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Stukenholtz: Finding the Higher Gear Earlier a Must for Nebraska
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- Stukenholtz: Finding the Higher Gear Earlier a Must for Nebraska
As the clock ticked down on Nebraska's 48-23 win over Maryland, the long awaited possible perfect beginning to the 2026 season was almost officially here. Yes, they're 5-0. Of course, the whole reason *five* wins has been the goal – instead of four or six – is because of the sixth opponent.
The defending national champions are coming. Both the Huskers and Hoosiers have held up their end of the bargain with the spotless starts. FOX's premier TV window and pregame show, Big Noon (11:00 a.m.!) Kickoff, is coming to Lincoln.
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Permission to start your Indiana week engines.
Don't worry, the X's and O's breakdowns and tales of the tape comparing the two teams are coming. In the rankings, it's a mismatch. No. 7 vs unranked. One program in back-to-back College Football Playoffs, the other 1-1 in the Pinstripe and Las Vegas Bowls.
You'll find plenty of those examples throughout the week leading up to Saturday. As for me, I wanted to take a closer look at the [dominant??] Huskers, who have won five straight games by 17 or more points for the first time since 2001. Nebraska has clearly been the better team every time out thus far. The open question is related to some slow starts or stagnant stanzas that have allowed lesser opponents to linger longer than necessary. What's taking NU so long to figure it out?
Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen has schemed up an offense scoring 43.6 points per game, 9th best nationally through five games. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN
The evidence does point to some similarities.
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When Ohio took the first play 68 yards on a busted coverage, it was a bit shocking. Nebraska allowed an early touchdown, then a couple of field goals, and that was basically it. After the Bobcats' first three drives, the Blackshirts only allowed one possession to travel 25 yards or more, which was the 4th-quarter touchdown that cut it to 28-21. Meanwhile, the new Colandrea-led Husker offense only scored on two of their first six opportunities before kicking into high gear and crossing the goal line on each of their final five chances.
The only drama against Bowling Green was a weird, long-replay-review-aided interception on the second play of the game. NU shut the Falcons out in the first half as the offense rolled to five straight touchdowns after the lone turnover.
Both sides of the ball got off to solid starts the following week, holding North Dakota scoreless before halftime and pounding in a couple of touchdowns on the first two drives. Then, the offensive lull – missed field goal, punt, then a short field goal after a failed red zone attempt. But Jamal Rule made everyone forget about the troubles with a 55-yard touchdown run on Nebraska's first offensive play of the second half. The Fighting Hawks were defeated 34-7.
In the conference curtain-raiser, the Huskers started strong on both sides of the ball and led 24-10 at the break. This time, it was a sleepy 3rd quarter with three short empty drives that led to online consternation. But the Blackshirts made sure it didn't matter, holding Sparty to three points in the 2nd half in a workmanlike 31-13 road victory.
Linebacker Owen Chambliss leads the Blackshirts with 26 total tackles through five games, despite only playing in four games himself. NU is 15th nationally in allowing 14.2 points per game. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN
Finally, homecoming with Maryland. After a running-into-the-kicker penalty extended the first drive (which couldn't have been a penalty if the punt was even partially blocked…), the Terps ambushed Nebraska with some early big plays and came away with points on four of their first five drives. 36-yard pass. 20-yard pass. 65-yard touchdown pass. 19-yard pass. Three of those were field goals, so credit to the defense for keeping it close for the offense, but unfortunately Colandrea and friends couldn't stay on the field with the first four possessions lasting three plays or fewer. Things did settle down once the Huskers got the ball back trailing 16-7 late in the 1st quarter. The Terrapins only mustered a 56-yard run on a 59-yard TD drive in the 2nd quarter from then on.
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Offensively, NU took advantage of the one blocked punt to actually count with a one-play touchdown drive courtesy of running back Mekhi Nelson, but had trouble stringing consecutive scores together in the first half. Anthony Colandrea threw an interception; they went 3-and-out and punted three times, and turned it over on downs.
This turning point was obvious. Trailing 23-14 and having committed back-to-back defensive holding penalties that negated a 3rd-down stop and a 1st-down sack, the Blackshirts were defending a 3rd & 7 from their own 25-yard line. Up stepped transfer safety Dwayne McDougle III – literally and figuratively – to flip the game into Nebraska's favor. McDougle jumped a slant route, intercepted Malik Washington, and navigated 81 yards the other direction for a pick-six. Maryland only managed 99 yards from that point forward.
Colandrea proceeded to march 80 yards in eight plays and gave NU the lead for good with just five seconds remaining in the half on a 1-yard touchdown pass to Luke Lindenmeyer. And in the second half, the offense did put three straight touchdowns on the board to put the game away.
Tight End Luke Lindenmeyer catches a touchdown late in the second quarter of Nebraska's 48-23 win over Maryland. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN
Did you see it? The evidence is there.
Ohio created adversity with the 68-yard pass and the early 13-7 lead. Nebraska, while inconsistent early, answered with four straight scoreless drives on defense and five straight touchdowns on offense.
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Bowling Green had that one guy who fought Jacory Barney for the football and won. That was about it, as they did not score until their eighth possession. NU found the end zone on five times in a row before the half, and they never punted.
North Dakota slowed down the Husker run game to the tune of 22 2nd-quarter yards. Jamal Rule's long touchdown run set things back on course for a 34-7 win. Nebraska twice scored on back-to-back possessions.
It was actually a strong start against Michigan State. After a 3-and-out, NU went TD, TD, FG, TD and led 24-10. Adversity hit in the second half as a Jamal Rule-less run game struggled to move the ball, but a sparkling showing from the defense made sure to keep things in the Huskers' favor.
And once things settled down against Maryland, Nebraska was fine there, too.
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Here are the patterns, some concerning, some encouraging:
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Ohio and Maryland each scored on at least three straight drives to build early leads
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Ohio, Bowling Green, and Maryland all shocked the Memorial Stadium crowd with huge 1st quarter plays, either by touchdown or turnover
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Michigan State and Maryland held NU's starting offense to three 3-and-outs in the first three quarters
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Nebraska has either scored on three or more consecutive drives OR scored at least three times without giving up points to answer them in every game
Most importantly, Nebraska has yet to respond poorly to adversity. Now, obviously, it's easier to bounce back from an early turnover against Bowling Green than it will be when playing Indiana. But the confidence from having done it already will be there. It's how Curt Cignetti built up his team's confidence, scheduling cupcakes in September to stack wins, score points, and ramp up into Big Ten play as your players are feeling good about themselves.
Transfer wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer has averaged 77.4 receiving yards per game with six touchdown receptions through the Huskers' 5-0 start. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN
It's not easy to play your best for 60 minutes. Matt Rhule may need his team to play at that level for 50 or 55 minutes in order to win on Saturday, though. And they're clearly capable of sustaining complementary play from both sides of the ball over a quarter or two.
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Can they get it locked in a bit quicker after the opening kickoff? Will they nail their adjustments immediately out of the locker room after halftime? Could the unsuccessful drives that end in punts at least yield one first down so they avoid the quick 3-and-out? And when adversity strikes in the form of an opponent touchdown or turnover, how soon will they respond?
You got your wish. The assumed 5-0 start happened. Now we see how far this program has come.
What's Real and What's Not
Lack of discipline: REAL
16 penalties. That ties a school record with 2010 NU in their 9-6 loss at Texas A&M (don't even get me started on that game). The 11 in the first half were also a school record. Were some of them bad calls? Yeah. Is getting 11 or 12 penalties still gross? Yeah! Gotta clean up the obvious stuff like false starts, kicks going out of bounds, and blowing up a punt returner without the ball. Better teams will make you pay.
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Speaking of a better team…
Nebraska *can* beat Indiana: REAL
This is not me telling you the defending national champs are going down. This is not even me predicting a Husker win. I do, however, firmly believe that NU has shown enough in their five wins to be taken seriously. They can play well enough to pull off the upset.
Nerd Alert!
I'm a big spreadsheet guy. While I am fully aware that football is played between the white lines by dudes way bigger, faster, and stronger than me, there is value in comparing teams in multiple ways, including efficiency, strength of schedule, and other predictive metrics that attempt to play out the rest of the season. Don't argue with me; this is all numbers.
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Bill Connelly of ESPN ranks teams by his SP+ score, and the Huskers are up to No. 12 with the 5-0 start.
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PEARatings slots NU at 16th this week with an 85% chance of eight wins and a 56% chance at nine.
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CFBEfficiency.com has Nebraska *third nationally* and predicts a 31-28 win over Indiana!
That's So 1990s
Technically, this goes back to 2001, but it's close enough. Do you know the last time Nebraska played a game where they and their opponent were both at least 5-0? How about the last time they faced a team on a 20-plus-game winning streak? The answer to both is Oklahoma in 2001: the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass Stuntz-to-Crouch game.
Indiana, like Oklahoma, will visit Memorial Stadium with an unblemished record as the defending national champs.
25 years later, will history repeat itself?
