Rapid Reaction: Purdue Scores Late to Take Down Nebraska

Purdue showed improvement in a 31-27 victory over Nebraska.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue got the job done at home to keep its bowl hopes alive after a 31-27 win over Nebraska.

It was a slow start for the Purdue offense. They recorded just 38 yards, one first down and threw one interception in the first quarter. But the Boilermaker defense came up big to keep them in the game. After the first-quarter interception gave Nebraska the ball at the two yard line and a chance to go up by two touchdowns, the Purdue defense kept them out of the end zone and limited the Cornhusker lead to 10-0. The beginning of the second quarter saw a similar stop, with Cory Trice intercepting Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez at the three-yard line.

From there it was all Purdue the rest of the half. They scored on two long touchdown drives in the second quarter to take a 14-10 lead into halftime. On the first drive, Purdue went 89 yards on 10 plays. Plummer made some big plays on the drive, breaking an 18-yard run to start the drive, finding Milton Wright for a first down on 3rd and 15, and finishing the drive with a three-yard pass to King Doerue. The second drive was a bit longer - 96 yards on 12 plays. It was capped off by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jack Plummer to Payne Durham with just 14 seconds remaining in the half.

Both teams had a slow third quarter, with each just tacking on field goals to make the score 17-13 Purdue.

The fourth quarter saw both teams trading scores again. Nebraska took a 20-17 lead early in the quarter, but Purdue responded with 6:50 remaining in the game. After Plummer was injured on a 14-yard scramble to move Purdue inside the 10-yard line, Aidan O’Connell came in and finished off the scoring drive handing the ball of to Doerue for a seven-yard touchdown run. Purdue’s lead was short-lived though. Nebraska responded in just 2:29, and took back the lead on a Martinez four-yard touchdown run.

O’Connell led Purdue on what may have been its biggest drive of the season to win the game. Purdue went 82 yards on 12 plays for the game-winning touchdown. Brohm dialed up an impressive play call for the score, handing the ball off to David Bell on a wide receiver sweep for a nine-yard touchdown. The Purdue defense held, like it had for most of the day, to seal the 31-27 win for Purdue.