Nebraska played two halves of football against Purdue Saturday, both literally and figuratively. The first half was reminiscent of the melt downs we’ve seen before at Ross Ade Stadium. The second half however, looked like what we had hoped to see going in. Nebraska continues to work towards something they have yet to do this season, play four full quarters of football. In the first three games we wrote it off to inferior opponents, building an identity, and jumping out to early leads.
But with the beginning of B1G play, Illinois showed Nebraska who they really were. What we saw wasn’t pretty. And that ugliness showed up again in Lafayette in the first half. We are a young team learning what it takes to win, and we are a veteran team still trying to get the monkey off our backs.
Other than Jacory Barney, the running game couldn’t get going. Yet, Nebraska still managed to move the ball inside Purdue’s forty-yard line six times in the first half. The Huskers came away with zero points, stopping themselves once with penalties, having a touchdown called back due to a bad call, missing a field goal, and having two more field goals blocked.
While the offense and defense showed glimpses of what we had hoped for, the special teams were dismal to say the least. We won’t talk about officiating. While incredibly bad, the Huskers can’t allow referees to be an excuse for not winning games. There are too many other parts to the game that Nebraska can control.
The Husker’s offense put up 21 points in the second half with Dylan Raiola going 17/27 for 257 yards and 1 TD in the game. As a group, the Nebraska running backs only netted 84 total yards. Jacory Barney was the leading rusher with 66 yards and 1 TD. He added another 28 yards in receptions. Jahmal Banks finished as the leading receiver with 5 catches for 82 yards and 1 TD. Offensively, Nebraska finished the game with 418 total yards. The running backs need to be a bigger part of the game, which requires the running game getting better. Penalties need to be eliminated. They’ve been killers on both offense and defense. Nebraska’s rushing yards were disappointing considering the yards allowed by Purdue in previous games.
Defensively, the Blackshirts played better than what they showed in the Illinois game. They sacked Hudson Card 5 times. With the yardage loss, Purdue ended up with 50 yards rushing.
Purdue running back Devin Mockobee only had 43 yards rushing after putting up 163 the week before. The Blackshirts also had 9 tackles for losses. John Bullock stood out once again, flying to the ball and contributing a pick-six to make the score 28 – 3. Defensive back Ceyair Wright looked impressive and according to defensive coordinator Tony White, is on the verge of earning a Blackshirt. Once having the lead, the defense played several backups and Purdue scored late to make the final score 28-10.
Nebraska’s biggest weakness at this point is special teams play. Things need to get drastically better in all phases of the kicking game. Purdue head coach Ryan Walters fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell the day after playing Nebraska. If one were to compare Harrell’s offense to Ed Foley’s special teams, it would be questionable as to who should have been fired. Matt Rhule can’t let his loyalty to Foley get in the way of Nebraska’s success. Look for special teams to get better or there will be changes made.
Final stats:
Total Yards: Nebraska 419, Purdue 224
Turnovers: Nebraska-0, Purdue-1
First Downs: Nebraska-25, Purdue-12
Time of Possession: Nebraska-30:18. Purdue-29:42
Passing: Nebraska-17/27-257 yards, Purdue-18/25-174 yards
Rushing; Nebraska 32-161 yards, Purdue 31-50 yards
Penalties: Nebraska 11/94, Purdue 13/164
Regardless of your thoughts or feelings about how the Huskers are playing, we need to be happy with the 4-1 record. It’s been a while since we have been able to say that. I believe the Huskers are improving each week as they continue to find their identity on both offense and defense. Rutgers will challenge Nebraska and getting a win won’t be easy. But it’s another opportunity for the Huskers to prove things are headed in the right direction. I think Nebraska gets a close win.
Good things area about to happen.
You can find more articles on Husker football at Off The Cob (lyleharmon-otc.com)