Numbers That Mattered: No. 7 Indiana vs. Nebraska

Numbers drive so much in today’s world and the sports world is no different. Now more than ever teams are hiring and building analytics teams to get every edge possible over their opponents. Over the course of the season, we’ll look into many of those numbers following each of the Indiana Hoosiers’ matchups each week, so be on the lookout for that!

Without further ado, let’s get into it:

2.8

…Represents Nebraska QB Anthony Colandrea’s average yards per carry this past Saturday against the Hoosiers, which is the lowest total he’s had thus far in 2026. Containing Colandrea was a major key to the game for Indiana and, while there were moments he ran all around the field and caused immense problems, Bryant Haines and the Indiana defense adjusted and was able to keep him in check. These defensive adjustments are the key reason Indiana won on Saturday, in my opinion. If the defense didn’t change their pass rush alignments and assignments, I’m not sure the Hoosiers pull out the win.

11.3 vs. -8.4

…Represents the Expected Points Added (EPA) differences for Nebraska from the first half to the second half of this past Saturday’s matchup. Speaking to the aforementioned adjustments from the defense, Nebraska posted a -2.6 EPA in the 3rd quarter and then a massive -5.8 EPA in the 4th quarter, adding up to the -8.4 total EPA in the second half.

As the numbers show, the first half was all Nebraska, especially the first quarter, where Nebraska posted a whopping 10.7 EPA. From there, however, it was the Hoosiers dominating things as they clawed their way back. Through the defensive adjustments and continued patience on offense, the Hoosiers prevailed.

Combining these EPA totals for Nebraska, they end the day at 2.9 EPA in total. The Hoosiers, on the other hand, finished with an EPA of 9.3, led by a strong 4th quarter with +6.8 EPA. What does the old saying say? It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

2nd Lowest

…This past Saturday represented the 2nd lowest rushing yards total in the entire Cignetti era. Any guesses on the lowest? At 63 yards rushing, Notre Dame holds the top spot at best limited the Hoosiers’ run game. However, the Cornhuskers were not far behind. Indiana generated just 65 rushing yards on Saturday, barely eking out that Cignetti-era record as the lowest total in his tenure. There were a lot of similarities drawn to the Notre Dame game as Nebraska pulled ahead early, but Indiana’s talent, resilience, and strong coaching wound up being the difference here in Lincoln.

1 Inch & 1 Pound

…Represents the difference in size between last year’s star tight end Riley Nowakowski and this year’s potentially up and coming star freshman tight end Trevor Gibbs. At 6’2″ and 250 pounds, Gibbs is 1 inch taller and 1 pound heavier than Nowakowski (per the listing on Indiana’s website for both players).

There has been much discussion around Indiana’s tight end room this season – through our articles, in our forums, and across Big Ten and national media – but it was largely centered around Brock Schott and Andrew Barker. However, true freshman 3-star recruit Trevor Gibbs has taken the position, run with it, and simply might not give it back. He earned 39 snaps on Saturday compared to Schott’s 10 and fit seamlessly into the offense. Given the (unbelievably) similar size to Nowakowski, it makes sense that Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan and Head Coach Curt Cignetti can envision Gibbs taking on the Nowakowski role from the year prior.

Gibbs has earned more snaps over the last several weeks, but may have pulled away from the pack after his performance against Nebraska. It will be interesting to watch over the coming weeks to see how he blossoms and how snaps are shared in this potent Indiana offense.

94.4%

…Represents the highest win probability the Nebraska Cornhuskers had throughout the game this past Saturday. Check out the graphic below. At this point in time, Colandrea had just scored his 39 yard touchdown rush. What a comeback for the Hoosiers.

Huge thank you to collegefootballdata.com for their data, metrics, and charts, ESPN for additional data pulls, and Pro Football Focus for snap counts.

As always, thank you for reading! We’ll be back next week with more numbers and takeaways from the Hoosiers’ matchup against Ohio State this coming Saturday. Go IU!