Purdue Football a Two-Touchdown Favorite Entering Home Matchup Against Nebraska
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After a narrow 31-29 win over Maryland last week, Purdue football has won its last three games, improving to 4-2 and 2-1 in Big Ten play. The team claimed victories in back-to-back road matchups and will return home this Saturday for a game against Nebraska.
The two teams will face off beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET inside Ross-Ade Stadium. It will be the eleventh meeting between both programs, with the Boilermakers earning a 28-23 victory over the Cornhuskers last season in Lincoln, Neb.
Nebraska, now under the direction of interim coach Mickey Joseph, has won its last two games and finds itself at 3-3 on the season. Former head coach Scott Frost was fired after a 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern in Week 3. Entering the matchup, Purdue is a 14-point favorite, according to SISportsbook.com. The over/under is 58.5 points as of Monday afternoon.
"They've been tremendous all year, so it will be great to get back and have a home game," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said of the team's Week 7 opponent on Monday. "Always a lot to learn from the last game, so we're going to have to do that as we proceed forward."
The Cornhuskers are coming off a tight 14-13 win against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights last Friday. They pitched a shutout in the second half and scored two touchdowns in the final two quarters to claim victory on the road.
The two teams combined for 18 total penalties and five interceptions in a sloppy interconference meeting. Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson threw the go-ahead touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter to take the lead with 8:54 left to play in the game.
Thompson finished with 232 yards passing with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Purdue will look to expose a Nebraska defense that ranks last in the Big Ten in total yards allowed and is currently giving up 29.3 points per game. But this Cornhuskers squad boasts some talented athletes and is 2-1 under Joseph since he took over as the interim coach.
Running back Anthony Grant ranks fourth in the conference in rushing yards while wide receiver Trey Palmer is fourth in receiving yards and second in catches through six games.
"Without question, we need to have a good week of practice," Brohm said. "They've got a talented football team coming off two wins that has always had a lot of talent. Got great size, they look the part, they got really good players.
"I think they have simplified some things in their plan and they're playing good football. So we're going to have to practice well, be really hungry this week to improve, and come ready to play."
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.