ThotDoc's Brain Droppings on the Purdue Game
On a wintry freezing day the last weekend in October, the Nebraska Cornhuskers dominated the Purdue Boilermakers and won 31-14 to garner their fifth win in the last six games. It was the first time the Huskers have won three games in a row since Mike Riley was head coach in 2016. With the bye week, the Huskers finished undefeated in October for the first time in 22 years.
In a game the Blackshirt defense deserved a shutout, the offense and special teams put them in perilous positions repeatedly with five fumbles of which four were lost. Nebraska turned the ball over on its first touches of the first and second halves and twice again in the fourth quarter. The turnovers gave Purdue the ball at the NU 32, 13 and 24-yard lines, with the Boilers scoring just once on a 29-yard pass on 3rd and 15, their only third down conversion in the second half. The other Purdue points occurred when a Jeff Sims fumble was returned 55 yards for a touchdown. The Huskers have now put the ball on the turf 24 times this season.
After being -6 in turnovers the first two games of the season, they were net zero the next 3 games and -3 the last 3 games. One difference is that despite 9 turnovers in the last 3 contests, the defense has generated 6 takeaways. Still, it is remarkable that the Huskers are 5-3 despite going -9 in turnovers this year. Ball protection has to be a focus for Rhule and Company the last four games if the Huskers are to contend in the Big Ten West let alone become bowl eligible.
The Blackshirts held Purdue under 100 yards in the air (99) and on the ground (96) for the first time since the Michigan game in 2012. It was the first time that the Huskers have held a conference opponent to under 200 yards since allowing 199 yards to Illinois on Sept. 29, 2017. The defense had eight tackles for loss, including a sack. They also had three takeaways with a forced fumble (by Jimari Butler and recovered by Quinton Newsome) and had a pair of interceptions, both by Tommi Hill. After surrendering 4 of 8 third down conversions in the first half, the defense gave up just 1 of 8 after intermission and Purdue was also 0 for 3 on 4th down attempts.
Nebraska has held seven of its eight opponents to less than 100 rushing yards this season. The last time Nebraska held more than six opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground was in 2009, when the Huskers held eight opponents below the century mark. In its last seven games against Big Ten West opponents, Nebraska has allowed only one touchdown in the first half and just 16 total first-half points. With the defensive play, the game was never really in doubt (except for when the Husker offense was on the field). The Blackshirt defense is legitimate and whatever Athletic Director Trev Alberts has to pay to keep Defensive Coordinator Tony White on the staff, he needs to do it.
The defense was led once again by Isaac Gifford who had 10 tackles, two for loss and at least one pass breakup. He was all over the field and at times I wondered if there were two #2s on the defense. John Bullock added 7 stops and Phalen Sanford (6 tackles) is playing extremely well as a backup turned starter. Quinton Newsome (5 tackles) had the fumble recovery noted above and had another on special teams after a botched punt by Alex Bullock. Omar Brown (4 tackles) continued to improve and played well until he got his bell rung in the second half. Jimari Butler and MJ Sherman combined on the only sack. Butler has had a sack in three consecutive games and is the first Husker with a sack in three straight games since Garrett Nelson in 2021. Cornerback Tommi Hill picked off Purdue passes in the second and fourth quarters and made a nice play to break up a 2-point conversion attempt in the 4th quarter. Hill, who has an interception in two straight games, is the first Husker to have multiple interceptions in a game since Marques Buford Jr. intercepted two passes against Georgia Southern last season.
On Nebraska’s first two offensive drives, they lost 8 yards. On their next two possessions, they totaled 160 yards and two touchdowns. The second half possessions included three fumbles and two punts to go along with a field goal and a touchdown. So goes the feast or famine inconsistency by the O. The 15-play, 87-yard drive that consumed 8:52 spanning the first and second quarter was a thing of beauty and may have been the best drive of the season as the Huskers converted 4 third downs and mixed in 10 runs with 5 passes. It was the longest drive by Nebraska this season in plays, yards and time. It was Nebraska’s longest scoring drive since an 18-play drive for a field goal that consumed 9:24 against Northwestern in 2017. After the defense stepped up with a Tommi Hill pick, the Huskers rolled out the Belly-G option for the second week in a row and Heinrich Haarberg completed a 73-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Lloyd to give Nebraska a 14-0 lead. It was Lloyd’s first career TD reception and was also the longest pass play of the season for Nebraska. It marked the second straight season Nebraska had a TD pass of at least 70 yards against Purdue (Thompson to Palmer, 72 yards, 2022).
Heinrich Haarberg finished 6 for 11 for 122 yards with two touchdowns and was sacked three times. After completing 5 of 8 passes in the first half for 121 yards, Haarberg threw just 3 times in the second half, completing one toss for a single yard. Haarberg also fumbled twice inside his 25-yard line in the second half. He rushed 19 times in the game for a total of 22 yards after 35 yards in rushing losses. He was also hammered repeatedly and was woozy when he left for a series. Jeff Sims came in and picked up where he left off against Minnesota and Colorado. I don’t know what is happening in the mind of that young man, but it can’t be confidence. To be fair, I’m not sure why Rhule didn’t take the punt on that 4th and 6 as the offside penalty would have put Purdue at their own 10. Instead, it was a gift TD for the Boilers.
The six receptions were caught by five receivers with Josh Fleeks nabbing 2 for 24 yards before being boneheaded on the sideline and swatting a Purdue player. Sophomore tight end Thomas Fidone II caught a 1-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the second quarter. It was Fidone’s fourth TD reception of the season, the most by a Nebraska tight end since Kyler Reed had eight TD catches in 2010. In addition to the bomb caught by Lloyd, Jaidyn Doss and Ty Hahn each had a grab.
Offensive linemen Ethan Piper, Turner Corcoran and Nouredin Nouili all missed the game with injuries and in their place, the Huskers played Justin Evans-Jenkins, Teddy Prochazka and Henry Lutovsky. It wasn’t horrible and when they committed to the run in the fourth quarter, the push was good.
Emmett Johnson had a career-high 76 rushing yards in the game, including a 28-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for his first career score. The 48-yard drive was entirely on the ground with Johnson rushing for 46 of the yards on five carries. Johnson averaged 5.8 yards per carry and has solidified his role as a starter. Josh Fleeks added 19 yards on 3 carries and Anthony Grant had 18 yards on 6 carries.
Special teams were a wild ride in this game that was more good than bad. The bad was Upback Garrett Snodgrass fumbling the opening kickoff that Purdue recovered at the Husker 32, and Alex Bullock muffing a punt that Quinton Newsome luckily recovered. Without Kemp returning kicks, Bullock looks scared and tentative. The highlight was Elijah Jeudy blocking a field goal that bounced to Quinton Newsome who returned it 68-yards for a touchdown. Fortunately, Newsome wasn’t called for a celebration penalty as he was high fiving with 15 yards to go. It was Nebraska’s first blocked first blocked field goal since Cam Taylor-Britt blocked a field goal at Michigan State in 2021 and it was the Huskers' first return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown since Nathan Gerry had an 85-yard TD on a blocked field goal against Minnesota in 2014. Place-kicker Tristan Alvano connected on a 55-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, marking the longest field goal by Nebraska since a school-record 57-yard field goal by Alex Henery against Colorado in 2008. It ties for the second-longest FG in Nebraska school history (3 other times). The decision by Rhule to give Alvano the shot resulted in a burst of confidence for the young kicker who is now 5 for 9 on the season and has hit 4 of his last 5 treys. Brian Buschini averaged 45.6 yards on five punts with a long of 59 yards and he placed 2 inside the 20.
With Wisconsin losing Saturday evening against Ohio State, the Huskers find themselves in a four-way tie for the lead in the Big Ten West with Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota joining the Huskers at 3-2. In what may seem to be an unbelievable scenario, the Huskers can win the West if they win out and Minnesota loses to Ohio State or Wisconsin. More reasonably, the Huskers are one win from bowl eligibility and can earn that next week with a win in East Lansing against 2-6 Michigan State who lost Saturday to Minnesota 27-12. The following week’s opponent is 5-3 Maryland who has just lost three straight with their 33-27 loss to Northwestern. As Matt Rhule says, we just have to go 1-0 next week. We may be winning ugly, but the West is filled with beauty challenged teams, so just win ugly, baby! Go Big Red!!
- Related: HuskerMax Purdue game page
