Nebraska Football Opponent Preview: Purdue Boilermakers

Date: Saturday, September 28th, 2024

Location: Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, IN

Time: 11 a.m.

TV Broadcast Info: Peacock Network (Jac Collinsworth, Michael Robinson, Caroline Pineda)

Radio Info: Husker Radio Network with Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning and Jessica Cody. A list of affiliates can be found at Huskers.com/Listen.

Purdue – Nebraska History: Saturday’s meeting will be the 13th matchup in the Nebraska-Purdue series, with the series tied at six wins apiece. Nebraska posted a 31-14 win last year in Lincoln to even the series.

Preview: Purdue comes into the contest with a 1-2 record, following a 38-21 loss at Oregon State on Saturday night. The Boilermakers opened the season with a victory over Indiana State, before losses to Notre Dame and Oregon State.

Offensively, Coach Ryan Walters’ team has shown a strong running game through three contests, averaging 183.0 yards per game on the ground, including 263 rushing yards at Oregon State. The Boilermakers average 171.7 yards through the air. They average 25.7 points per game.

Purdue is led on the ground by Junior running back Devin Mockobee. Mockobee has 276 yards rushing on 36 attempts and scoring 1 TD. Senior Reggie Love III is a solid backup with 165 yards on 27 attempts and 2 TDs. Senior quarterback Hudson Card has completed 63.6% for 453 yards. He’s thrown 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The receiving corps is led by Sophomore tight end Max Klare. He’s caught 10 passes for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Boilermaker defense allows 34.7 points per game, including a shutout against Indiana State. It got slightly inflated due to the 66-7 drubbing at the hands of Notre Dame. Purdue allows a whopping 269.0 yards per game on the ground. It has been solid against the pass, allowing just 123 yards per game.

Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Purdue’s leading tackler is Senior linebacker Kydran Jenkins. He has 27 tackles on the season, including 16 solo. He also leads the team with 3.5 sacks. Senior defensive back Markevious Brown leads the Boilermakers with 2 pass breakups. Interestingly, Purdue has yet to force a turnover in its 3 games this season. They are a minus 5 in turnover margin, so Nebraska could turn the game there.

Nebraska can do itself a lot of favors by taking care of business on the road Saturday. I feel like it could be a good game against a weaker opponent to get Raiola and Co eased into the B1G road schedule. It will be much tougher from here on out.