5 things we learned from Nebraska football win over Purdue

Matt Rhule earlier this week that Nebraska football was a team of “winners” that just needed to learn how to win.

Well, Saturday at Purdue was a good first step. There were some bumps along the way and it was far from smooth sailing. But when the game was really on the line — the Huskers were flawless.

Nebraska football outscored Purdue 28-7 in the final 21 minutes and change. The only points from the Boilermakers came in garbage time. The Huskers matched their Big Ten road win total from last season and the showing on Saturday makes me optimistic that this won’t be the last road win of the season either.

Nebraska isn’t a great team. But it’s a good team with a potential superstar at quarterback. The Huskers are still living on the margins in a rough and tumble Big Ten, however, they are 1-1, 4-1 overall, and here are five things we learned in the Huskers’ win over Purdue.

The Blackshirts are still the Blackshirts

It was easy to question the defense after last week. There were even some worrying signs against Northern Iowa such as all the third-down conversions and rushing yards. Purdue still converted seven third downs.

Yet, the Nebraska pass rush was better and sacked Hudson Card five times. The Blackshirts forced a takeaway that turned into a defensive touchdown and the run defense was elite. Purdue averaged 5.6 yards per rushing attempt in the first three games. The Huskers held them to 1.6. I thought Nebraska’s run defense would struggle and I’m happy to be proven wrong.

Whatever issues they had the past two weeks were resolved and Purdue didn’t get anything on the ground which is why the Huskers held them to 10 points total.

Jacory Barney is lightning in a bottle

It’s hard to believe Barney wasn’t a top-100 recruit because he certainly plays like one. The Huskers created three explosive plays with Barney on Saturday and he took a 31-yard jet sweep to the house.

Teams are going to start keying on that, but Nebraska football can use that to its advantage. They can take the jet sweep on handoffs, and even fake the sweep, then throw it to Barney. Or let him run up the middle, although you don’t want to do that too often.

Barney touched the ball eight times and produced 94 yards on Saturday. It feels like he’s just scratching the surface, of what he’s capable of not only this season but in the future.

The refs are out to get Nebraska football

Matt Rhule threw his hat after a holding penalty — another phantom one — and got a 15-yard penalty. He might be getting a fine from the Big Ten too, but you know what, it’s worth it.

This officiating is atrocious. The offensive pass interference that took away a touchdown and turned a third-and-three into a 3th-and-18 was mind-boggling. The Nebraska player didn’t make contact. That changed the complexion of the first half along with Nebraska’s special teams woes.

But man, it seems like every game, Big Ten refs rob Nebraska of at least one touchdown. Rhule said after the game, “I am here to fight for Nebraska.” And it’s a good thing, this is getting ridiculous.

The Big Ten officials cost Nebraska a trip to a bowl game in 2023. Hopefully, Rhule’s stand will mean more of a fair shake going forward because the Huskers aren’t getting it.

Emmett Johnson needs to be Co-RB1

The Huskers need to put the OR back on the depth chart at running back. Emmett Johnson was crucial down the stretch on a day where Dante Dowdell didn’t get much going outside of a fourth-down touchdown run.

Johnson was explosive though, just like he was two weeks ago against Northern Iowa. It’s surprising at times how explosive he is as a runner and a receiver. Rahir Johnson and Dowdell have earned their touches too. But eight carries for 50 yards and the only explosive (10-yards or more) run by a running back came from Johnson.

So Johnson can’t be ignored like he was during the Illinois game. Sometimes, Nebraska will have to ride the hot hand but they need to get all three backs involved in the gameplan.

Maybe the kicking game sorted something out

It’s easy to freak out about the kicking. When things look bad, they can look really bad. And they did on Saturday. John Hohl missed another short-field goal. Two others were blocked. There were issues with the snaps.

The good news is that this is correctable. However, the bad news is that Nebraska hasn’t corrected it already. I’m not part of the Fire Ed Foley chorus. The special teams need to get better though.

However, Brian Buschini had a solid day. The coverage units did fine and the placekicking operation went 4-for-4 on extra points. The snap and hold are the same on a PAT or a field goal. So that’s progress. Hohl just needs to find some confidence — or Tristan Alvano needs to get healthy.

The Huskers also need to start using more of a fourth-down mindset in the plus-40. Call plays with four downs in mind. Yet, call me crazy, I think we’ve seen the worst of the kicking woes for Nebraska.

How could it possibly get any worse? And the Huskers still won the game.

Call it what you will — I’ll call it progress.

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