Sea of red sees Nebraska blow out Purdue 44-7
By CRAIG DRAGASH
ISL Correspondent
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — If the color scheme of the crowd was any indication, this would not be a good day for the homestanding Boilermakers.
Nebraska fans created a sea of red among the gold-and-black-clad Purdue faithful on Saturday afternoon. One event staff member who has worked at Purdue for “about 20 years” said it was one of the largest visiting crowds he’s ever seen. The Cornhuskers made themselves at home in a 44-7 win.
It was a game in which several Purdue players switched positions, particularly on defense. Ryan Russell was one of those players, moving from defensive end to linebacker.
“I definitely liked my change of roles,” Russell said. “I felt like it gave me an opportunity to be effective and move around the field.”
That was about all there was for Purdue to be happy about, and it’s nothing new. Since a 31-24 loss to Notre Dame, the Boilermakers have been outscored 140-41 in their last three contests.
“There are a few things we need to look at,” Purdue coach Darrell Hazell said. “We were very competitive (in the Notre Dame game), but lately, it’s been a situation where we’re in the game on the scoreboard, then we’re down 21…28 points.”
The Huskers defense pressured Purdue freshman quarterback Danny Etling for most of the first half, as his offense gained only 89 yards and didn’t pick up a first down until three minutes into the second quarter. The Boilermakers would finish with only five first downs before halftime.
Nebraska would go 66 yards in 11 plays on its first drive, resulting in a 3-yard touchdown run for freshman quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr., who started in place of the injured Taylor Martinez. Then after trading punts, Etling would throw an interception on the first play of the drive to LeRoy Alexander, who would run the ball back to the Purdue 16. Frankie Williams would turn around and intercept Armstrong on the next play, giving Purdue the ball at its 20, but another three-and-out gave the ball right back to the Huskers at their 49.
From there, Nebraska went on a 12-play, 51-yard scoring drive that ended with 1-yard run by Imani Cross on the final play of the first quarter that gave Nebraska a 14-0 lead.
On Purdue’s next drive, they would show some signs of life as Etling hit DeAngelo Yancey for a 24-yard completion on third-and-9; but Etling followed that with two straight incompletions followed by a sack, and Purdue was forced to punt yet again. Yancey was a bright spot for the Boilers, with five catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.
After forcing a Nebraska punt, Etling threw a pass in the flat to freshman running back Dalyn Dawkins, but Dawkins took a big hit from Nebraska senior cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste that resulted in a targeting penalty that would see Jean-Baptiste ejected from the game. Dawkins would get the carry on the next play, and Randy Gregory, who de-committed from Purdue before he eventually committed to Nebraska, recovered a Dawkins fumble and returned it to the Purdue 43. A personal foul on Purdue lineman Jason King gave the Huskers the ball at the Purdue 28, and junior running back Ameer Abdullah needed just one play to put the ball into the end zone. That increased Nebraska’s lead to 21-0, which they took into halftime.
Here is Gregory talking about the game:
After forcing a Nebraska punt to start the third quarter, Purdue fans got to see former quarterback Rob Henry on fourth down in a new role as he took the direct snap in punt formation, and rolled to his right, throwing a pass to Kurt Freytag. The pass was short, and Nebraska took over on downs at the Purdue 46.
After converting a fourth-and-1 at the Purdue 25, quarterback Ron Kellogg III, who shared series with Armstrong, found Kenny Bell on third-and-6 to give the Huskers a first-and-goal from the 2. On the next play, Cross ran the ball into the end zone to stretch the lead to 28-0.
The offensive woes continued on the next series for Purdue, as Etling, who started at his 17-yard line, was scrambling to avoid the pass rush, and was eventually sacked by Gregory in the end zone for a safety to give Nebraska a 30-0 lead. The Huskers would add another touchdown early in the fourth quarter, as Kellogg found Quincy Enunwa from the 8-yard line, and reserve running back King Frazier made it 44-0 with a 3-yard run.
After the kickoff, Purdue had good field position at its 45-yard line, and Etling found Yancey for a 55-yard scoring strike to avoid the shutout. Etling would finish the game completing 14 of 35 passes for 184 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
“Obviously I need to play better, and I will,” Etling said. “I think that I learn more from a game like this than success, so I am going to go in watch it (film), and get better.”
Nebraska finished with 435 total yards to Purdue’s 216. The Boilers only converted 3 of 14 third downs, while the Huskers were 11 of 21. Abdullah had 126 yards on the ground; Purdue gained 32 yards rushing as a team. Kellogg would finish the day completing 10 of 13 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.
“We need to play better at every position,” Hazell said. “I thought we’d perform a little better than what we did today. Our execution needs to be a whole lot better than what it is right now. I think we can do a much better job. We’re not a good enough football team to overcome some of our self-inflictions.”
Purdue (1-5, 0-2 in the Big Ten) travels to Michigan State next week. Heading into today’s contest with Indiana, Michigan State boasted the nation’s No. 1 defense, giving up an average of only 204 yards per contest.
