As IU football went up 16-14 over Nebraska in the second quarter, senior defensive lineman Allen Stallings was on both knees catching his breath. After all, it was his effort that put the Hoosiers in position to score and get their first lead of the day.
Nebraska’s offense was threatening IU territory, but Jamar Johnson called for a change of plans. The sophomore defensive back perfectly jumped a third down snap and collided with Nebraska quarterback Noah Vedral to force a fumble.
Stallings scooped the ball and almost returned it 74 yards for a touchdown, but Vedral caught back up to him to make a tackle near the goal line.
The Hoosiers trailed 14-3 early, and with the game on the road in a sold-out stadium without their starting quarterback, it was critical for the defense to bring consistent pressure and affect the game in the way it did.
IU’s problem Saturday was allowing quick scores. On all four of its touchdown drives, Nebraska needed less than two minutes to find the end zone. Even on some of its nonscoring drives, the Cornhuskers had a nice rhythm to their offense that helped dictate the game’s tempo.
The Hoosiers let up 21 first-half points and went to the locker room down by five at halftime. In the second half, however, IU’s defense channeled the energy of Stallings and Johnson from the second quarter fumble en route to a 38-31 win.
On its first offensive series of the second half, the Cornhuskers ran the ball three times for minimal yardage for a three-and-out. Thanks to fifth-year senior punter Haydon Whitehead pinning Nebraska deep three times, the Hoosiers were able to play aggressively on defense with favorable field position.
In the fourth quarter, Nebraska was down 31-24 when it completed a pass to cross midfield. Before the Cornhusker ball-carrier came to the ground, sophomore Alfred Bryant freed the ball on the tackle, and sophomore Juwan Burgess recovered it.
The Hoosiers took over on downs and scored seven plays later via a nine-yard touchdown from sophomore running back Stevie Scott III.
IU took a two touchdown lead, but Nebraska responded with a score to cut the fourth quarter deficit in half.
Vedral had left the game with an injury, but returned when the Cornhuskers had a chance at a game-tying drive with less than six minutes remaining. The offense tried to replicate its first-half performance with Vedral until the Hoosiers forced a fourth down. Freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen broke up a pass near the first-down marker to end the drive.
It was an up and down day for IU’s defense in the win. The Hoosiers have consecutive wins on the road in which the defense fended off multiple comeback attempts at the end. In IU’s six wins this season, it has outscored opponents 102-31 in the second half of those games.
