’s a real weapon for the offense. So, we’ll have to do a great job of caging this guy and putting pressure on him.”
Indiana running backs Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr. each are averaging better than 100 yards per game. Richard showed no lingering effects of the ankle sprain he sustained against Northwestern two weeks ago as he piled up a career-high 204 yards on 13 carries at Rutgers and Beebe ran 18 times for 122 yards and a TD. Richard leads the Big Ten with 117.4 yards per game and Beebe is third with 104. Beebe Jr and Richard produced the first back-to-back 200-yard rushing effort at Indiana since 2014 when Tevin Coleman accomplished the feat at Rutgers (310) and at Ohio State (230) in consecutive weeks. Indiana’s two rushing scores at Rutgers marks 28 multi-rushing touchdown games since the start of 2024 (34 games). Indiana rushed for 329 yards against Rutgers for its eighth 300-yard rushing game over the last three seasons and first in 2026.
Offensive Lineman Joe Brunner is pleased and feels rewarded that the Hoosiers have put up close to 600 yards rushing in their first two Big Ten Games. “That’s the goal, that’s the standard here. You want to be able to run the ball. We have incredible running backs who run their tails off every week and credit them for doing a spectacular job. For us, it’s about putting our heads down and working. There are still things we can improve, but it’s exciting, and we know what we’re capable of.”
IU became the first Big Ten team since at least 1995 with two 100-yard rushers and two 100-yard receivers in a conference game: Turbo Richard (204 yards rushing) & Lee Beebe Jr. (122) and Charlie Becker (107 yards receiving) & Nick Marsh (120). Becker (107) and Marsh (120) both reached the 100-yard receiving mark which made them the first IU wide receiver duo since Omar Cooper Jr. (131) and Elijah Sarratt (137) versus Western Illinois in 2024 to accomplish the feat. Becker and Marsh are the first pass catching duo to both reach 100 yards receiving in a Big Ten game since Cam Camper (156) and D.J. Matthews Jr. (109) against Illinois in 2022.
The 593 yards of total offense marks the 14th game over 500 yards under Cignetti and the most in a Big Ten game during his tenure. It is the most yards of total offense in a Big Ten game since 2016 when it totaled 650 yards against Maryland. It is the most in a road Big Ten game since 2015 at Purdue (659 yards). With just 59 yards rushing allowed, Indiana moved its nation’s best total to 25 games with under 100 yards rushing allowed since the start of 2024. Only three FBS programs have 20-plus such games in that span: Indiana, Ohio State (22) and Miami (Fla.) (21).
Indiana and Nebraska have combined for just three turnovers. The Hoosiers are tied for the national lead with one turnover, and the Huskers are tied for fourth with two. The Hoosiers have committed a total of 18 turnovers since Cignetti took over in 2024, fewest among teams that have been in the Bowl Subdivision the entire time.
The backdrop is similar to two years ago in Bloomington, Indiana. It was the Hoosiers’ seventh game under Cignetti and, after winning their first six by a total of 196 points, Nebraska was billed as their toughest opponent to date. The Huskers turned over the ball five times in Indiana’s 56-7 win. “I went back and watched it this week,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said. “I like to feel the pain myself and relive the pain.” Rhule is hoping that he does not have to relive that pain once again and Nebraska who has an historic tradition and snap the Hoosiers 21 game winning streak and beat a top 25 opponent for the first time 31 games regardless of this outcome one team will remain unbeaten and if its Indiana, they have another big one Next Saturday against Ohio State at home and that is the goal for Curt Cingetti and the Hoosiers to come home unbeaten and face the Buckeyes in front of a packed house but first they got to get through Nebraska.