With a resurgent defense leading the way, the Huskers' rushing game finishes strong at Purdue.
Midway through the third quarter of the ugliest Big Ten football game of the season, the Nebraska football team was exactly where it didn’t want to be.
Coming off a gut-punch overtime loss in the Big Ten opener, the last thing Nebraska wanted to do was to start slow against Purdue, one of the conference’s most beatable teams, but that’s precisely what happened, and the Boilermakers were glad to take advantage. When Purdue started the second half with an eight-minute field goal drive to take a 3-0 lead, Nebraska’s season seemed to be unraveling.
Then a remarkable thing happened. The Big Red doubled down, leaned more heavily on its running game, and started finishing drives. And the game turned, just like that. The Huskers defeated Purdue 28-10 to keep themselves on pace for a winning season largely because they refused to let old habits define them, and just as importantly, they finally started to get some decent, penalty-free run blocking.
A mix of Dante Dowdell and Emmett Johnson at running back and a couple of big plays from freshman wide receiver Jacory Barney provided the second-half offensive spark the Huskers needed as they seized momentum and scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, a delighted Greg Sharpe, fighting pancreatic cancer, was witty and animated in the Husker Sports Network radio booth and happy Husker fans took over Ross-Ade Stadium.
After a disappointing effort against Illinois, the Blackshirts stabilized, allowing a decent Purdue offense just 224 total yards and a late touchdown. They held Purdue to 50 rushing yards, had five sacks and nine tackles for loss. Thanks to a good effort from Southern Cal transfer Ceyair Wright , they got through game without testing Tommi Hill’s sore foot at all. Linebacker Javin Wright returned from a fall camp health problem and made three tackles.
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