Penalties, punts and miserable placekicking lead to the Huskers beating Purdue

On a cool and cloudy day in West Lafayette, the Nebraska Cornhuskers recovered from an anemic first half to handily defeat the Purdue Boilermakers 28-10 and move to 4-1 on the season. It was an uncharacteristically ugly first half, as the two teams combined for four missed or blocked field goals and seven punts, went 1-for-12 on third-down conversions and committed 129 yards in penalties. In fact, Purdue had 90 yards in penalties and just 89 yards in total offense at halftime. They had four punts left and only five pass completions. The Huskers crossed the Purdue 40-yard line on all six possessions in the first half and racked up 210 yards of offense without scoring a point. Including the end of the Illinois game, there were eight straight Nebraska possessions within the opposing team’s 40 points. It was a game that deserved to be shown on Peacock so that only a limited number of viewers had to witness the ineptitude.

The second half began with Purdue using up 8:08 of the third quarter before John Bullock made an impressive stop on third-and-short to force a Boiler trey. The Huskers then scored on their next three possessions with touchdown drives of 70, 63 and 57 yards, while the defense forced two 3-and-outs, with Purdue netting -7 and then -1 yards. Purdue’s next drive ended with a 29-yard pick-six from Bullock and the score was 28-3. It was the reverse game in Colorado, as the Huskers scored all of their points after halftime rather than before.

The teams combined for 24 penalties for a total of 259 yards. Purdue racked up 165 yards of penalties, with each defensive penalty being at least 10 yards. They called five pass interference penalties as they were unable to contain Isaiah Neyor, Jahmal Banks or Heinrich Haarberg. Nebraska also had its share of laundry, including an absolutely atrocious offensive pass interference penalty on Thomas Fidone, who actually avoided contact with the defender. The flag canceled out Rahmir Johnson’s 22-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The nonsense eventually culminated in a 10-yard holding penalty on Jahmal Banks in the fourth quarter, which caused Matt Rhule to slam his headset on the ground, resulting in another 15-yard foul. At this point, I didn’t blame Coach Rhule because Big Ten referees make middle school referees look like professionals. On 2nd-and-29, Dylan Raiola completed a pass to Emmett Johnson that gave him 27 yards plus another 15 yards that he added for a facemask. The Huskers scored two plays later.

The Blackshirts held the Boilers to 50 yards rushing and 174 yards passing. Purdue managed a consolation touchdown against the reserve team with 1:29 to play, but the defense has now held four of five opponents to 10 points or fewer this season. Nebraska totaled five sacks in the win, its second-highest total of the season (six against Colorado), and recorded nine tackles for a loss. Saturday marked the second opponent Nebraska has held scoreless in the first half (Colorado), and its defenses have allowed just three points in the second quarter this season. Nebraska is one of only seven teams that hasn’t allowed a rushing touchdown this season, and including last season, the Huskers haven’t allowed a rushing touchdown in 10 of their last 12 games.

Ceyair Wright, filling in for Tommi Hill, had another outstanding game with five tackles and two pass breakups to lead the defense. Mikai Gbayor also had five stops in the game. James Williams with 2 sacks and MJ Sherman with 1.5 sacks both set career highs in that category on Saturday. Williams’ two sacks are the most by a Husker this season and the most since Nash Hutmacher had 2.5 sacks against Northwestern last season. Ty Robinson added another sack and Kai Wallin shared a sack with Sherman. Bullock, Mario Buford, Jimari Butler and Keona Davis all contributed tackles in the loss. Bullock’s pick-six was his first career interception and was warmly celebrated by his teammates, as the pick was a just reward for a man who has worked hard on defense. It was Nebraska’s second interception for a touchdown this season (Tommi Hill vs. Colorado) and it is the first time since 2017 that Nebraska had two pick-six TDs in a season. With a +1 mark on turnovers on Saturday, Nebraska improves to +5 on the season, with the Huskers outscoring their opponents 31-0 in points off turnovers.

Dylan Raiola finished the game with 17 of 27 yards and a touchdown, hitting eight different receivers. He has also thrown a touchdown pass in all five games this season. He was sacked just once when the Huskers started their third left tackle, Gunnar Gottula, after Turner Corcoran’s injury last week. The offensive line generally gave Raiola plenty of time in pass defense, but struggled with run blocking in the first half as the Huskers had just 49 yards rushing on 13 attempts. However, as the game went on, they seemed to improve and finished the game with 161 yards on the ground on 31 carries, yielding two touchdowns.

Senior receiver Jahmal Banks scored a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give Nebraska its first points. It was his second touchdown of 2024 (UTEP) and his 15th career touchdown. Banks finished the day with five catches for 82 yards and had 13 receptions over the past two weeks. Thomas Fidone had three catches for 39 yards and Jaylen Lloyd grabbed a grab for 25 yards.

Jacory Barney Jr. led Nebraska with 66 yards rushing on four carries, including a career-high 31-yard run and a 25-yard touchdown run. Barney entered the game with a 38-yard run. He also had two catches for 28 yards. His speed is electrifying and he must be a challenge to defend. Emmett Johnson totaled 98 all-purpose yards (50 rushing, 48 passing) on ​​just 10 touches. Johnson’s 48 receiving yards was a career-high (43 against UNI), while his 27-yard reception was also a career-high. Johnson seems to ignite the team whenever he comes into the game, as he has a shaky touch and a shot that produces solid gains. Dante Dowdell (9 carries for 21 yards) was mostly stuffed, but managed a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down in the fourth quarter to give the Huskers a 14-3 lead. The play was helped by a great block from Barret Liebentrit, who hit two defenders at the rim.

Special teams have been a disaster and if they are not improved, the Huskers will lose at least a game or two. With Tristan Alvano still suffering from a groin injury, backup kicker John Hohl missed his first field goal attempt from 42 yards. The second and third attempts were blocked after bad snaps that defending champion Brian Buschini could barely hold on to. Camden Witucki replaced Aidan Flege as snapper after the first block and at least managed decent snaps on four more extra point attempts. The errant snaps may have cost us the game last week and must be maddening for a coaching staff that has to think about keeping the offense on the field, regardless of the fourth yard. Blockers on punt returns sniff around blocks and gunners in punt coverage get lost in the end zone instead of releasing punts inside the 5-yard line. Punter Brian Buschini managed to hit two of three punts inside the 20 and had touchbacks on four of five kickoffs while making three tackles in punt and kick coverage.

After last week’s gut-punch loss that left so many chances to win, the Big Ten is taking every road win it can get. The Huskers likely gained some confidence with their second-half performance against a mediocre Purdue team, as Nebraska has yet to play a four-quarter game. In his press conference, coach Matt Rhule stated, “It may not be for everyone, but we’re just a growing team.” He continued to emphasize the long game of growth and maturity. Children make mistakes. It’s up to the trainers to help them learn and develop. It will certainly help when the Huskers play the four-quarter game next Saturday when the undefeated and likely No. 1-ranked Scarlet Knights of Rutgers appear at Memorial Stadium. Hopefully the team can take the next step toward bowl eligibility. Go Big Red!!!

MORE: Tad Stryker: Ground Game Grit

MORE: I-80 Club after dark: Nebraska is 4-1 after a 28-10 win over Purdue

MORE: The turning point: Nebraska at Purdue

MORE: Adam Carriker Gut reaction: Nebraska football’s ugly, upset win over Purdue

MORE: WATCH: Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule after game; Cornhuskers top boilermaker

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers on SIsubscribe HuskerMax on YouTubeand to visit HuskerMax.com daily.