Nebraska Falls Short in Shootout at Purdue

Nebraska football needed the ball just one more time Saturday night in West Lafayette.

But Purdue managed to run out the final 5:55 of the game to beat NU 43-37, dropping Big Red to 3-4 on the year and 2-2 in the Big Ten Conference.

Purdue dominated several statistical categories.

Total Yards 608-476

First Downs 38-15

Total Plays 101-52

Time of Possession 42:42-17:18

But with all of that, the game finished separated by just six points.

A big part of keeping the score close were the big plays from wideout Trey Palmer. The first year Husker caught seven passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. He’s just the third Husker to break the 200-yard receiving mark and now holds the single game record for receiving yards.

He also added 60 yards on the ground with a single rush.

Being able to dial up deep passes, or short to medium passes that turned into bigger plays, to Palmer allowed the offense to move quickly. The Huskers average drive length was just under one minute and 20 seconds, with scoring drives that went 2:49, 2:10, 0:35, 1:04, 1:05, 0:32, and 0:55.

Quarterback Casey Thompson showed trust in his No. 1 wide receiver, but finished just about 50 percent passing for the game at 16-for-29, with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Neither of the picks were difficult for the Purdue defense, but those can be partially excused for the beating Thompson takes on nearly every play.

The other two touchdowns for Nebraska came on short runs from Jaquez Yant and Anthony Grant. Timmy Bleekrode made all three of his field goals.

Nebraska never led in the game, but was also never completely out of it. Purdue held leads of 10, 17, and 13, and each time the Husker offense found a way to strike back.

But despite the offense showing sparks of competency, the defense just couldn’t get off the field.

On the final Purdue drive, where Nebraska had just a single timeout, the Boilermakers had no fear of the Blackshirts. The home team dialed up pass plays on five of the nine plays before going to victory formation.

That’s something you can do with a quarterback you trust. Aiden O’Connel threw the ball 54 times, completing 35 passes for four touchdowns and one interception.

They could have simply run the ball, though, as they averaged 4.6 yards a rush for the game.

Leading that rushing attack was redshirt freshman Devin Mockobee. The walk-on ran the ball 30 times, racking up 178 yards and a touchdown. He had 100 yards before halftime.

For the third straight game, freshman cornerback Malcolm Hartzog notched an interception. The Nebraska defense needed more takeaways, but got their only one of the game on the opening drive.

This marks the first time since 2007 that Nebraska has two losses when scoring at least 37 points in each of those games.

The Huskers now get their second off week of the season before hosting Illinois Oct. 29.

Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes

• With tonight’s victory, Purdue took a 6-5 lead in the all-time series between the schools. The schools have split 10 meetings as Big Ten opponents.
• Trey Palmer caught seven passes for 237 yards with touchdowns of 37 and 72 yards in the third quarter. Palmer’s 237 receiving yards marked the most receiving yards in Nebraska history, eclipsing the previous record of 209 receiving yards by JD Spielman on Oct. 6, 2018. Palmer joined Spielman as the only Huskers with a 200-yard receiving game in program history, as Palmer’s 237 receiving yards marked the third 200-yard receiving effort in school history.
• Palmer’s 72-yard yard touchdown reception was a career-long catch, and he also had a career-long 60-yard rush in the game. Palmer finished with a career-high 297 all-purpose yards, the fifth-highest total in program history and the most since Ameer Abdullah had a school-record 341 all-purpose yards against Rutgers on Oct. 24, 2014.
• With two touchdowns, Palmer has caught touchdown passes in four straight games, becoming the first Husker with a TD catch in four straight games since JD Spielman had a TD catch in four consecutive games in 2018. All five of Palmer’s touchdowns in those four games have covered at least 27 yards.
• Palmer’s 60-yard run in the third quarter marked Nebraska’s longest run of the season, setting up a Husker field goal. The previous long was a pair of 46-yard runs by Anthony Grant. Palmer has accounted for Nebraska’s longest rush and two longest receptions (71 vs. Indiana, 72 vs. Purdue) of the season.
• Casey Thompson threw for 354 yards and two touchdowns. His 354 yards were one shy of his season high and marked his third 300-yard passing game of the season. Thompson is only the fifth Husker quarterback to have three 300-yard passing games in a season.
• Thompson has thrown a touchdown pass in all six games this season, joining Tommy Armstrong Jr., Keithen McCant and Dave Humm as the only Huskers to throw a touchdown pass in seven straight games to begin a season.
• Junior defensive back Phalen Sanford blocked a second-quarter punt, marking his first career punt block. It is Nebraska’s third blocked punt of the season, its most since blocking four punts in 2014.
• Place-kicker Timmy Bleekrode connected on two first-half field goals, and a third-quarter field goal. Those are his first three made field goals since the North Dakota game on Sept. 3. Bleekrode is 4-of-6 on field goals this season. Bleekrode’s three field goals are the most for a Husker since Connor Culp had three field goals in a 2020 win at Purdue.
• Nebraska freshman cornerback Malcolm Hartzog had a first-quarter interception, marking Nebraska’s third straight game with an interception. This is Nebraska’s first three-game streak with an interception since the first four games of the 2019 season.
• Senior receiver Oliver Martin had a 45-yard reception on the final play of the first quarter, marking his career long reception. His previous career long was a 43-yard catch at Illinois in 2021.
• Three players made their first career starts for Nebraska in tonight’s game. On the offensive line, Henry Lutovsky started at RG, and Hunter Anthony started at RT. On defense, senior Eteva Mauga-Clements earned his first career start at inside linebacker.
• Purdue scored a touchdown in the third quarter ending Nebraska’s streak of five quarters and more than 96 minutes of game action of not allowing a second-half point. Prior to Purdue’s points tonight, Nebraska had not allowed a second-half point since the third quarter of the Oklahoma game, shutting out both Indiana and Rutgers after halftime.

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