Nebraska got a victory at home in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday, but at what cost. Nebraska had an injury early in the game to Heisman candidate Ameer Abdullah, who finished the game with 6 carries for just 1 yard. His knee injury made him questionable to return. This news was probably bigger than the result of Saturday's action, but the game was great as well.
This is a game that seems like a game Nebraska didn't deserve to win, simply at looking at the box score. Purdue had more offensive yards and 1 less turnover, but they still lost by 3 touchdowns. The Huskers did win the special teams battle though, starting off after forcing a 3 and out, the Huskers blocked the Purdue punt and recovered it in the red zone. 2 plays later, Armstrong Jr. found De'Mornay Pierson-El for a 17 yard touchdown and an early lead. Nebraska would have Pierson-El return a punt to the 16 yard line on their next possession, but the Huskers would end up getting shut out of the end zone after converting a first down earlier on the drive, Tommy Armstrong Jr. would get stopped on fourth and goal from the 1. Nebraska would get the ball on a short field on their next possession but Drew Brown would miss a 46 yard field goal. It was just another mistake for the Huskers and Purdue found a way to take advantage early in the first quarter when Austin Appleby would score on a rushing touchdown from 25 yards out.
The Huskers would bounce right back though, which is a surprise. Imani Cross would end up rushing in a touchdown from 2 yards out on the next possession. Then after another blocked punt, Tommy Armstrong Jr. would get a rushing touchdown on fourth and 4 from the 29 yard line. The Huskers went up 2 touchdowns and would not look back from there. They intercepted an Appleby pass on their next possession and punted it back to Purdue with 14 seconds left. They would be up 21-7 at the half.
Nebraska drove down the field in the second half only for Armstrong Jr. to throw an interception. Purdue would end up punting and it would shank off his foot and Nebraska would get the ball just 45 yards away from the end zone. Imani Cross would get fed the ball on the following drive and ended up reaching the end zone for his second touchdown of the day. Nothing else happened until the fourth quarter when Cameron Posey caught a 23 yard touchdown pass from Appleby to bring it back down to a 2 touchdown lead. Then later, after a turnover on downs, Terrell Newby ran it in from 7 yards out on the first play of the drive. That would get to the final score of 35-14.
Next week, Nebraska (8-1, 4-1) gets a week off before they travel to Camp Randall Stadium to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in a pivotal Big 10 West battle on November 15. Purdue (3-6, 1-4) actually hosts the Badgers in West Lafayette next Saturday November 8.