Good, bad, and the ugly from Nebraska football win over Purdue

The Nebraska football win over Purdue on Saturday might have been ugly at times, but a win is always beautiful, especially for a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2016.

It was far from perfect. Nebraska has a lot of things to clean up. There were too many drives inside Purdue’s territory without points, special teams gaffes, and missed opportunities.

But, Nebraska fell behind 3-0 in the third quarter and rallied to win 28-10. That was impressive and here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good: Blackshirts

Purdue missed a field goal in the first half too but the defense did a spectacular job of keeping the Boilermakers off the board in the first half. Purdue averaged 1.6 yards per rushing attempt. The Huskers also had five sacks, forced a turnover, and scored a touchdown. The Boilermakers also finished with just 224 total yards and 12 first downs. That’s a solid day at the office for the Blackshirts.

The Bad: Big Ten officials

Big Ten officiating could have a permanent spot in the “bad” category because they screw up something every single week. In this game, they were bad for both teams but did wipe off a touchdown for Nebraska football.

Thomas Fidone was called for offensive pass interference when it was clear he didn’t make contact with the Purdue defender. That took a touchdown off the board and put Nebraska in a 4th-and-18. If that call isn’t made, it’s an entirely different game.

The Big Ten has to fix this (for the millionth time).

The Ugly: Nebraska placekicking

Things were better in the second half as the Huskers made all four extra-point attempts. The snap and hold looked better but the Nebraska football kicking game has been ugly.

John Hohl missed wide on another field goal attempt. Two others were blocked. The whole operation has had problems whether it’s the snapper, the holder, or the kicker. Whatever needs to happen, you can’t have three field goal attempts — within reasonable distance — yield zero points.

It just can’t happen and it has to be fixed or it will cost Nebraska football another game.

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