Instant takes: Nebraska 31, Purdue 14
Nebraska overcame a late Purdue surge and four turnovers to beat Purdue 31-14 at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers are now 5-3 and have won three straight games for the first time since the 2016 season.
Here are three instant takes from the big win for the Huskers:
Huskers have another bad start
Nebraska fumbled on the very first play of the game. Garrett Snodgrass returned the ball on the kickoff to Nebraska’s 32 but fumbled it. Purdue’s Anthony Brown forced the fumble and Antoni Stevens recovered it.
Against Northwestern, quarterback Heinrich Haarberg threw an interception on the first offensive play of the game.
Just like last game, it took the Huskers a while to find any offensive momentum.
Luckily, Nebraska’s defense did not start flat and held Purdue in check. The Blackshirts held the Boilermakers to under 100 rushing yards and 100 passing yards for the first time since the 2012 season.
NU didn’t have a first down until there was 3:08 left in the first quarter. Haarberg threw it to Fleeks for a gain of 23 yards. After two broken plays, Haarberg found freshman Jaidyn Doss for a 16-yard gain down the sideline for his second career catch. Fleeks followed it up with a 16-yard rush down the other sideline.
Fleeks’ big catch sparked a long drive that ended in a one-yard Thomas Fidone touchdown catch. Nebraska went up 7-0 with 10:43 left in the first. They put together a 15-play long drive for 87 yards, which lasted nearly nine minutes.
When the offense and special teams struggled for long periods throughout the game, the defense had their back.
Nebraska started off the second half horribly, as well. On NU’s first offensive play, Haarberg kept the ball on an option play but had it punched out for the QB’s first turnover of the game.
After three downs, specialists made a statement play by blocking the 37-yard field goal. Newsome returned it to score a 68-yard touchdown. The defense and special teams tried so hard to ignite the offense.
Explosive plays got the Huskers on the board. They had five plays over 15 yards.
Haarberg went 6-for-11 for 122 passing yards and two touchdowns. He had 22 rushing yards on 19 attempts.
Nebraska offensive line losses more evident
Three Husker offensive linemen went down against Northwestern. Left tackle Turner Corcoran is out for the season and Teddy Prochazka is taking his place. Justin Evans-Jenkins is a left guard, while Nouri Nouili is out for a few weeks. Right guard Ethan Piper is out for the season and Henry Lutovsky started there on Saturday.
The Huskers struggled to run the ball and protect their quarterback throughout the game. Fleeks’ big 16-yard run was the longest of the first half. The other big run was a 15-yard run by Haarberg down the sideline in the middle of the second quarter.
NU had 62 rushing yards in the first half, including Fleeks and Haarberg’s two big runs. They finished with 155 total.
Haarberg faces lots of pressure from Purdue’s defense, specifically their linebackers. Purdue had three sacks, nine tackles for loss and two QB hurries. They forced four fumbles.
Kydran Jenkins had 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a strip sack, which he returned for a touchdown. Nic Scrourton had three tackles for loss and 10 tackles.
Before Saturday, Nebraska ranked No. 20 in rushing offense. They averaged 195.1 rushing yards per game. Against Purdue, the Huskers had 155 rushing yards. They have different personnel, but Emmett Johnson, Anthony Grant and Josh Fleeks can all rush for big numbers.
Johnson broke away from a 28-yard touchdown toward the end of the fourth. His big run made it a three-score game.
NU averaged 3.2 rushing yards per carry.
The turnover battle
After starting the game with a special teams turnover, the defense took it upon themselves to win the turnover battle. However, the offense kept dragging down Nebraska. They had five fumbles and lost four.
After a special teams fumble, Jimari Butler forced a fumble and Quinton Newsome fell on it during Purdue’s second drive of the game. Nebraska’s offense couldn’t capitalize and had a three-and-out.
After another strong drive by NU’s D, the Boilermakers punt to Alex Bullock. Bullock muffed the punt and Purdue fell on it. However, the ball popped out of the pile and Newsome fell on it again.
The Blackshirts followed Nebraska’s lengthy first TD drive with four plays and then an interception. Tommi Hill read the deep shot perfectly. He cut in front of WR Deion Burks for the pick and returned it six yards.
Nebraska’s offense rewarded the D with a 73-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Lloyd. It was the same play, the Belly-G Option, as Malachi Coleman’s 45-yard TD vs. Northwestern.
After Haarberg’s fumble to start the third quarter, NU forced a three-and-out and a field goal. A tackle for the loss of 11 by MJ Sherman and Jimari Butler set the tone. Elijah Jeudy blocked Purdue’s 37-yard field goal attempt.
It flew up and landed in the arms of Newsome. Newsome and Hill ran side-by-side for 68 yards to the endzone. They high-fived right before scoring the touchdown, making it 21-0.
After getting up 24-0 with a 55-yard field goal by Tristan Alvano, things went downhill fast for the Huskers.
NU had a fumble to end the next two drives. Haarberg had the ball punched out for his second turnover. Purdue stormed down the first for their first score of the game.
On the next drive, QB Jeff Sims ran the drive. However, the drive did not go well. On second play, he went to hand off the ball but picked the opposite side of the running back. NU was bailed out with an offside call on the punt. Sims fumbled on the next play and Jenkins returned the ball 55 yards for a touchdown.
Haarberg came in for the next drive. Johnson put the nail in the coffin with a 28-yard touchdown run to go up 31-14.
Hill ended the game with an interception with under two minutes left. Nebraska lost the turnover battle 4-3.
The Huskers lead the nation with 24 fumbles.
Matt Rhule has been harping on winning the turnover battle and getting the defense and special teams to take the ball away. The defense and special teams each forced turnovers. However, it’s nearly impossible to win the turnover margin with five fumbles.
