Rhule left apologizing, searching for answers after Huskers embarrassed by Indiana

Last season, Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule wasn't pleased with his team's play or effort in a blowout loss to eventual national champion Michigan, 45-7.

Going into that game, the Huskers were just 2-2 (0-2 against Power 5 teams) and certainly weren't expected to win.

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Related: Familiar issues plague Huskers in 56-7 blowout loss to Indiana

On Saturday, the Huskers were 6.5-point underdogs but it was not the same situation. Nebraska was 5-1, coming off a bye week, embracing the underdog status and working to build off the progress it had finally shown from past years.

That's what makes the 56-7 dismantling at the hands of the Hoosiers harder to figure out.

“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t see this coming. I thought we were gonna play great,” Rhule said after the loss to 16th-ranked Indiana — Nebraska's 26th straight defeat in matchups with ranked opponents.

Make no mistake, Indiana is a very good team, but also a team that hadn't been tested by high-level competition or faced the pressure that comes with a nationally televised game.

The Huskers, boasting one of the best defenses in the country statistically and a vastly improved offense from last season, were supposed to be that test. Instead, the Hoosiers scored their second-most points of the season despite having their starting quarterback for only one half and allowed just one score.

“This was certainly, certainly, certainly not good enough by any stretch and for that I’m sorry," Rhule said after the game.

The coach shouldered the blame, saying he has to prepare his team better, and defended the players' effort by saying he didn't get the sense that anyone quit.

“It just was bad football by us. I’m not embarrassed of our players but I’m embarrassed of the job that I did to get our team ready,” he said.

Maybe his view that nobody quit should be viewed as progress compared to the loss to Michigan last year, but it really just highlights how far this program still has to go to become a contender.

Many of the issues that plagued Nebraska on Saturday have been problems all season; the struggles against ranked teams obviously aren't new; the team is now 2-5 on the road under Rhule; and even the things the Huskers have done well this season were missing in Bloomington, Ind.

“I do believe with all my heart, I believe in games like this there’s a ton of lessons and a ton of opportunities,” Rhule said.

That may be true but are the Huskers learning from them? Have they learned from past setbacks?

Unlike last year after the Michigan game and earlier this year following the loss to Illinois, the Huskers don't have a struggling opponent next weekend against which to get back on track. No, they will travel to face a top-five-ranked Ohio State team in "The Horseshoe."

“I just think that our guys are gonna bounce back," Rhule said.

“I’ve never doubted the character of those guys. This wasn’t a day where they didn’t come out and try, this wasn’t a week where they didn’t practice," the head coach added. "That’s what hurts me about it, I’m telling you that I believed we were gonna play great based on everything that I’ve seen.

“We got a lot of guys in that room who love Nebraska and they’re resilient and they want to battle. … They’ll come back and they’ll fight. I would have no doubt that we’ll fight all five (remaining) games.”

Fight as they may, wins are the ultimate measuring stick and a repeat of last year's late season slide won't leave fans happy, regardless of the effort. Nebraska needs to find answers because the tests just keep coming.