Nebraska Football: Matt Rhule and Staff Continue to Impress with Win Over Purdue

It might be just me but I hope that Matt Rhule will let his hair down at a post-game press conference at some point. Maybe show us that he is having a good time. Maybe give us a clue that he’s happy to win.

But that’s not the guy Nebraska has at the helm. However, it sure looks like that is exactly what Nebraska has needed for over a decade.

Nebraska is currently on a three game winning streak. That’s the first three game winning streak for the Huskers since 2016.

Goodness.

This is the first time Nebraska has gone undefeated in the month of October, wait for it, since 2001. You know the season when Eric Crouch won the Heisman.

Insane. Though the bye week did help these 2023 Huskers.

Through all the injuries and all of the fumbles, though the fumbling issue could now be contagious, this team has gone 5-1 over the past six games and that one loss was to a team that stole it’s signals.

I think we can all agree that this is not a great team. It might not even be a good team. It could be an average team that is extremely physical.

That could be good enough in 2023 with what could be considered a historically bad Big Ten West Division. Though we cannot talk about that. We need to be one game at a time.

Matt Rhule isn’t celebrating anything yet.

That doesn’t mean that everybody else cannot take a step back and enjoy that win over Purdue. That is what I plan on doing.

Interesting (to me) Game Notes from the Athletic Department

• Nebraska’s win evened the all-time series with Purdue at 6-6, with Nebraska holding a 3-2 lead in Lincoln. The Husker win ended a Purdue two-game win streak in the series.
• The Huskers held Purdue to a season-low 195 total yards, the second opponent this season Nebraska has held under 200 total yards (also Northern Illinois). NU held a conference opponent to fewer than 200 yards for the first time since allowing 199 yards to Illinois on Sept. 29, 2017.
• Purdue’s touchdown with 9:09 remaining in the game was the first touchdown Nebraska had allowed in nine quarters (and more than 142game minutes) dating back to the second quarter at Illinois
• Cornerback Quinton Newsome returned a blocked field 68 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to give Nebraska a 21-0 lead. It marked Nebraska’s first blocked FG return for a touchdown since Nathan Gerry had an 85-yard TD on a blocked field goal against Minnesota in 2014.
• Nebraska opened the scoring with a 15-play, 87-yard drive that consumed 8:52 spanning the first and second quarter. It was the longest drive by Nebraska this season in plays, yards and time. The 8:52 scoring drive is Nebraska’s longest scoring drive since an 18-play drive for a field goal that consumed 9:24 against Northwestern in 2017.
• Place-kicker Tristan Alvano connected on a 55-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, marking the longest field goal by Nebraska since a school-record 57-yard field goal by Alex Henery against Colorado in 2008. It ties for the second-longest FG in Nebraska school history (3 other times).
• Sophomore tight end Thomas Fidone II caught a 1-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the second quarter. It was Fidone’s fourth TD reception of the season, the most by a Nebraska tight end since Kyler Reed had eight TD catches in 2010.
• Right tackle Bryce Benhart made his 37th career start at right tackle. That total ties Zach Wiegert for the third-most starts at right tackle in Nebraska history.

And....Here’s Will Compton