Nebraska Overpowers Purdue in the Second Half - 28-10 Final

Ryan: Happy Homecoming Boilermakers. Sorry that’s what you had to come home to. Are any coaches, especially on offense, going to be held accountable?

37 days until basketball season folks

Ledman:

One of the strangest first halves of football I’ve ever watched. There were multiple missed field goals, multiple BLOCKED field goals, and a complete inability to convert a third down by both teams. I didn’t expect Purdue to head into halftime with a 0-0 tie but all things considered I was pretty happy about it. Then, the wheels came off.

First, we need to celebrate that Purdue was up 3-0 at one point. However, the Purdue defense prevented points for as long as possible but they sure saw plenty of flags, most of which were completely justified, to keep Nebraska in a number of drives. The game finally got away from Purdue in the fourth quarter as they finished up allowing 28 points.

A number of problems here for Purdue including Hudson Card’s inability to get the ball to his wide receivers, regardless of who they are, and staying in the pocket too long and getting sacked as a result. If I’m in charge, I’m pulling the trigger and firing Graham Harrell today. The offense needs to change and change immediately.

Jed:

Inevitably this game went about like we all thought it would go. It was a pleasant surprise to see Purdue get into halftime tied 0-0 after blocking two field goal attempts and the defense not fully being left out to dry by the offense. However, the second half was just as ugly for the offense as we saw in the previous two games. How much longer will Walters allow that to continue after it was clear the defense made strides.

Harrell is directly responsible for what might be the worst offensive unit in the P5. There is little innovation to the scheme for a guy that was billed as a disciple Mike Leach, one of the most innovative minds in all of college football history. If a change of direction isn’t taken after this week to try and shake things up on the offensive side of the ball, I’m not sure what direction the program takes moving forward.

Penalties, poor schemes, injuries, and an inability to force turnovers. That’s not a recipe for success at this level of football or any level for that matter.

Drew:

Let’s start with the positive:

The defense was exponentially better today against a pass heavy team. They kept Purdue in the game despite an inept officiating crew eager to throw flags on the outside. There were a few clear PI’s but I counted 3 calls where the Nebraska receiver clearly grabbed the Purdue DB’s shoulder pads to initiate contact down the field and held on, only to draw a flag on the defense. I know people are going to harp on the penalties, but I’ve seen significantly more physical play on the outside this season without the barrage of flags.

The Boilermaker defense played well enough to win.

Now the Negative:

Nebraska sat on the outside zone run, and when you can’t run the ball between the tackles, it’s going to be tough going. The Boilers were without 2 of their 3 presumptive starters at wide receiver and it’s clear that Hudson Card does not trust the young guys. That pick 6 was a direct result of Card forcing the ball to Klare instead of hitting an open Morrissette for an easy first down.

More than that, the ball wasn’t coming out when it needed to come out. At this point, I’m not sure what Card brings that other QBs on the roster that Purdue needs to develop bring to the table. If anything, the back-ups have more reps throwing to the back-up receivers than Card. Maybe it’s time to try one of the young dudes because Card refuses to let his receivers make a play on the outside. He’s waiting for guys to get open, and Purdue doesn’t have “get open” receivers right now. What they have is big bodied receivers capable of making plays on contested catches. The two times I saw Card trust his receivers Tibbs had a nice contested catch and Smith had a touchdown.

The air raid offense is designed to get the ball out quick, and Card’s not doing that. I don’t recommend watching the replay, but if you’re sicko, watch Hudson’s feet. When he hits the back foot, the ball should be out. He’s got to let it go otherwise Purdue’s running a timing offense with no timing. Maybe it looks different with the guys he repped with all off-season were actually available to play football, and he wasn’t working with a couple freshman, but I’d love to see him at least try to run the offense with the young guys.

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