Grades: Nebraska 37, Purdue 27 | Football

Nebraska often had good pressure on Jack Plummer — the Huskers had three sacks — but Plummer found David Bell for an 89-yard catch-and-run TD to pull Purdue to 34-27. Garrett Nelson and Ben Stille helped matters early on with first-quarter sacks. Nebraska covered a couple of deep balls well early as Purdue tried to overcome a 17-0 deficit. But Plummer was 4-for-5 for 52 yards on the Boilermakers’ second-quarter scoring drive that pulled them to 20-10 behind, and he was 6-for-6 for 61 yards on a third-quarter drive that pulled the Boilermakers to 34-20. He threw for 334 yards and three TDs.

A mixed bag here. Nebraska’s William Przystup had his punt blocked near the end of the first half, and Purdue capitalized with a field goal to pull to 27-13. But Nebraska got a gigantic early lift when Levi Falck’s punt block set up the Huskers at the Purdue 1-yard line. Mills scored a TD on the next play. Cam Taylor-Britt’s 27-yard punt return helped set up NU’s second touchdown. Meanwhile, Connor Culp’s 49-yard field goal fluttered through the uprights, easily his longest field goal of the season. On the other hand, TJ Sheffield’s 42-yard kickoff return came as Purdue scrambled to get back in the game after falling behind 20-3.

Deontai Williams and Caleb Tannor drew personal foul penalties in the second quarter, setting up Purdue at Nebraska’s 32. But the Huskers forced a punt. As the game moved into the fourth quarter, it essentially came down to which team would hurt itself least with penalties. NU finished with nine for 107 yards in losses, while Purdue wound up with 11 for 126 yards. Not pretty.