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No. 16 Indiana manhandles Nebraska to remain undefeated at 7-0

Indiana wide receiver Miles Cross reaches the end zone on 2-yard touchdown pass from Tayven Jackson in the third quarter against Nebraska on Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. The Hoosiers won 56-7. AJ MAST — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. >> Justice Ellison ran for 105 yards and two first-half touchdowns and No. 16 Indiana continued its best start in 57 years with a 56-7 rout of Nebraska on Saturday, matching the Hoosiers’ most lopsided Big Ten win in program history.

Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke injured his right (throwing) hand and was on the sideline in street clothes in the second half. Tayven Jackson replaced him for the rest of the game.

“A little thumb thing, I feel good about it, I really do,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said of Rourke. “It was precautionary (to take him out).”

The Hoosiers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) have yet to trail this season and each victory has been by double digits. The 49-point margin of victory was the biggest in conference play since a 49-0 win at Minnesota in 1945. The last time Indiana started with seven consecutive wins was 1967, when it opened 8-0.

Cignetti is the first coach in program history to win his first seven games. He’s never had a losing season in 14 years as a head coach.

“I’m not going to let ‘em get complacent, and not the coaches, either,” Cignetti said. “I was a maniac in the fourth quarter.”

The Cornhuskers (5-2, 3-2) were supposed to be the stiffest opposition to date for Indiana. But the only defense in the country to not allow a rushing touchdown surrendered five, including Ellison’s 5-yard TD on the opening possession.

Ellison, a senior transfer from Wake Forest, added a 31-yard TD rush for a 28-7 lead just before halftime. His 105 yards came on just nine carries.

“This happened on my watch,” Nebraska second-year coach Matt Rhule said. “And I’ll be honest, I didn’t see this coming. I’m not embarrassed of our players, but I’m embarrassed about the job I did.”

Rourke completed 17 of 21 passes for 189 yards with one TD and one interception. He threw a 7-yard TD pass to Myles Price for a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

MICHIGAN STATE 32, iowa 20 >> Jonathan Kim kicked a school-record six field goals and Aidan Chiles threw for 256 yards and a touchdown to lead Michigan State to a 32-20 victory over Iowa in East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans snapped a three-game losing streak. Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, who came into the game as the nation’s No. 2 rusher, was held to 98 yards on 14 carries.

WISCONSIN 23, NORTHWESTERN3 >> Tawee Walker ran for 126 yards in another big performance, Braedyn Locke threw for a touchdown and ran for a score, and Wisconsin beat Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. The Badgers came away with another easy win, locking down the Wildcats after pummeling Purdue and Rutgers by a combined 94-13. Walker, coming off a career-best 198-yard outburst against Rutgers, delivered again. He carried 23 times, including a 24-yarder that helped set up Wisconsin’s first TD, facing a defense that was ninth in the nation against the run.

ILLINOIS 21, MICHIGAN 7 >> Luke Altmyer threw for a touchdown and ran for another, leading No. 22 Illinois over No. 24 Michigan in Champaign, Ill.. Tanner Arkin caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Altmyer in the second quarter and raced 36 yards on a fake punt in the third to set up Altmyer’s 1-yard TD run. Illinois is now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten after beating Michigan for the first time since 2009. The Illini had lost six straight to the Wolverines. Michigan is 4-3 and 2-2 and has lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2020.

UCLA 35, RUTGERS 32 >> In Piscataway, N.J., Ethan Garbers set career highs with four touchdowns passes, 383 yards throwing and a 49-yard TD run, leading UCLA to its first Big Ten Conference victory which also ended a five-game losing streak. Garbers completed 32 of 38 passes and connected on scoring passes of 5-yards to Logan Loya, 22 to T.J. Harden, 67 to Keegan Jones and 9 to Jalen Berger as UCLA handed the Scarlet Knights their third straight loss. UCLA came into the game as the only team in FBS to not have scored 20 points in a game this season.

MARYLAND 29, USC 28 >> Miller Moss threw an interception in the third quarter, the defense allowed two touchdown drives in the fourth — including one after a blocked field goal — and USC blew another late lead, losing at Maryland to extend its season-sinking skid to three. The Trojans have lost their four games this season by a combined 14 points. This time they led 28-14 before a blocked field goal and costly pass interference penalty in the final minutes paved the way to an excruciating defeat. Moss threw an interception in the third quarter that was returned 51 yards to set up a Maryland touchdown.