Well, they got the win. That's about all I want to say about this game because for the first 58 minutes and 30 seconds of this game, I was almost sick watching that performance. Purdue honestly looked like they wanted this game more than the Huskers and they just about took it. Nebraska has talked all season about the necessity of establishing a ground game early and often in all of their games. That plan failed yet again as the Huskers mustered up only 40 rushing yards throughout the game being led by Freshman RB Jaylin Bradley with 42. Ozigbo only had 8 yards on just 10 carries and Wilbon squeaked out 3 on his lone carry of the game. Yes, they were playing from behind most of the game, but there was no effort to establish a rushing attack if you ask me. When Ozigbo only gets 10 touches on the ground, it's clear Langsdorf and Riley have no confidence in our ground game from the get go. Much like against Ohio State, Nebraska gave up the run game before even trying. Bradley did provide a bit of a spark in the second half, but regardless, when you face a middle of the road rush defense like Purdue (53rd nationally, 9th in BIG 10), your top running back should get more carries than just 10 and more yards than just 8. The offensive line has been one of the worst I've witnessed in my existence, and the injuries have not helped. Apart from the injuries though, self-inflicted wounds, missed assignments and getting flat out beat on the line has been the recurring theme of the year up front for Nebraska. If they have any hope of making a bowl game, they need to fix the issues up front NOW. I've been saying it all season, but all of the issues for Nebraska start up front. The offense will continue to struggle if we can't get a push up front. Pass protection is still an issue as well. Lee was sacked 3 times and the Boilermakers racked up 8 Tackles for Loss. Despite all of the issues in front of him, Lee passed for a career best 431 yards with 2 TDs and 0 picks for the second straight game. He's shown great improvement over recent weeks and has kept the offense from bombing out completely with his play. He'll need help as the Huskers move into November looking for two more wins, but Lee looks like he's settled down within the offense now. His accuracy has improved and the receivers didn't drop as many passes against Purdue. Hoppes was especially impressive! He made me want to take away the Tyler "Droppes" nickname he's earned, but I've got to see one more solid game before that happens. Regardless, the passing game has improved drastically since the early part of the season. Point will still be hard to come by if Nebraska can't run though.
On the defensive side of the ball, there's still the same issues we've seen all season long. Poor tackling, poor pass rush, no push on the line of scrimmage and DBs not sure how to play the ball when it's in the air. The Blackshirts surrendered 363 total yards to the Boilermakers, including 199 on the ground. Diaco claims this will be one of the top defenses in the country, but they have a long way to go before they reach that point. Hopefully players like Ben Stille and Jake Weinmaster get some more playing time moving forward at Linebacker. From what I've seen, they're two of the best at wrapping up when tackling. That's still my biggest issue of them all on defense. You're not going to win many games when you let backs and receivers break 2-3 tackles every time they touch the ball. Nonetheless, there are a few bright spots on defense. The Blackshirts held Purdue to 3-13 on 3rd downs and held David Blough to just 57% completion rating and only 164 yards. I was surprised the Boilermakers didn't try to mix in Elijah Sindelar, especially because he's more of the rushing threat at QB. I'm not sure if that would've been better or worse for the Huskers, but it's probably best we didn't find out. Not a great game from the defense, by not their worst by any means. Still need some more improvement.
Overall, this was a fairly pathetic game to watch. It seemed like Nebraska was confused on just about every play offensively and had no clue what to do once they got close to the endzone. Luckily Drew Brown is straight up $$$ at kicker, hitting all 4 of his field goals in the game with a long of 44. It's nice to have him in your back pocket, but Nebraska needs to be much more efficient when driving the ball into the 20. This again goes back to the lack of a rushing attack and poor blocking up front. We'll see what improvements are made heading into a tough game at home against a stingy Northwestern team. I'm content with the much needed win, but definitely not very optimistic about it. Thanks for reading and GO BIG RED! Be sure to watch for my predictions post this Saturday!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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