The Morning After: Indiana

Steven Sipple, Lincoln Journal-Star: Strong-willed Armstrong shows bite on the field and off of it

Nebraska mustered 360 yards, including 152 on the ground (3.4 yards per carry). Once again, though, the Huskers powered through during the fourth quarter, using a 15-play, 60-yard drive to a field goal with 45 seconds left to prevail. It was gut-check time, and Riley's crew responded.

Somewhere, Mark Philipp was smiling. Does ESPN have an award for strength coach of the year? Maybe BTN does.

"All I'm saying is, I don't care what people say," Armstrong said. "Other people may laugh at us, talking about, you know, are we real? Are we really a great team? Great teams win games. That's all I've got to say about it. You can say what you want to say about my team. But at the end of the day, each week we come out and win. Once we keep winning, what are they going to say then?"

Tom Shatel, Omaha World-Herald: Behind Mike Riley’s full faith, imperfect Huskers once again ‘go fourth & conquer’

Nebraska, 6-0 and ranked in the top 10.

First time since 2001.

First 3-0 Big Ten start. First 3-0 conference start since 2006.

And one win over Purdue this week from taking the perfect mark, the ranking, the division lead and all the interesting possibilities to Madison, Wisconsin, for the first of many meaningful games.

Meaningful football back in Lincoln?

Believe it.

There are those who will mock it, shake their heads and count the days until the clock strikes midnight on this Nebraska team on the edge. But the Huskers believe in this team.

Even better, their coach believes, too.

Zach Osterman, Indy Star: IU’s Offense sputters in loss to Nebraska, and it doesn’t add up

Amid cries for quarterback Richard Lagow to be benched, widespread yearning for All-American guard Dan Feeney to return and general frustration in a unit that’s clearly lost its mojo, the troubling reality is this:

There’s no one thing wrong with Indiana’s offense, and therefore no one way to fix it.

“We’re competing, but we’re not playing good football,” Wilson said Saturday. “We’ve got to find some run game, we’ve got to get into some manageable third downs, and when we do, we’ve got to execute on third downs, and execute in the score zone.”

Alex Robbins, The Crimson Quarry: Nebraska 27, Indiana 22 - Three Things

The Indiana defense gave up 20 points. The two field goals Nebraska kicked were the result of hard-earned, grind it out drives. The two touchdowns were results of flukes. The first Huskers touchdown was sparked by some real circus-like shit when Indiana had a good shot at an interception and the ball bounced around and literally fell into the lap of a Husker receiver lying flat on his back. The second touchdown was on a nice play by Tommy Armstrong to scramble and find a receiver that turned into a 72-yard race to the endzone because two Hoosier defenders ran into each other while attempting to make a tackle.

Takeaway the pick-6 that made the game 17-0 early on and one of the flukes and we’re talking about how Indiana thoroughly outplayed a top-ten team. Instead, typical Indiana heartbreak.

Dirk Chatelain, Omaha W-H: Husker fans, time to embrace your inner black and gold

Take a deep breath, Husker fan. Grab a drink of water. Maybe sit down so you don’t fall down. We need to talk.

You know your little cousin to the east whom you mocked mercilessly a year ago, from mid-September all the way to Black Friday? The team that took advantage of weak competition and fortuitous bounces to go 12-0 in the regular season? The team that turned winning ugly into an art form? Well, it’s time to face reality ...

Nebraska 2016 is the Iowa of 2015.

I know, the average Husker fan would rather French kiss his cousin, hitchhike shirtless on I-80, pick up dog poop with bare hands, clean the gutters in an ice storm, stand in line at the DMV on Christmas Eve, navigate the automated customer service maze of the local cable company, anything other than be a Hawkeye.

But I promise you, the wise guys on ESPN view Nebraska 2016 the same way they viewed Iowa in 2015. Just a lucky team waiting to get exposed.