Nebraska 37 Purdue 27 : Recap and Postgame Thread

Pregame

It appears that Nebraska will have Dedrick Mills at running back. In terrible news, Myles Farmer went down with an injury in pregame warmups and had to be carted off. It was the kind of injury that the TV crews said they would not show on replay.

Get well soon Myles.

The Purdue offense gets the ball first.

First Quarter

David Bell gets the first carry for the Boilers, followed by a Rondale Moore catch, which was negated by a penalty. The Blackshirts had Purdue at a third and 10. You can guess what happens next, right? Drink. First down Purdue.

Third and 11. [Jill’s internet cuts out]

BLOCKED PUNT!! FIRST AND GOAL NEBRASKA.

Dedrick Mills one yard run. TOUCHDOWN!!! The Connor Culp XP was good.

Nebraska 7 Purdue 0

Third and seven. SACK Garrett Nelson!

Cam Taylor-Britt had a nice punt return, and the Huskers were moved instantly into the red zone when the Purdue sideline got a warning and 15 yard penalty.

Luke McCaffrey lost five yards and then Adrian Martinez found Levi Falck. On a third and six play that looked like it was dead in the water ADRIAN NOT ONLY ESCAPED PRESSURE BUT FOUND THE END ZONE. TOUCHDOWN!!

The Nebraska offense has 18 yards and two touchdowns.

Nebraska 14 Purdue 0

The Blackshirts, Damion Daniels and Luke Reimer, sniffed out a Jack Plummer drawn for a loss. Plummer went for a home run ball, but Dicaprio Bootle knocked the ball away.

Third and 12. SACK!! Ben Stille.

The Huskers get great field position again after the punt and are past midfield. Do you want something to complain about? Wan’dale Robinson hasn’t touched the ball yet. Do you feel better?

Zavier Betts converted a first down, followed by Dedrick Mills. And, here comes Wan’dale. First down just outside of the 10 yard line. What will we complain about now?

Third and four at the six yard line. Adrian wisely throws the ball away. He maybe could have extended the play a bit more, but given the current game situation, I think it was definitely the right call. #DecisionMaking

Nebraska 17 Purdue 0

Zander Horvath got a first down carry which was extended by a facemask on Marquel Dismuke. Purdue finally crosses midfield on the penalty. Plummer again went for a homerun ball, this time to Rondale Moore, but it was knocked away again by Bootle. He had a chance at the interception, but the underthrown ball had just enough mustard on it. Erik Chinander is trusting Bootle to go man-to-man on Moore.

A holding penalty on Purdue - WUT OTHER TEAMS CAN HOLD AGAINST NEBRASKA?!? led to a third and 12 that was converted by Rondale Moore. Drink.

The Nebraska secondary has come to play as Deontai Williams knocked away another home run ball bringing up third and 19. The screen netted five.

Purdue’s 46 yard field goal was good.

Nebraska 17 Purdue 3

Wan’dale got drilled on a first down play that gained over 10.

Second Quarter

Alante Brown showed up for a short gain and then Martinez held up in a pocket on third and eight (great job o-line) to find Wan’dale for the completion.

Purdue offsides. WUT? (I had already typed ‘false start’)

Rahmir Johnson enters the game for a four yard carry and then Martinez is sacked to turn second and one into third and seven. Wan’dale couldn’t make the one-handed grab (that one is on Adrian Martinez and not #1). Connor Culp made the 49 yard field goal.

Nebraska 20 Purdue 3

Purdue returned the kickoff to midfield. Nadab Joseph was injured on the play and was carted off. That is the second defensive back Nebraska has lost today.

Purdue is nearing the red zone behind a Jackson Anthrop catch (wide open, sigh).

Another wide open receiver showed up when the defense chased Moore. King Doerue touchdown. Husker fans know this feeling, right?

Nebraska 20 Purdue 10

A penalty on the kickoff gave Nebraska the ball at the 35. Cooper Jewett gets a carry for Nebraska and a Zavier Betts sweep goes for a loss. Third and 10. Wan’dale gets the first down. Then Dedrick decides he wants one too to push the Huskers past midfield. Travis Vokolek first down. Adrian chose to keep on a read option and it looked like he should run the ball, but he made the better decision to pass to Wan’dale to set up first and goal. Adrian is a different quarterback than early in the season - in a very good way.

Some major shifts at the line resulted a a Wyatt Liewer TOUCHDOWN. We can haz swing pass blocking!?!

Nebraska 27 Purdue 10

Two penalties on Caleb Tannor and Deontai Williams (both enforced) gave Purdue 30 free yards. Good grief. The Blackshirts took that personally and forced third and sixteen behind the third sack of the game (Still + Nelson) for bring up fourth and 16. The pooch punt by Plummer was downed at the 10 yard line.

The Huskers went three and out to bring out William Przystrup for his first punt of the game with under two minutes in the half.

Purdue was already going to get good field position but the Huskers committed catch interference to give Purdue even better field position - putting them nearly into field goal range already.

The Blackshirts forced a fourth and one. DENIED!!!

Adrian Martinez looked like he had tunnel vision on the first two plays and was lucky to not get picked off. Purdue forced a fourth down with 26 seconds left and took their final timeout. I don’t know why Nebraska didn’t call more run plays on that series to run out the clock. I get that the offense is playing well and coaches want to be more aggressive, but that is not the time or place.

I was right. The punt was blocked and Purdue was in the red zone immediately. After two plays, they were set up at first and goal with eight seconds left. After a damn good attempt at a catch (incomplete) in the end zone the Boilers kicked the field goal.

The playcalling on the previous Husker offensive series:

Nebraska 27 Purdue 13

Halftime

Nebraska gets the ball to start the second half. Can Matt Lubick dial up a series to help his team increase their lead?

The very talented Purdue defender, Derrick Barnes returns for the second half after a targeting suspension that carried over from the previous game. This will change the Boilermaker defense - and not in Nebraska’s favor.

Third Quarter

Alante Brown brought the ball out the 30 yard line. The Husker offense came out with tempo. We have only seen them play this fast with Luke under center, but Adrian is now showing he can do it too. The Huskers were at midfield for a third and one play. Adrian converted that AND MUCH MORE easily on the draw. (Good job o-line!)

Nebraska moved quickly into the red zone. Lubick is dealing right now and Martinez is too.

First and goal. Second and goal. TOUCHDOWN ADRIAN MARTINEZ!! (Good job o-line)

Purdue’s defense was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play.

Nebraska 34 Purdue 13

Purdue came out with very disinterested body language but gained 10 and nine yards respectively on their first two plays - showing a bit of softness in the initial plan by Nebraska’s defense. The Blackshirts quickly corrected that trajectory by forcing a fourth down on the Husker side of the field. Purdue elected to go for it and Purdue converted.

A huge Purdue play was negated by holding. I do not understand when other teams self-destruct. I thought only Nebraska was allowed to do that?

The holding penalty led to a third and 19 play which the Blackshirts contained to bring up fourth and 13 at midfield. Jeff Brohm elected to go for it (or so it seemed) but Plummer pooch punted.

The fumbled handoff between Martinez and Mills was recovered by Nebraska. Mistakes like that happen, but they seem less-terrible when the Huskers have a 20+ point lead. On third and 10, Wan’dale got really damn close to the conversion, but Nebraska punted.

Purdue’s ensuing drive moved them slowly, but steadily down the field. Touchdown.

Nebraska 34 Purdue 20

Luke McCaffrey came in at quarterback for Nebraska with one minute left in the third quarter. Nebraska converted a first down and Adrian put his helmet back on and trotted onto the field for the next snap.

Fourth Quarter

Third and 10 for Nebraska finds Luke McCaffrey in again at quarterback. This was not entirely Luke’s fault, but the Huskers had to punt. I suspect Adrian’s shoulder is bothering him more than we realize. Purdue ball inside the 20 yard line.

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE AND TWO BLACKSHIRTS COLLIDE TRYING FOR THE INTERCEPTION WHICH LETS DAVID BALL SCORE EASILY.

Nebraska 34 Purdue 27

With 12 minutes left in the game, Nebraska took over possession of the ball. A Purdue player was carted off (get well soon) and a targeting review led to no penalty. A holding penalty on Nebraska’s offense (Bryce Benhardt) pushes the Huskers back. Another holding penalty on Matt Farniok further stalled the drive.

This is the Husker team we’ve come to know and love (not).

A Purdue late hit penalty bailed Nebraska out of an overthrown ball giving the Huskers a first down. That was quickly followed by a pass interference penalty on Purdue to keep the drive alive and move the Huskers near midfield.

Austin Allen made the BIG BIG catch but couldn’t keep his feet (it would have been a touchdown if he could catch and run). I am not dissing #11 - he did great.

A great Dedrick Mills run was called back by an illegal low block (Austin Allen). After a Wan’dale catch, the Huskers faced third and 14 near the 20. Wandale looked like he might escape for a bit, but Nebraska had to bring out the field goal unit.

Nebraska 37 Purdue 27

The Blackshirts came out on a mission. CAM TAYLOR-BRITT WE SEE YOU!

The Husker offense did their best, but gave up possession on a fourth down play where Adrian had a wide open Austin Allen (but Purdue’s defense batted down the ball on a really great play).

With under two minutes and a fourth and sixth play, Purdue is up against the wall.

Garbage time.

Nebraska wins!!

Final. Nebraska 37 Purdue 27

Wooo. The Huskers made more plays than they missed. The mistakes made were not back breakers. Progress??