Nebraska eases tension with touchdowns, but Huskers show they have room to grow

The first half against Purdue could not have gone much worse. Honestly, almost everything that could go wrong for Nebraska in the first half, went wrong.

A touchback punt when the Huskers were trying to pin the Boilermakers at the 1-yard line. A shanked field goal. A pair of bad snaps from two different long snappers led to two blocked field goals. A touchdown called back after a phantom offensive pass interference call.

It didn’t matter that Nebraska had 161 yards of total offense at the break. Nebraska was deadlocked with Purdue 0-0 at halftime after whiffing on all six of its third-down attempts and going 0-for-6 on six trips into Purdue territory after monumental failings on special teams.

Against Purdue. Purdue! A struggling team at the bottom of the Big Ten that’s been outscored 104-28 in its two games against FBS opponents before Saturday’s contest.

The feeling around Husker Nation was bleak.

Sound the alarm. It’s time to panic. Last week’s loss to Illinois wasn’t a fluke. The hope of a winning season is dead on arrival. Another year without a bowl game. We suck again. We can’t do anything right.

Even the players knew what the fanbase thought at that moment.

“Everybody was probably like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s happening? Here we go again,’” Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola said after Nebraska’s 28-10 win.

In the words of famed broadcaster Lee Corso… not so fast.

Sure, the first half of Nebraska-Purdue should have come with a content warning for terrible, horrible, no good, very bad football. Sure, that tape should be thrown into the incinerator.

But something happened at halftime. Something different than last week.

“At halftime, I told them this is exactly where I feel like our team needed to be,” coach Matt Rhule said. “To come off the heartbreak of last week, a game that nothing went right — in terms of one play goes right, might win that game last week. I don’t know what it’s been like around here before, but a lot of times, teams that come off that heartbreak and they don’t play great the next week.

“… I thought it was exactly what we needed, to be quite honest. I’m glad it ended up 28 to 10, but that was a game we had to fight for.”

Purdue came out of the break and scored, connecting on a 45-yard field goal after an eight-minute drive.

Nebraska answered, going up 7-3 after Raiola connected with Jahmal Banks for a 6-yard score in the back of the end zone.

And then the Huskers answered again.

A rushing touchdown from running back Dante Dowdell. A rushing touchdown for receiver Jacory Barney. A pick-six for linebacker John Bullock.

“We trust each other so much,” Raiola said. “We’ve been through so much hard things together. A 0-0 score going into the half didn’t phase us. (We) got in there, rallied the troops and we came out swinging. (We’re) a resilient group and we’re going to keep going.”

The resiliency is good. Bottle that up. Nebraska’s surely going to need that again this season, especially with teams like undefeated Rutgers, undefeated Indiana and probably undefeated Ohio State as NU’s next three games.

But the mistakes that led to Nebraska being in the 0-0 position in the first place were avoidable. (Outside of the phantom call on tight end Thomas Fidone. That one I can’t explain.)

Why’d Nebraska have to kick a 42-yard field goal on the second drive?

Because veteran offensive lineman Bryce Benhart — the most experienced player on this team — false started on fourth-and-1 when Nebraska was going for it at the Purdue 19-yard line with quarterback Heinrich Haarberg in the shotgun.

Why’d John Hohl’s second field goal attempt get blocked? Because the snap from Aidan Flege was so low that the ball touched the ground.

Why’d Nebraska have to punt on its penultimate first-half drive? Because someone — the officials never said who — false started on third-and-1 from the Purdue 38-yard line.

Why’d Hohl’s third field goal attempt get blocked? Because the snap from Camden Witucki was low and wildly off the mark.

“All of those guys, as I said down the stretch, they’ve got to come out of their head. They’ve got to start to start playing from right here,” Rhule said, touching his chest, “with passion and belief in themselves. That sounds corny, but it’s not. Even the extra points at the end, all of a sudden we had good snaps.

“We are — it might not be for everybody — but we are just a growing team. We’re just growing. We’re just growing, right? People can spend all their time trying to think (about) what we’re not. I choose to see what we are.”

So, what are they? Who are these Huskers?

Well, that’s complicated.

They’re 4-1 — the best record a Nebraska team has had to start a season since 2019. And that only blemish is against a ranked team.

The Blackshirts showed that they’re, once again, pretty darn good. The Bullock pick-six was the exclamation mark on a solid outing — limiting a tough run team to just 50 yards rushing. They recorded five sacks and nine tackles for loss.

The offense racked up 418 yards of total offense with 161 yards on the ground and 257 yards passing. The offense scored three touchdowns and had 11 explosive plays with zero turnovers.

The special teams? They remain a liability. While it didn’t happen Saturday, the special teams unit will cost Nebraska a game (or two) if the issues aren’t remedied.

“We’re still a good team,” Bullock said. “We are. We just gotta play like it.”