Husker Doc Talk: Penalties, Special Teams Keep Nebraska Football From Blowing Out Purdue

It was a tale of two halves in West Lafayette, and now comes a more challenging opponent in undefeated Rutgers.

Winning by 28-10 is impressive when you look at the scoreboard. However, let's not forget that the Huskers and Boilermakers were scoreless at halftime. You can look at bad special teams execution on the kicking game: one missed field goal and two blocks that held Nebraska back from really blowing out Purdue. 

On this edition of the Husker Doc Talk Podcast. Dr. Rob Zatechka and Travis Justice dive into the latest Nebraska win. Fans will tell you officiating was horrible. Dr. Rob has a different take when it comes to the yellow hankies. Sure, there were a couple of bad calls, but what we watched against Purdue was two teams getting penalized a lot. Meaning the officials were consistent. You may think they were consistently wrong, but it's more than that. Do you want an officiating crew that lets teams play or a crew that calls everything by the book? Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

There were many good things to take away from the Purdue game. Dylan Raiola is as consistent as ever.  The defense held the Boilermakers to 50 yards rushing. Also, with a pick-six, John Bullock moved Nebraska to +5 on the season in turnover margin. Nebraska has outscored opponents 31-0 in points off turnovers this season. 

Nebraska's next game is against Rutgers at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Scarlet Knights are unbeaten after defeating Washington on Friday night and are off to their best start since joining the Big Ten Conference. Rutgers is well-coached and has an identity it sticks to. It will be a challenging game for Nebraska but winnable. Dr. Rob gives his thoughts on the next game. Listen or watch by hitting one of the play buttons below.

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