The ‘unsung heroes’ of Nebraska’s win vs. Purdue

After preventing not one but two Purdue defenders from tackling Barney by delivering a crushing perimeter block, Bullock hopped to his feet and pumped his fist toward the Nebraska sideline.

Bullock was able to celebrate before Barney had even crossed the goal line because his block was so well-timed — and according to head coach Matt Rhule, it was the exact type of play Nebraska needs to have more of.

When the Huskers scouted the Purdue defense during the week, they saw that the Boilermakers would always chase players across the length of the field during pre-snap motions. In the previous week, Oregon State exploited that with several jet sweeps, so the Huskers wanted to set up Barney with a chance of breaking off a big run.

But when Nebraska tried to run the play on Saturday, it turned out that Purdue had made a mid-week adjustment to pass off coverage duties on the player in motion rather than following him in man-to-man coverage.

“The first one, Alex is going to go block the man-to-man guy and when the man-to-man guy doesn’t come he sees the safety, tries to veer off and block him, misses it and it’s a 4-yard gain,” Rhule said. “I yelled at Alex on the sidelines — he was about ready to fight me — they ran it again (and) Alex sees it and makes the block, and Jacory runs for a touchdown.”

Rhule said he highlighted the play in a team meeting because it showed the type of high-level, in-game adjustment the Huskers have been working to implement. Bullock may have prepared one way, but when the situation called for a different response, he was ready to provide it.

“It’s those kinds of things that we really are trying to build off of,” Rhule said. “Preparing through the event, seeing how people are playing you and (thinking) what do we need differently this game based on what they’re doing?”

Bullock, who’d averaged 10 snaps per game this season prior to playing a season-high 22 snaps at Purdue, is still waiting to record another catch after hauling in a lone 12-yard pass during Nebraska’s season-opening win over UTEP.

But considering the major impact Bullock made as a perimeter blocker and on special teams, Rhule called the junior wide receiver one of the “unsung heroes” of NU’s win over Purdue.

“Alex is just becoming more and more and more the guy that the coaches or (quarterback) Dylan (Raiola) will say, ‘Hey, can I have Alex on this play?’ because he’s a guy that finds a way to get the job done,” Rhule said.

Punter Brian Buschini, who dropped two punts inside the 20-yard line alongside a touchback, was another player who Rhule considered an unsung hero. It wasn’t just for Buschini’s punting, too, as the senior made three tackles — one on kickoff coverage and two on blocked field goals — which required him to do the hard work for the team.

Rhule also singled out running back Emmett Johnson’s performance as another highlight from the game, adding that the Nebraska offensive line handled its own in-game adjustments well.

Purdue shuffled around several defenders from their normal positions on the field, even playing linebacker Kydran Jenkins as an edge rusher for much of the contest.

Nebraska’s ability to navigate those challenging situations impressed Rhule, who has wanted to see more from the Huskers in terms of adjusting on the fly. As one Bullock did just that on the offensive side of the ball, so did another on defense.

Senior linebacker John Bullock joined his brother in making a play that stood out to Rhule as proof of the team’s process working.

Bullock had lined up as Nebraska’s weak-side linebacker in the same coverage twice before, waiting for the right moment to break toward a receiver anticipating a throw in the middle of the field. Bullock finally went for it on the third time around, jumping the route for an interception and touchdown return.

As Nebraska prepares to face a tough Rutgers team, it’s plays like that — and the preparation that went into it — which Rhule hopes to see more of moving forward.

“He’s always working on something, he’s working on getting off blocks, striking, his blitz patterns or playing man,” Rhule said of John Bullock. “So if all our team was like John in terms of the constant search for improvement and deliberate practice, you’d have a hard time losing.”