Jacory Barney Jr. picks up a big gain during the first half.

Nebraska 28
Purdue 10

Sept. 28, 2024 • 11 a.m. Central
Ross-Ade Stadium •West Lafayette, IN • Peacock
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Nebraska0072128
Purdue003710
Ty Robinson sack
Ty Robinson sacks Hudson Card during the first half.
Third quarter
PUR: Porath 45 field goal, 6:42 
NEB: Banks 6 pass from Raiola (Hohl kick) 2:49
Fourth quarter
NEB: Dowdell 1 run (Hohl kick) 10:34
NEB: Barney 25 run (Hohl kick) 6:13
NEB: Bullock 35 interception return (Hohl kick) 5:38
PUR: L.Smith 15 pass from Card (Porath kick) 1:29

                       NEB       PUR
FIRST DOWNS ........... 26        12
  RUSHING .............. 6         4
  PASSING ............. 12         8
  PENALTY .............. 8         0
RUSHES-NET YDS .... 32-161     31-50
NET YDS PASSING ...... 257       174
  COMP-ATT-INT ... 17-27-0   18-25-1
TOTAL OFFENSE ..... 59-418    56-224
FUMBLES-LOST ......... 0-0       0-0
PENALIZED-YDS ...... 11-94    13-165
PUNTS-AVERAGE ..... 3-34.3    6-43.0
PUNT RETURNS-YDS ..... 3-9       0-0
K.O. RETURNS-YDS ..... 1-8      1-27
INTERCEPTIONS-YDS ... 1-35       0-0
POSSESSION TIME .... 30:18     29:42
THIRD-DOWN CONV. ..... 1-8      7-15
FOURTH-DOWN CONV. .... 1-1       0-0
RED ZONE SCORES ...... 2-4       1-2
SACKS BY-YARDS ...... 5-35       1-8

Attendance: 61,441




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Huskers shake off first-half woes for season’s fourth win

After an ugly and scoreless first half, Nebraska cut down on its miscues in the final 30 minutes and pulled away for a 28-10 win in West Lafayette.

Purdue struck first in the third period with a field goal after a 13-play drive that consumed more than eight minutes. Nebraska answered with a 70-yard drive capped by a six-yard TD pass on third and goal from Dylan Raiola to Jahmal Banks.

Now leading for the first time, 7-3, the Huskers got the ball right back after MJ Sherman’s 13-yard sack of Hudson Card punctuated a three-and-out for the Blackshirts. Nebraska capitalized by driving 63 yards in 10 plays for another touchdown to make it a 14-3 game, scoring on a 1-yard run by Dante Dowdell on fourth down.

The Huskers weren’t done. After another Purdue three-and-out, Nebraska found the end zone on a third consecutive possession, driving 57 yards in six plays, with Jacory Barney running it in from 25 yards out. Less than a minute later, Husker linebacker John Bullock iced the game with a 35-yard pick-six for a 28-3 lead.

The 0-0 first half was full of frustration for the Huskers. Nebraska dominated statistically, amassing a 210-89 yardage advantage, but failures on third down and on field goal tries kept the Big Red off the scoreboard.

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Commentary

Stryker

The Huskers ... refused to let old habits define them, and just as importantly, they finally started to get some decent, penalty-free run blocking.

HuskerMax/SI
Christopherson

After a week of tough critiques about how the Blackshirts played against Illinois, they kept standing tall even as NU's offense couldn't get out of its own way the first half.

Feit

The first half was a Big Ten West tribute. Punts and penalties — but no points — at 11 a.m., watched solely by those who sought it out.

HuskerMax/SI
Callahan

Two weeks in a row, we’ve seen linebacker John Bullock make game-changing plays on defense. ... Bullock is arguably the early-season MVP of the Blackshirt defense.

HuskerOnline
Stukenholtz

So, who are they? What is this team capable of? It remains, as ever, a Rorschach test. People will see what they want to see.

HuskerMax/SI
Shatel

It was a tale of two halves, including a most timely and useful second half. It could be the second half that saved this season.

Omaha World-Herald
Just

The resiliency is good. Bottle that up. Nebraska’s surely going to need that again this season.

Lincoln Journal Star
Sherman

Nebraska has a gem, clearly, in Raiola. But he can’t carry the entire offensive load. ... Raiola needs help from the ground game.

The Athletic
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