Nebraska holds on for 37-27 win at Purdue

Nebraska jumped out to an early lead. Purdue raced back. But unlike previous efforts that have been commonplace over the past several seasons, the wheels never came off as the Huskers hung on for the 37-27 win in West Lafayette.

“I love this team,” Nebraska coach Scott Frost told Big Ten Network after the game. “Good things are ahead.”

The Blackshirts gave up just 13 yards on the opening drive, forcing a punt. Levi Falk then blocked the punt which bounced off Simon Otte who recovered the ball at the Purdue one. On the first offensive play for Nebraska, Dedrick Mills ran in the touchdown.

A three-and-out for Purdue meant another punt. This time Cam Taylor-Britt returned it 27 yards to the Purdue 32, but a sideline interference penalty by the Boilermakers tacked on 15 yards. Two plays later, Adrian Martinez avoided a sack and scrambled for 13 yards and a touchdown.

Another three-and-out and another punt set Nebraska up again in plus territory. This time Connor Culp ended the drive with a 25 yard field goal to put Nebraska up 17-0 with 5:59 left in the first quarter.

“That (start) was key,” Frost told media in the postgame press conference. “We’ve started some off some other games not so well. This one, we caught a couple breaks. (The team keeps) coming to work, keep fighting.

“Experienced some positive things today. I’m proud of them.”

Purdue answered with a field goal and a touchdown, both of which were answered by Nebraska.

Will Przystup had his punt blocked with 19 seconds left in the half. Purdue managed a field goal as time expired to trail 27-13 at the break.

Nebraska ran off 4:55 an an 11 play, 75 yard drive to start the second half, capped off by another Martinez rushing touchdown.

Both teams exchanged punts as Purdue took over on their 39 yard line late in the third quarter. The Boilermakers made quick work on a six play, 1:29 drive to make it a 14 point game.

Six plays later and another Nebraska set up Purdue on their own 14. So far in the game, the Blackshirts avoided giving up the big play. This time, though, the future NFL wideout David Bell got free for an 89 yard touchdown reception to bring the game to just a single score difference.

As has happened plenty in the last 20 years, this is the moment that Husker fans got nervous. Frost hasn’t been at Nebraska three full seasons yet and his teams have already lost 10 times by seven points or less. But on this early afternoon in Tippecanoe County, Nebraska answered the call on a wild offensive possession followed by defensive dominance

After a Nebraska holding penalty on the Purdue kickoff, a Boilermaker personal foul gave Nebraska the ball on their own 22. On 2nd and 1, Nebraska was called for holding. On 2nd and 11, Nebraska was called for holding. On 2nd and 21, after an incomplete pass, a Purdue player hit Zavier Betts, drawing more flags, and giving Nebraska 15 yards and a first down.

Two plays later, Purdue committed a pass interference penalty that was virtually negated a few plays later by a Nebraska illegal block. After eight plays, 5:12 of clock, and 79 yards, plus seven penalties since the last kickoff, Culp drilled another field goal to make it a two-score game.

“That was one of the weirdest drives I’ve ever seen, watching or coaching football,” Frost said.

Not to be outdone by the offense, the Blackshirts held Purdue to -3 yards through two plays before Taylor-Britt made one of the best defensive plays for Nebraska in 2020. One 3rd and 13, Jack Plummer targeted Bell deep down the right sideline, but Taylor-Britt elevated perfectly to break up the pass.

Look at @CamTaylorBritt5 fly to break it up on 3rd down. 😲

That’s a big one for @HuskerFBNation, and it’s also a #B1GStandout.

📍 @AutoOwnersIns pic.twitter.com/A8Hks0AxTC

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 5, 2020

The ensuing Nebraska possession got down to the Purdue 27 and a 4th and 2. A field goal would make it a 13 point game, which is essentially the same as 10 at this point in the game, but a first down would end it. Frost elected to go for it, dialing up a Martinez roll to his right and a pass into the flats, but the pass was deflected giving the Boilermakers the ball, and hope.

That hope, though, was quickly extinguished.

Incomplete pass. Four yard pass. Incomplete pass. Nine yard tackle for loss.

Victory formation for Nebraska.

The Huskers finished the game with 364 yards of offense, including 111 on the ground. That compares to 332 for Purdue, who managed -2 rushing yards.

Martinez completed 23-of-30 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown, adding 13 runs for 45 yards and two more scores. Luke McCaffrey started a series while Martinez was evaluated in the medical tent, chipping in one pass for 11 yards and four rushes for four yards.

Mills, who has been in and out of the lineup this season due to injuries, led the rushing attack with 16 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown.

For the receiving corps, Wan’Dale Robinson caught nine passes for 114 yards. Eight Huskers caught passes on the day, including Falck (5-39), Betts (5-36), and Travis Vokolek (2-15) reeling in multiple receptions.

Wyatt Liewer’s only reception of the day was a 10 yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Nebraska (9-107) and Purdue (11-126) both eclipsed the century mark for penalty yards, marking this as the first Big Ten game since 2003 in which both teams had over 100 penalty yards.

The victory is Nebraska’s first after the end of November since the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl, and first December regular season win since the 1992 Coca-Cola Bowl in Tokyo, Japan.

Nebraska is takes on Minnesota next Saturday for the home finale. The Gophers did not play today due to COVID-19 cases within their program.

Game Notes

• Nebraska improved to 5-4 all-time in the series with Purdue, including 5-3 as members of the Big Ten. The series in West Lafayette is now tied at 3-3.
• Today’s victory was Nebraska’s first after the end of November since a win over UCLA in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl, and Nebraska’s first regular season victory in December since a win over Kansas State in the 1992 Tokyo Bowl.
• Nebraska held Purdue to -2 rushing yards, the first time the Huskers have held an opponent to negative rushing yards since Michigan had -21 yards on Nov. 9, 2013. It is the sixth-fewest rushing yards Nebraska has ever allowed in a road game and marks the 22^nd time Nebraska has held a team to negative rushing yards. The previous season low in rushing yards allowed was 129 vs. Iowa.
• Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost improved to 22-0 as a head coach when his teams score 35 or more points, including 8-0 at Nebraska.
• Senior offensive tackle Brenden Jaimes started his 39^th consecutive game today. That sets a record for the most consecutive starts by a Husker offensive lineman in school history. He broke a tie with Eric Anderson, Dave Volk and Mike Erickson who each started 38 straight games on the offensive line in their Nebraska careers.
• Jaimes’ 39 overall career starts are tied for the second-most by a Husker offensive lineman with Dan Vili-Waldrop. Only Jeremiah Sirles (41 starts) has made more career starts on the offensive line than Jaimes.
• Senior offensive guard Matt Farniok started his 30^th career game on the offensive line. He is just the 12^th Husker offensive lineman to start 30 consecutive games.
• Nebraska opened the game with 17 points in the first quarter. The 17-point first quarter was the most for the Huskers since also scoring 17 in the first quarter at Maryland last year (17-0). The last time Nebraska scored more than 17 points in the first quarter was a 21-14 lead over Illinois after one quarter in Lincoln in 2018.
• Nebraska senior receiver Levi Falck blocked a first-quarter punt to set up Nebraska’s first TD of the day. The blocked punt by Falck was Nebraska’s first since the Huskers blocked two punts at Purdue last season (Eric Lee Jr., Eli Sullivan).
• Falck also had a Nebraska high in receptions with five catches for 39 yards, bettering his previous high of two in two games. His previous high in yards was 22 at Iowa last week.
• Quarterback Adrian Martinez rushed for 45 yards on 13 carries, including two touchdown runs. In doing so, Martinez increased his career rushing total to 1,523 and became the 8^th Husker quarterback with 1,500 career rushing yards. He needs 11 rushing yards to pass Scott Frost for seventh on the NU’s QB rush list.
• Martinez passed for 242 yards, completing 23-of-30 passes. In today’s game, Martinez moved past Dave Humm (5,035) and Joe Ganz (5,125) into fourth place on the Nebraska career passing list. Martinez now has 5,262 career passing yards.  
• Martinez had a season-high 43 total offense attempts, giving him 1,031in his career. He is the fourth Husker quarterback with 1,000 career total offense attempts, joining Eric Crouch, Taylor Martinez and Tommy Armstrong Jr.
• Senior place-kicker Connor Culp connected on a 49-yard field goal in the second quarter to give Nebraska a 20-3 lead. That is a career-long field goal for Culp, bettering a 47-yard field goal against Ole Miss in 2017, while Culp was at LSU. His previous long for Nebraska this season was a 39-yarder at Iowa.  Culp’s 49-yard field goal is the longest by a Husker since Drew Brown made a 51-yarder against Purdue in 2016.
• Culp also made a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 32-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. He is now 12-of-13 on field goals this season and has made nine consecutive field goals.
• Sophomore Wan’Dale Robinson caught nine passes for 114 yards, marking season highs in both catches (nine at Iowa) and receiving yards (75 at Iowa). It was Robinson’s first 100-yard receiving day this season and second of his career.
• Robinson totaled 119 yards from scrimmage, including 114 receiving yards and five rushing yards. It is his third straight game with more than 100 yards from scrimmage. The previous Husker to have more than 100 yards from scrimmage in three straight games was Devine Ozigbo in 2018.
• Sophomore receiver Wyatt Liewer had his first career reception on a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give Nebraska a 27-10 lead.
• True freshman Zavier Betts caught five passes for 36 yards, setting a career high for receptions, bettering two receptions in two previous games.
• As a team, Nebraska had a season-high nine tackles for loss and matched season bests in sacks with three (also at Ohio State) and pass breakups with five (also vs. Penn State).
• Senior defensive end Ben Stille had five tackles, including a career-high 1.5 sacks, to surpass 100 career tackles. He now has 104 tackles in his career. Stille also now has 13.0 career sacks after he recorded his first 1.5 sacks of the season.
• Sophomore linebacker Luke Reimer had five tackles, including a TFL on a 4^th-and-1 stop in the first half. Reimer has had a TFL in five straight games. The last Husker to have a TFL in five straight games was Luke Gifford, who had a TFL streak of seven games spanning the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Prior to today, the last Husker to have a TFL in five consecutive conference games was Maliek Collins, who had a TFL in six straight Big Ten games during the 2014 season.
• Senior safety Deontai Williams had a team-high 12 tackles in today’s game, including 10 solo tackles. Williams’ 12 tackles are a career high, bettering his seven tackles last week at Iowa.  Williams had eight of his tackles in the first half.
• Senior Dicaprio Bootle broke up two passes in the first half of today’s game. That increases his career total to 25 PBU, good for ninth on the Husker career chart.
• Bootle and Cam Taylor-Britt each had two PBU’s, matching the Huskers’ single-game high (2 by JoJo Domann at Iowa).
• Nebraska held Purdue to just 3-of-13 on third down attempts today, as Purdue had converted on 40 percent of its third-down conversions prior to today. In the last two games, NU has limited foes to 7-of-27 on third downs.
• Austin Allen has at least 25 receiving yards in every game this season, with one catch for 37 yards against Purdue. The last time a Husker tight end had six consecutive games with 25 receiving yards was Kyler Reed, who had at least 25 receiving yards in six straight games during the 2010 season.  Four of Allen’s 15 catches this season are for at least 25 yards.
• Nebraska did not record a turnover in today’s win. It was first time in 2020 that the Huskers did not commit a turnover and the first time without a turnover since Oct. 12, 2019, at Minnesota.