Tad Stryker: Slipping Away

Huskers can’t handle Purdue’s balanced offense in shootout loss
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It was gritty; it was enjoyable, but it was not sustainable.

Despite the eye candy and the fireworks and the pile of points on the scoreboard, an old hidebound football maxim held true: the team that can run the ball and stop the run will win the game. That team was not Nebraska, which ran the ball just 23 times for 122 yards and allowed Purdue 217 yards on the ground as the Boilermakers held onto their share of first place in the Big Ten West with a 43-37 win.

Purdue had an second-team all-conference-caliber quarterback, a superior offensive line and a freshman running back playing the game of his young life.

Nebraska had Trey Palmer.

For much of the game, it was a standoff, but the arrangement was not built to last, nor was Nebraska’s game plan, which eventually collapsed under the weight of Purdue’s two-to-one advantage in offensive snaps, rushing plays and time of possession.

Interim head coach Mickey Joseph won’t point the finger, but Nebraska lost this game because over the course of four years, the previous administration failed to recruit and develop good offensive linemen. So Joseph and Mark Whipple had to scramble to make do with what they had. Which was Palmer.

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Nebraska running back Jaquez Yant fights for yardage against the Boilermakers.


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Nebraska running back Anthony Grant runs past Purdue defensive tackle Branson Deen during the second half.


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   Purdue running back Devin Mockobee carries the ball. 


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Nebraska's Chris Kolarevic thwarts a pass intended for Purdue running back Devin Mockobee.


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Purdue wide receiver TJ Sheffield dives into the end zone for a touchdown.


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Purdue running back Devin Mockobee runs against Nebraska linebacker Nick Henrich during the first half. 


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Nebraska's Trey Palmer set a Husker single-game record with 237 receiving yards.


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The ball comes loose as Husker quarterback Casey Thompson is blindsided during the first half. Nebraska recovered the ball.


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Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell passes the ball as Ochaun Mathis closes in.


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Jaquez Yant celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half.


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Purdue wide receiver Mershawn Rice catches a pass during the second half.


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Nebraska's Garrett Nelson pursues Purdue receiver Charlie Jones during the second half.


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Nebraska wide receiver Marcus Washington catches a pass.


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Nebraska's Malcolm Hartzog intercepts a pass in the end zone on Purdue's first possession of the game.


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Another view of Malcolm Hartzog's interception.


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Nebraska's Casey Thompson is sacked during the first half.


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Nebraska's Timmy Bleekrode kicks a field goal during the first half.


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Purdue's Devin Mockobee runs through a big hole in the Nebraska defensive line.


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Nebraska's Casey Thompson uncorks a pass against the Boilermakers.


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   Purdue's Devin Mockobee runs for a touchdown during the first half.


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Purdue's Aidan O'Connell throws a pass during the second half.


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Purdue wide receiver TJ Sheffield dives into the end zone for a touchdown past Nebraska's Isaac Gifford during the second half.


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Nebraska's Myles Farmer chases Purdue running back King Doerue.


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Nebraska tight end Travis Vokolek runs after making a second-half catch.


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Purdue defensive end Kydran Jenkins sacks Casey Thompson during the first half.


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Nebraska's Trey Palmer catches a pass for a touchdown during the second half.


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Purdue running back King Doerue tries to get past Nebraska's Ernest Hausmann.


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Purdue's Charlie Jones with one of his 12 catches against the Huskers.


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Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson makes a throw. 


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Quarterback Aidan O'Connell runs for a first down on Purdue's game-ending possession.


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Purdue running back King Doerue is tackled by Nebraska's Ernest Hausmann.


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Purdue wide receiver TJ Sheffield spins away from Nebraska defensive back Malcolm Hartzog on his way to scoring a touchdown during the second half.


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Purdue defensive tackle Branson Deen sacks Nebraska's Casey Thompson during the first half. 


Joseph, in Act 4 of his audition for the Husker head coaching job, was questionable in his clock management, but he continues to get his team to play hard and believe in itself. That was almost all that kept the Huskers — who didn’t block well on offense or tackle well on defense — within shouting distance of the 5-2 Boilermakers.

Just before halftime, Joseph kept his timeouts in his pocket while Purdue bled the clock all the way down to 35 seconds before Mockobee scored on a 1-yard run to give Purdue a 27-10 lead. He could have saved at least 45 seconds by using a couple of them. That time that would have been valuable on Nebraska’s ensuing drive, which resulted in a 43-yard field goal by Timmy Bleekrode on the final play of the half, but could have been a touchdown.

In the second half, the Huskers burned two timeouts in the third quarter, and paid dearly for it later on.

Purdue came into the game averaging a little over 100 yards rushing per contest, but exceeded that by halftime against Nebraska, which could not contain 195-pound freshman Devin Mockobee, the Boilermakers’ third-string running back. Mockobee carried the ball 30 times for 178 yards and a touchdown, which killed Nebraska’s chances to win the game. Nebraska has a more talented running back, but Anthony Grant has to scrounge for yardage without much blocking help.

Go to the HuskerMax game page for more coverage and commentary.

Superiority at quarterback and in the offensive line spells almost certain victory, and Purdue had a clear edge in both. Aidan O’Connell, who as a third-stringer led the game-winning TD drive against the Blackshirts in 2019, has grown up into a COVID super senior with an NFL-caliber arm and decision-making skills almost as impressive. After throwing an interception on Purdue’s first drive, O’Connell was nearly flawless. He finished with 35 completions in 54 attempts (Purdue receivers dropped several passes) for 391 yards and four touchdowns. O’Connell’s pinpoint throws hit receivers that were barely open, including the 2-yard TD pass to Charlie Jones, which put the Boilers ahead 43-30 with 6:55 remaining. O’Connell’s 391 passing yards shredded the Husker defense.

By contrast, Nebraska’s Casey Thompson was erratic, and missed some wide-open receivers, including Alante Brown, who was running free in the end zone in the third quarter, but helplessly watched Thompson’s pass sail over his head. That cost the Huskers four points. Thompson, continually unsettled by his slapdash pass blocking, tended to underthrow passes, which cost him two interceptions. He was sacked four times and knocked down at least that many more.

Palmer got himself so far open on so many occasions, that Thompson couldn’t miss him. The LSU transfer burned the Boilers for touchdown catches of 37 and 72 yards. Palmer caught seven passes for a Nebraska all-time record 237 receiving yards. It should be noted that records for receiving yards are often made in a losing effort. Palmer, who also accounted for half of the Cornhuskers’ rushing yardage with one 60-yard run on a reverse, made himself a lot of money in the NFL next year, but couldn’t make enough big plays by himself to overcome O’Connell and Mockobee.

The Huskers, who came into the game as double-digit underdogs, showed a ton of grit, which is becoming their trademark under Joseph, but they missed a chance to get their first three-game winning streak in six years and are in danger of losing the momentum they built over the past two weeks. They’ll surely be double-digit dogs against Illinois, which is tied with Purdue in the West race and, like the Huskers, will be coming off a bye week when they travel to Lincoln on Oct. 29.

Purdue is not a good rushing team. It will be much harder to run the ball and stop the run against Illinois. A loss to the Illini would — and should — pretty much eliminate Joseph from serious consideration to be Nebraska’s head coach for the 2023 season. His “fall-on-the-sword” postgame attitude (“Everything’s on me”) is commendable, but his defense is going to have to grow up a lot in two weeks to keep NU in contention for an elusive bowl berth. Grit can take you only so far.


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Tad Stryker
TAD STRYKER

Tad Stryker, whose earliest memories of Nebraska football take in the last years of the Bob Devaney era, has covered Nebraska collegiate and prep sports for 40 years. Before moving to Lincoln, he was a sports writer, columnist and editor for two newspapers in North Platte. He can identify with fans who listen to Husker sports from a tractor cab and those who watch from a sports bar. A history buff, Stryker has written for HuskerMax since 2008. You can reach Tad at tad.stryker@gmail.com.