Sep 262 min read

Nebraska Ready to Rally Against Purdue After Loss to Illini

Nebraska | CB Tommy Hill — © Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

At noon on Sept. 27, the Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten Conference) will face off against the Purdue Boilermakers (1-2) in Lafayette, Ind. at Ross-Ade Stadium. It will be Purdue’s first Big Ten game of the season while the Cornhuskers are coming off a 31-24 loss against the No. 19 Illinois Fighting Illini (4-0, 1-0) on Sept. 20.

The overall record between these two teams dating back to 1958 is 6-6. Purdue has won four out of the past six meetings. Last year, Purdue fell behind 24-0 in the fourth quarter and rattled off two back-to-back touchdown passes to close the gap to 24-14. Ultimately, Nebraska won 31-14.

Ryan Walters — © Alex Martin/Journal and Courier/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Walters Blocking out Noise

For the Cornhuskers, this will be their first road game of the season and the Boilermakers' first home game since a 66-7 massacre at the hands of the No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-1) on Sept. 14. Purdue head coach Ryan Walters’ second season certainly hasn’t gone the way he expected. Walters is hoping that his players will remain focused on the task at hand, and not listen to any of the outside noise. “During the season I don’t really open X (Twitter) or read articles unless it’s for recruiting purposes, I try to encourage our guys to do the same,” he said, On3 reported. With the early success that former head coach Jeff Brohm is having at Louisville, it probably is best for Walters to stay off of social media for the time being.

Not much has gone right for the Boilermakers throughout this season. But a win over Nebraska could help improve the overall team morale as Walters looks to rebuild the football team. One key for Purdue to pull off the win is the play of redshirt senior quarterback Hudson Card. Card has had an up-and-down season thus far. He has thrown for 453 yards, completing 63.6 percent of his passes for 6 TDs and 3 interceptions. Last year, Card threw for just 100 yards, completing 16-of-32 passes for 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Against the Cornhuskers’ pass defense last week, Illinois threw for 215 yards and put up 381 yards as a whole.

Dante Dowdell — © Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska Has a Plan

In their loss to the Fighting Irish, the Boilermakers allowed 578 yards of total offense. Their rushing attack totaled 362 yards. The task should be simple for the Cornhuskers: Get the ball to your running backs as early and as much as possible. This requires freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola to swallow a little pride and be comfortable with handing the ball off, something that Nebraska can do. Running back Dante Dowdell has had a solid start. He’s rushed for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns. So far, he hasn’t had a game above 100 rushing yards this season. He also hasn’t been utilized in the receiving game, catching only 2 passes for 10 yards. They need to get the ball in his hands to become a factor in this game.