What Went Right, What Went Wrong in Purdue's 43-37 Victory Over Nebraska
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No matter how well it plays, Purdue football seems to always find itself in close contests by the time the fourth quarter strikes. Following a narrow 43-37 win over Nebraska on Saturday, the team has now been in five one-score games in the first seven weeks of the season.
The Boilermakers are 3-2 in those matchups and were just two stops away from owning an undefeated record to this point. But this team can't dwell on what could've been. Instead, it continues to take the 2022 season one week at a time and is putting itself in a position to come out on top in the race for the Big Ten West.
“The one thing I can say about our team is they got guts,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said after the game. “They play to the end, they work hard, and they want to win. It means something to them. They stayed positive throughout it all, and even though it wasn't pretty, we just kept playing.”
After taking care of Minnesota and Maryland in back-to-back road matchups, Purdue returned home to Ross-Ade Stadium in front of a sellout crowd in Week 7. Sixth-year senior quarterback Aidan O'Connell completed 34 of his 54 passes for 391 yards, four touchdowns and one interception to stave off a fervent second-half effort by the Cornhuskers.
Several others contributed on the offensive side of the ball en route to 608 total yards. And while the defense had breakdowns against one of the conference's most dynamic receivers, it made enough plays to stay ahead until the clock hit zero.
Here's a look at the things that went right for the Boilermakers against the Cornhuskers, and a few that went wrong:
What went right
Devin Mockobee's continued emergence
Redshirt freshman running back Devin Mockobee — a walk-on out of Boonville, Ind. — suited up for his first career start in college football on Saturday against Nebraska.
With junior Dylan Downing out of the lineup and senior King Doerue still easing his way back from injury, Mockobee took the opportunity and ran with it in full stride. He accounted for 178 yards on the ground and a touchdown on 30 carries.
"I knew coming in that I was gonna be starting this week, and I knew that I had to show up and not just fall on my face," Mockobee said. "So I just wanted to make the best effort that I could to contribute to the team."
Through the first seven weeks of the season, the 6-foot, 195-pound running back leads the team in all rushing categories. Mockobee has totaled 453 yards rushing on 80 attempts while reaching the end zone five times in 2022.
Purdue Boilermakers running back Devin Mockobee (45) breaks through the Nebraska Cornhuskers defensive line during the NCAA football game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind.
© Noe Padilla/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK
He boasts natural ball-carrier vision, able to attack open running lanes with speed and force despite not being the strongest running back on the depth chart. Mockobee can oftentimes turn nothing into something, a trait that's constantly praised by his teammates and coaches.
"He's obviously spectacular," O'Connell said of Mockobee. "He runs so hard. Plays that I hand the ball off, carry out my fake and look back, he'll look stuffed and he'll end up getting 10, 12, even more yards sometimes. It helps us a lot."
Against the Cornhuskers, Mockobee had five runs of at least 10 yards and wasn't stopped for a negative gain until his final carry of the night. On Purdue's final possession of the first half, he accounted for all 39 yards of the drive, resulting in a touchdown plunge from the 1-yard line.
"You've got to give Devin a lot of credit," Brohm said. "This young man came in here and wanted to earn his stripes he doesn't care who he plays, he runs hard, bounces off tackles. He can still get a lot stronger and bigger, but we're lucky to have him."
More receivers step up
Sixth-year senior wide receiver Charlie Jones continues to be spectacular for Purdue football. He posted 12 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Nebraska, but he wasn't the only one getting the job done in the passing game.
The Boilermakers opened the scoring with a 2-yard scoring pass to redshirt junior wide receiver TJ Sheffield. He had a breakout game against the Cornhuskers, going for a season-high 70 yards on five catches to go along with a pair of touchdowns.
Sheffield, due to injuries in the wide receiver room, has been tasked with learning two positions in Purdue's complex offensive system. He's playing his primary role out of the slot while also spending more time on the perimeter to provide much-needed depth.
"A funny kid who everyone in the locker room loves, great attitude all the time and just loves his teammates," O'Connell said. "For him to learn two positions, it's hard. It's a hard playbook to understand just at one position. For him to do both and go back and forth and not know where he's going to be at any given rep is awesome."
By the end of the game, nine different players caught a pass for the Boilermakers. The normal cast of pass-catchers found their names in the stat sheet, such as redshirt senior tight end Payne Durham, who recorded five catches for 30 yards.
Mockobee and Doerue also made plays in the passing game as well, combining for 66 yards through the air from their running back positions.
But redshirt sophomore Andrew Sowinski continues to find his way onto the field. The Indianapolis native made his first catch of the season against Maryland before hauling in four passes for 34 yards against Nebraska.
Timely takeaways
Maybe the biggest factor in Purdue being able to hang on for a victory over Nebraska was nine points off two critical takeaways. The Boilermakers held an early 10-0 lead in the first half before the Cornhuskers started to find their rhythm on offense.
After back-to-back scoring drives to tie the game, Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson made a brutal error, throwing the ball right into the waiting arms of Purdue junior linebacker Clyde Washington.
O'Connell and the offense would turn the interception into a field goal, part of the team's five scoring drives in the first half.
After taking a 27-13 lead into the locker room at halftime, the Cornhuskers came out with a renewed energy on offense, blazing past the Boilermakers for three scores in the first four possession of the third quarter.
As Purdue held on to a one-score lead, fifth-year senior cornerback Reese Taylor found the team's second interception of the night. Once again, the offense rewarded the defense for its efforts, going 62 yards in six plays for a touchdown.
"That was a huge play because they had momentum, and they were scoring about every time they touched it in the second half," Brohm said. "Reese has had his ups and downs, but he works hard.
"We're fortunate to have him on our team. Hopefully, this provided some confidence because he's practiced very well. It's just in the game, sometimes they make a couple of plays on him."
Nebraska was never able to find a score to tilt the scales in its direction despite an outburst of offense in the second half.
Perfect quarterback protection
Purdue's offense executed an astonishing 101 plays in its win on Saturday, nearly double that of Nebraska which had just 52 on the night. O'Connell attempted more than 50 passes for the third time this season, but this time, he was never taken to the ground for a sack.
The Cornhuskers entered the game with just 10 quarterback takedowns in the first six weeks of the season, and the Boilermakers didn't allow them to add to that figure.
"I think our guys executed well," O'Connell said. "Looking at the sheet, zero sacks is pretty amazing for dropping back that many times. So kudos to our offensive line for protecting me and doing a great job."
O'Connell completed 11 of his 16 passes in the fourth quarter, including an incredible 2-yard touchdown throw to Jones for their second scoring connection of the game. He was 5-of-6 when passing on third down in the final 15 minutes, and all of his completions went for first downs.
"Our offensive line played hard the entire game," Brohm said. "Aiden hung in there to the very end and made some unbelievable throws when we needed him to."
The offensive line was responsible for Purdue's balance on offense. The team had 391 yards through the air and another 217 yards on the ground while scoring on six of its seven trips to the red zone.
"I thought our offensive line didn't get enough credit either," Brohm said.
"I mean, they played extremely hard, and when you gotta move the ball and get points and touchdowns both in the running game and the passing game, I thought they performed very well."
What went wrong
Torched by Trey Palmer
In a game in which Purdue's offense was dominant both through the air and on the ground, the defense had trouble keeping Nebraska from hanging around.
Thompson's favorite target all night was wide receiver Trey Palmer, who exploded in the second half to the tune of two touchdowns while finishing the game with five plays of 30 or more yards. He tallied 237 yards receiving on just seven catches and added one rush for 60 yards.
Oct 15, 2022; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers wide receiver Trey Palmer (3) catches a pass for a touchdown during the second half at Ross-Ade Stadium.
© Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports
"We've got to get it fixed. This team, that's what they do," Brohm said. "They throw the ball deep, they like to throw the ball as well. And we allowed wide-open touchdowns. So it can't happen. Luckily, we can learn with a win and try to dissect it to try to make sure it doesn't happen."
Palmer's touchdown receptions went for 37 and 72 yards, respectively. He entered the game as the Big Ten's fourth-leading receiver and saw 13 targets against the Boilermakers.
"There's always stuff to look at after the game, as well as mistakes made," Purdue redshirt senior defensive end Jack Sullivan said. "I don't know off the top of my head what was going on. But we'll definitely work our hardest to get that stuff fixed and come out and clean it up next week.
"That's always the focus, just looking at what went wrong during the game, make the corrections and come out and don't let it happen again. So we'll figure it out. I have all the faith in the whole defense. We're going to do our darndest to really do our best every time we go out there and fix what we need to fix."
Specials teams weren't so special
Despite never trailing against Nebraska, Purdue's lead felt anything but insurmountable. For a team that's been devastated by fourth-quarter losses twice this season, it can't afford to be leaving points on the field in close games.
Fifth-year senior kicker Mitchell Fineran made three kicks from inside 40 yards out but missed a 41-yard field goal that would have put the Boilermakers up by 10 points in the third quarter. Instead, the Cornhuskers would take the ball 72 yards in six plays before kicking a field goal of their own.
Fineran also missed wide left on a point-after attempt following Jones' 2-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter, failing to give Purdue a 14-point lead with 6:55 left to play in the game.
In the return game, redshirt freshman wide receiver Deion Burks fielded two kickoffs but totaled just 18 return yards. His first runback took the team to its own 19-yard line, while his second could only reach the 11-yard line.
Sophomore punter Jack Ansell attempted just two punts for the Boilermakers all night, but one was blocked and rolled dead at the 39-yard line of the Cornhuskers. Nebraska took advantage with a six-play, 43-yard drive that ended in a field goal.
"We'll try to get things fixed after we enjoy the win, and then we've got a lot of work to do to get ready for the next opponent," Brohm said.
Purdue will go on the road for a matchup against Wisconsin next Saturday. The game is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET inside Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisc.
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- Purdue Football Outlasts Nebraska in 43-37 Firefight: Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell threw for 391 yards and four touchdowns in a shootout with Nebraska's Casey Thompson. Wide receivers Charlie Jones and TJ Sheffield each caught a pair of scores while running back Devin Mockobee ran for 178 yards. CLICK HERE
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