The Matchup: Nebraska at Purdue

NEBRASKA at PURDUE

DEC. 5, 2020 | ROSS-ADE STADIUM

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. | 11 AM (CT)

BROADCAST INFO

TV – BTN (Cory Provus, Anthony Herron, Coley Harvey)

RADIO – Husker Sports Network (Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, Ben McLaughlin)

SATELLITE RADIO – XM TBA, Sirius TBA

INTERNET RADIO – Huskers.com, TuneIn.com

APP AUDIO – Official Huskers App, TuneIn App

HUSKERS

Record: 1-4, 1-4 Big Ten

Last Game: at Iowa (L, 26-20)

Rankings: NR

Coach: Scott Frost

Career/NU Record: 29-26 (5th Year)/10-19 (3rd Year) 

vs. Purdue: 0-2

BOILERMAKERS

Record: 2-3, 2-3 Big Ten

Last Game: vs. Rutgers (L, 37-30)

Rankings: NR

Coach: Jeff Brohm

Career/PU Record: 49-34 (7th Year)/19-24 (4th Year)

vs. Nebraska: 2-1

SERIES HISTORY

All-Time Series: Tied, 4-4

As Big Ten Foes: Nebraska leads, 4-3

In West Lafayette: Purdue leads, 3-2

Last Game: Purdue 31-27 (11/2/19)

Win Streak: Purdue, 2 games

The Matchup

Nebraska heads back on the road for the second straight week on Saturday when the Huskers travel to West Lafayette, Ind., for a Big Ten West matchup with Purdue. Game time at Ross-Ade Stadium is set for 11 a.m. CT (Noon, local) with television coverage on BTN.

Nebraska enters its final road contest of the 2020 campaign with a 1-4 record, following a 26-20 loss at Iowa last Friday. The Huskers went toe to toe with the Hawkeyes for 60 minutes, leading the contest by a touchdown midway through the third quarter. However, the Hawkeyes rallied to take a fourth-quarter lead and two late Nebraska turnovers proved costly.

The game at Purdue is part of a three-game December slate to finish the season. Following this week’s matchup, Nebraska will play host to Minnesota on Dec. 12, with a Big Ten East crossover opponent to be determined for Dec. 19.

Purdue will bring a 2-3 record into Saturday’s game after a 37-30 loss to Rutgers this past weekend. The Boilermakers have been involved in tight games throughout the season. Each of their first five contests decided by seven or fewer points, including three close losses over the past three weeks.

Coach Jeff Brohm’s team features a high-powered offensive attack. Purdue ranks among the Big Ten leaders, averaging 304.0 passing yards per game. The Boilermakers are fueled by one of the nation’s top receiving tandems with junior Rondale Moore and sophomore David Bell averaging 96.0 and 98.6 receiving yards per game, respectively.

Series History: Nebraska vs. Purdue

Saturday’s game will mark the ninth all-time meeting between Nebraska and Purdue with the series tied at four wins apiece. Nebraska and Purdue did not meet in the Huskers’ first two seasons in the Big Ten, but 2020 marks the eighth consecutive year the teams have squared off.

• Nebraska holds a 4-3 advantage in the matchups between the schools since joining the Big Ten, including splitting four games in West Lafayette.

• Due to a switch in the Big Ten scheduling rotation, Nebraska is traveling to Purdue for the second straight season in 2020, after a 31-27 setback at Ross-Ade Stadium in 2019. This marks the first time Nebraska has played a conference opponent on the road in consecutive seasons since playing at Kansas in both 1990 and 1991.

• Nebraska has a pair of two-game win streaks in the series (2013-14; 2016-17), while Purdue’s current two-game win streak is its longest in the series.

• The Huskers have scored at least 25 points in all seven meetings as Big Ten opponents. Nebraska is averaging 35.3 points in its four trips to West Lafayette since 2013.

Nebraska Set for December Football

Nebraska is scheduled to play on three consecutive Saturdays in December to complete its regular season. The stretch begins with Saturday’s matchup at Purdue, followed by a Dec. 12 home game against Minnesota and a Champions Week crossover game with a Big Ten East foe on Dec. 19.

• The December games will mark Nebraska’s first December regular-season games since a matchup with Kansas State in the Tokyo Bowl on Dec. 5, 1992.

• Since that 1992 game, Nebraska’s only December contests have been conference championship games (6 times) or bowl games (11 times).

• The last time Nebraska played a December game at home or on an opponent’s home field was a Dec. 4, 1982, game at Hawaii. 

Frost in Third Season Leading Huskers

Scott Frost is in his third season at Nebraska in 2020. The consensus 2017 national coach of the year, Frost owns a 29-26 career record in five seasons as a collegiate head coach.

• Frost is 10-19 at Nebraska, with 11 losses by eight or fewer points, including eight by five or fewer points.

• Nebraska went 5-7 in 2019, a one-game improvement over the previous two seasons. NU’s 12- game schedule in 2019 featured six teams that were ranked in the top 25 at least once during the season, including four that finished the year in the top 15.

• Frost has improved upon his team’s previous season record every year he has been a head coach. At UCF, Frost – who inherited a winless team – went from 6-7 in his first season to 13-0 in year two. He improved by one game at Nebraska from 2018 to 2019.

• At UCF, Frost became the first coach in FBS history to turn a winless team into an undefeated team in just two years.

• Of Frost’s 10 assistant coaches, seven have been with him in each of his five seasons as a collegiate head coach, while Mike Dawson has been on four of Frost’s five staffs.

• In 14 years as a full-time assistant or head coach, Frost’s teams have posted a 132-44 record, averaging nearly 10 wins per season. Frost has been a part of seven conference championship teams in his 13 seasons and has twice coached in the national championship game.

• Frost’s teams have been ranked in the top 15 in 10 of his previous 13 seasons, including eight final top-10 rankings and six final top-five rankings.

Martinez Numbers Ranking Among Nation’s Best QBs

Adrian Martinez has put up statistics in his three season that have him ranked among the Nebraska all-time leaders in several categories. Martinez has thrown for 5,020 career yards, rushed for 1,478 yards and totaled 6,498 yards of offense.

Martinez owns three Nebraska career records, four season records and one game record, which he has set on two occasions, most recently last week at Iowa. Last season, Martinez was just the second Husker sophomore to be a team captain since 1930, and he again holds that distinction this year, becoming one of just 13 two-time captains in Nebraska history.

• Martinez is Nebraska’s all-time leader in total offensive yards per game (259.9) and 400-yard total offense games (4). He has produced four of Nebraska’s 16 individual 400-yard total offense performances, and Martinez’s career average of 259.9 yards of total offense per game is more than 20 yards higher than any other Husker quarterback who played in at least 15 career games.

• Martinez averaged a school-record 295.1 yards of total offense per game as a true freshman in 2018. That average ranked 12th nationally, led all freshmen and was the ninth-highest average by a freshman in NCAA history, including the third-best mark by a true freshman.

• Martinez also set NU season records for 300-yard total offense games (7) and 400-yard total offense games (3) in 2018.

• Martinez has been one of the nation’s top dual-threat quarterbacks. He is one of only 10 active FBS quarterbacks with 5,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards. Martinez is only the third Husker with 5,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards.

• Martinez set an NU record with an 86.2 completion percentage against Minnesota in 2018, connecting on 25-of-29 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns. He bettered that mark last week at Iowa, connecting on 18-of-20 passes for a school-record 90.0 percent completion rate.

• In the Iowa game, Martinez became the sixth Husker with 5,000 career passing yards, and he is just 16 yards from moving into the top five on the school’s career list and 106 yards from moving into fourth place. Martinez is only 22 yards from becoming the eighth Nebraska quarterback with 1,500 career rushing yards.

• At Illinois in 2019, Martinez produced the second 300-yard passing and 100-yard rushing performance in Nebraska history (328 passing, 118 rushing). His career-high 446 yards of total offense was the third-highest total in program history.

• In 2018, Martinez became just the sixth freshman in NCAA history to average 200 passing yards and 50 rushing yards per game and just the second true freshman to hit those marks. Martinez was also one of only four FBS quarterbacks – regardless of class – who averaged 225 passing yards and 50 rushing yards per game in 2018.

Huskers Showing Special Teams Improvement

Nebraska fields an entirely new special teams unit this season – including a new special teams coach – as it aims to improve in that aspect of the game in 2020. Frost hired Jonathan Rutledge as Nebraska’s Senior Special Teams Analyst during the offseason. With Auburn the previous two seasons, Rutledge led a Tigers’ special teams unit that was ranked 13th nationally in 2019 and 14th in 2018 by Football Outsiders.

• Nebraska features a new punter (William Przystup), new place-kicker (Connor Culp), new long snappers (Cade Mueller, Cameron Pieper) and a new holder (Przystup).

• Nebraska used six place-kickers last season and only one returned for 2020 in Lane McCallum, a defensive player who filled in as an emergency kicker last season and is focusing on defense this fall. NU added five place-kickers to its roster during the offseason, including a pair of transfers.

• Culp joined Nebraska as a graduate transfer from LSU, and he was the Tigers’ starting place- kicker as a sophomore in 2017, connecting on 11-of-16 field goals. Culp has connected on 9-of- 10 field goals and all nine PATs this season. He is the first Nebraska kicker since 2018 to have multiple field goals in consecutive games (2 at Northwestern, 3 vs. Penn State). He enters the Purdue game with six consecutive field goals made.

• Przystup is averaging 41.4 yards per punt on the season, with five punts of better than 50 yards and six downed inside the 20-yard line. The sophomore previously punted at Michigan State in 2018 before transferring to Nebraska.

Read Nebraska’s Full Notes Package Here