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As No. 10 Nebraska plays its sixth game of the year, the Huskers control their own destiny in the Big Ten. They've come a long way from last year's 5-7 regular season under first-year coach Mike Riley, and now Riley's got the Huskers in a position to win the Big Ten West if things go smoothly the rest of the way.
Nebraska's biggest games don't come until later on, but the Huskers shouldn't look past Indiana. The Hoosiers are 3-2, but they've looked quite competent and appear to have made real strides under Kevin Wilson. It's also homecoming in Bloomington, and the Hoosiers are going to wear some stunning, candy-striped football jerseys. Memorial Stadium (but the Hoosiers' Memorial Stadium, not the Huskers') should be pretty loud. It's not an easy win by any stretch.
Wisconsin plays Ohio State this week, which means a Huskers victory would probably put them two games ahead of the Badgers in the loss column. That's an enviable position, and it's right there for the taking.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN2. The broadcasters are Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, and Jerry Punch.
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Nebraska opened as a 6-point favorite, but the spread has shrunk to about a field goal.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Corn Nation (for Huskers) and Crimson Quarry (for Hoosiers).
Three big things to know
1. There's no question that the Huskers, with senior QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. having the best year of his career, have a better chance of making Big Ten noise than they have in a couple of years. But Nebraska still hasn't beaten anyone of great consequence, with its "best" win coming against a then-ranked Oregon team whose stock has since plummeted. Games in two and three weeks against Wisconsin and Ohio State will give us a better idea of how serious the Huskers are, but they've got to handle Indiana (maybe not easily) and Purdue before that.
2. Indiana has gotten better in a range of areas. The most important is on defense, where the Hoosiers got thrashed last season but have calmed down a great deal. They're allowing 25 points per game, down from 38, and gave Ohio State an extremely relative hard time last week. The Buckeyes "only" scored 38 points against the Hoosiers, against a season average of 53. Indiana won't make things easy for Armstrong and his friends.
3. If it's close, watch for another strong Nebraska finish. The Huskers are outscoring the opposition in the fourth quarter by a preposterous 78-6 margin. They've basically declared a no-points zone in the final 15 minutes of games, which is probably a partial statistical anomaly and partial feat of conditioning and adjustment on their part. We'll see if it holds up against an Indiana team with a homecoming crowd on its side.