Brandon Walker says Nebraska isn't a tough place to play
TLDR: Two days after Indiana came from 17-6 down to win 20-17 in Lincoln, Brandon Walker told a Nebraska caller the Hoosiers are a championship program, Nebraska isn't, and Memorial Stadium isn't that tough a place to play.
Monday night's College Football Show opened its voicemail line, and a Husker fan used it to ask the question the whole state has been asking since Saturday.
Tonight on the Brandon Walker College Football Show. Live at 7E/6 central.
The question was simple: how did we lose that game? Fair question. Nebraska led 10-3 at the half and went up 17-6 early in the 4th quarter on an Anthony Colandrea 39-yard touchdown run. Then No. 7 Indiana scored the last 14 points, and Josh Hoover won it with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Nick Marsh on 4th-and-1 with the score tied 17-17. Curt Cignetti said afterward he stole the play from Kansas 5 or 6 years ago.
“How did we lose that game?!” -Nebraska caller “You lost because Indiana is a championship program and Nebraska is not anymore. I don’t know what to tell ya. You lost because Indiana has better players, better coach and Nebraska is not that tough of a place to play” -BFW
BFW gave the caller no comfort at all. In his view Indiana is a championship program and Nebraska isn't anymore, the Hoosiers have better players and a better coach, and Lincoln isn't that tough a place to play. The last part is the one that will sting in Nebraska. The Sea of Red and the sellout streak are the program's whole identity, and Walker just told a Husker fan the stadium didn't scare the defending champs.
It's a strange spot to be in, because the Barstool crowd hasn't exactly been dunking on Husker fans as people. On Wake Up Barstool earlier that same day, the show marked the loss with dueling lists of the most starved fanbases in college football and went out of its way to say the ranking was a compliment.
“I do think they are one of the great fan bases in college football and they deserve a heck of a lot better.”
That's really the whole Nebraska problem in one day of content. The fans are great, the fans deserve better, and the team keeps losing the big ones. According to ESPN, Saturday was Nebraska's 31st straight loss to a ranked opponent. The Huskers fell to 5-1 (2-1 Big Ten), while Indiana moved to 6-0 (3-0) and stretched its winning streak to 22 games.
The frustrating part for Nebraska is that this one was there. It was the biggest game in Lincoln in years, against the reigning national champs, with an 11-point lead in the 4th quarter, and it still ended the same way. Walker's answer was blunt, but it's hard to argue Indiana isn't the better program right now when the Hoosiers keep finding a way in games like this.
The fan reaction to the episode was mostly hype, with clips of the show getting passed around the same night.
Frank was in his bag today!!
Nebraska is 5-1 with half a season left, so there's still time to prove Walker wrong. Until the Huskers actually beat a ranked team, though, a Husker fan calling in to ask why they lost is going to keep getting the same answer.
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