Robert Goddin photo-USA TODAY Sports
Nebraska Uses Quick-Strike Offense at Purdue
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Saturday night's 43-37 loss at Purdue showed a lot about the Huskers: the team is playing its guts out for interim head coach Mickey Joseph. The Huskers never led in the game and trailed by double digits three times in the first half: 20-10, 27-10 and 27-13. NU also trailed twice in the second half, 34-23 and 43-30. Every time it looked as if the Boilermakers were going to start to run away with the game, NU responded.
The play of the night happened with just minutes to go in the game. Purdue had the ball 4th and 1 at midfield. Stuff the play and Nebraska would have had the ball near the 50 yard line with about three minutes to go. Unfortunately for the Huskers, NU didn't get the stop and Purdue won the game. I believe had Nebraska taken possession at midfield, the Huskers would have won.
Why? Two reasons: QB Casey Thompson and WR Trey Palmer. Palmer jumped into the Husker record book Saturday night. He now owns the school record for most receiving yards in a game with 237. Palmer also ran for 60 yards on an end-around play to give him 297 yards from scrimmage for the night. Palmer had two TD catches - one for 37 yards and one for 72 yards. He also had non-scoring catches of 39 and 60 yards. Purdue couldn't stop him all night. The Boilermakers' ability to keep the ball away from Nebraska was their only and best defense.
Also amazing was Nebraska had only 17 minutes of possession time compared with over 42 minutes for Purdue! That is an absolutely crazy stat. That Nebraska could generate 37 points while having possession only 17 minutes is insane.
My grandson Will (age 16) suggested that college football keep track of points per minute. It would be interesting to see through the season and through the years how teams rate in PPM each game.
Saturday's Purdue-Husker game meant every minute Nebraska had the ball, it scored 2 points. That's also an amazing stat.
For contrast, Purdue's came in at a little over 1 PPM. The Huskers' PPM more than doubled Purdue's. But when a team scores so quickly and can't stop the other team's offense, losses are going to happen. Quick scoring drives may look great in the highlights, but winning is the object of the game.
I did some research on the past Husker PPM totals. I thought maybe NU would have reached 2 PPM last year when they beat Northwestern 56-7 at Memorial Stadium. But Nebraska could manage only 1.44 PPM in that win. How about NU's 52-7 win over Fordham last year? Nope. NU's PPM was only 1.64. And what about the '96 Fiesta Bowl when Nebraska crushed Florida 62-24 for the national championship? Again, no. As dominating as the Huskers were that night, they could muster just 1.77 PPM.
I'll keep researching the subject and if I find anything new, I will give you an update.
How ’Bout Them Huskers
On this week's podcast, Will and I review the Huskers' loss to Purdue. We also give some props for the success of the Husker volleyball program. Next up for the Husker football team is an Oct. 29 game at Memorial Stadium against Illinois.
Related
- HuskerMax Purdue game page
- Fanalytix Purdue interactive stats
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