Indiana wins at Nebraska, becomes bowl eligible before Halloween for first time since 1993

Indiana’s first win at Nebraska since 1959 secured bowl eligibility before Halloween for the first time since 1993, on a day when a lot of “first time since” marks fell in Lincoln.  

Peyton Ramsey shone and the Hoosiers made critical plays when necessary Saturday, walking out of Lincoln with a 38-31 win. Here are three reasons why:

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Ramsey steps up again

Indiana wouldn’t have won at Maryland last weekend without Ramsey’s superlative performance from the bench in College Park. He got the start this time, with Michael Penix still sidelined by an unspecified injury, and he carried his team again.

Ramsey played through a couple of hard shots and marshaled IU’s offense without a meaningful ground attack, throwing for 351 yards and two touchdowns. The most-accurate quarterback in program history completed 27-of-40 passes in a hostile environment in Lincoln. He finished seven yards shy of 400 in total offense.

Increasingly, it’s difficult to find new ways to explain Ramsey’s importance to this team. He shrugged off losing his starting job to Penix, stayed with his program and waited for his chance. He’s been pivotal to Indiana’s success this season, with Saturday no exception.

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Defense burns hot and cold

Saturday proved a performance of extremes for Indiana’s defense. On the one hand, the Hoosiers created game-changing turnovers in both halves and numerous times leveraged advantageous field position. On the other, they struggled badly against Nebraska’s sideline-to-sideline ground game, allowing 514 total yards and seven yards per carry.

The Cornhuskers began the game without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez and lost backup Noah Vedral halfway through. But even third-string freshman Luke McCaffrey moved the ball effectively, and Nebraska was aided the entire afternoon by timely (and costly, and avoidable) IU penalties.

Maryland was a hallmark afternoon for Kane Wommack’s defense, with halftime adjustments shutting the Terrapins down and turning an important road game in Indiana’s favor. The Hoosiers struggled to do the same in Lincoln, against Nebraska coach Scott Frost’s offense.

But stands up in the end

Whoever called the dive blitz that Cam Jones used to flush Vedral — restored to the field late in the fourth quarter — earned IU’s coaching staff a whole bunch of bonus money Saturday.

Vedral was flushed, Tiawan Mullen cleanly broke up his pass and, one week after IU’s defense finished an important road win, its offense returned the favor. Ramsey was immense. So were his receivers. Indiana’s defense wasn’t statistically perfect, but it made the biggest plays of the game, setting up two touchdown drives.

Allen was emotional postgame on the Big Ten Network broadcast, and he had a right to be. For the first time in a quarter century, Indiana is bowl eligible in October. Now, as Allen told BTN’s Rick Pizzo, the question is just how far the Hoosiers want to go.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

INDIANA 38, NEBRASKA 31

Indiana  9  7  15  7  —  38

Nebraska  14  7  3  7  —  31

Neb – Vedral 4 run (Pickering kick)

Ind – Justus 22 FG

Neb – Vedral 1 run (Pickering kick)

Ind – Ramsey 8 run (kick failed)

Ind – Fryfogle 8 pass from Ramsey (Justus kick)

Neb – Noa 24 pass from McCaffrey (Pickering kick)

Ind – Ellis 1 run (Hendershot pass from Ramsey)

Neb – Pickering 30 FG

Ind – Bjorson 2 pass from Ramsey (Justus kick)

Ind – Scott 9 run (Justus kick)

Neb – Robinson 4 run (Pickering kick)

Rushing — Indiana: Scott 16-68, Ramsey 9-42, Philyor 1-2, Ellis 1-1, Team 4-(minus-9); Nebraska: Robinson 22-83, McCaffrey 12-76, Mills 8-30, Vedral 7-21, Mazour 1-10.

Passing — Indiana: Ramsey 27-40-1 351; Nebraska: Vedral 14-16-0 201, McCaffrey 5-6-0 71, Spielman 1-1-0 22.

Receiving — Indiana: Philyor 14-178, Fryfogle 4-75, Scott 4-41, Hendershot 1-40, Marshall 1-11, Bjorson 2-6, Walker 1-0; Nebraska: Spielman 5-97, Robinson 6-71, Noa 3-52, Williams 1-34, Vedral 1-22, Allen 1-9, Stoll 3-9.