Nebraska Football: Four Things To Watch Against Purdue

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Nebraska football team will be going for a some revenge on Saturday against the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Huskers’ loss to Purdue last season is easily the most embarassing of the Mike Riley era. Purdue won exactly one conference game in 2015, and that was against NU. Yes, the Huskers were going without their starting quarterback but that doesn’t excuse a 55-45 loss.

The fact the Nebraska football team was down 42-16 at one point is even more inexcusable. Backup quarterback Ryker Fyfe was put into an impossible situation, and performed poorly. The defense performed even more poorly.

There was talk after that game, that Mike Riley might not last more than one year as the team looked defeated and dead. Instead, that loss was a turning point for the program in a positive way. Since that game, the Nebraska football team has gone 9-1.

Now the team is here once again, this time welcoming a Purdue team that just fired it’s head coach despite the fact that team has already matched its season win total from a year ago. One of the reasons they kicked their coach to the curb is likely because the Boilermakers’ defense has been about as bad as any in the country.

In fact, Purdue is ranked 83rd in the country in total defense. They’re ranked 108th in the country in scoring defense. Nebraska is ranked 38th in the country in yards per game and 35th in points per game. In other words, Purdue should be staring a blowout in the face.

Despite the Nebraska football team being favored by 24 points, there are some things Husker fans should keep an eye on during the game, to see if we’re actually going to win.

Oct 15, 2016; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers quarterback David Blough (11) throws a pass against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ross Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Can The Huskers Contain David Blough?

Purdue might be headed for another sad sack season, but there is at least one player on the team who is raising eyebrows. Quarterback David Blough has had a surprisingly solid season despite his team being in constant turmoil.

After last week’s insane game against Iowa, where he completed 30 of 59 passes for 458 yards and five touchdowns, the sophomore is now the Big Ten leader in passing yards. He is also tied for second in the conference in touchdown passes.

So why hasn’t Blough been getting more attention? He’s definitely had a bit of an up and down season. While Blough has 12 touchdown passes, he also has 10 interceptions. That stat, unfortunately for Purdue, also leads the conference.

That could be very bad news for Blough, considering he’s going up against one of the best ball hawking secondaries in the country this week. The Nebraska football team is tied for the conference lead and tied for 5th in the nation in passes picked off with 11.

Blough already has one game under his belt where he’s thrown five interceptions and has just one game this year where he didn’t throw a single interception. That game, against Maryland oddly enough, they lost 50-7.

Blough is also scary because he’s able to do a little bit of damage with his feet. This isn’t a Tommy Armstrong type guy, but he straight killed the Huskers, rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown and an inteception. That’s a career high.

If the Nebraska football team wants to win and win big on Saturday, they’re going to have to find a way to contain the Purdue signal caller.

Oct 15, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA;Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. (4) throws the ball just before being tackled by Indiana Hoosiers defensive lineman Jacob Robinson (91) during the first half of the game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Can Tommy Bounce Back?

Tommy Armstrong is among the Big Ten’s best passers this year, but he had easily his worst game of the season last week against the Indiana Hoosiers. Not only did Armstrong complete just 10 of 26 passes and threw two interceptions, but he only ran for 36 yards.

Not weren’t Tommy’s stats all that impressive, the quarterback looked out of sync the entire game. There was more than once when I wondered aloud, to no one in particular, why in the world the Huskers were passing so much, considering how bad Armstrong looked.

One of the reasons the Nebraska football star looked out of step was because his offensive line wasn’t giving him much protection. Indiana’s d-line is much less heralded than Illinois’ but they looked better than the Illini on Saturday.

There wasn’t much running room for the Huskers and Tommy had to scramble quite a lot. The other reason Tommy likely struggled is because he was without top receiver Jordan Westerkamp and Cethan Carter.

He will be without both of those players yet again against Purdue. The game against the Boilermakers could turn into a shootout. If it does, all eyes will be on Tommy to see if he tries to do too much, or just takes what Purdues rather poor defense gives him.

Sep 17, 2016; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Devine Ozigbo (22) scores a touchdown against Oregon Ducks linebacker Jimmie Swain (18) in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska won 35-32. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Is Devine Ozigbo Healthy And Ready To Rejoin the Rotation?

Before last week’s game against Indiana, running back Devine Ozigbo was ruled healthy enough to play. It appears something changed after kickoff because the running back had just one carry for two yards.

Get the FanSided App

Thanks to a resurgent season by Terrell Newby, Ozigbo’s absense isn’t felt as deeply as the absence of Jordan Westerkamp or Cethan Carter, but he’s an important part of this offense. In fact, since he went down, Newby has flourished as the lead back.

The senior, who was losing carries to Ozigbo early in the year, carried 27 times for 140 yards against Illinois and 22 times for 102 yards against Indiana. Still, there were a number of 3rd and short situations where the Huskers passed (unsuccessfully) where they might have run had Devine been healthy.

For the second straight week, Mike Riley has said Ozigbo is going to be playing in this weekend’s game. Just how much he can play might determine whether or not the Huskers are able to play up to their full ability.

Giving Purdue one more offensive weapon Ross Els and company has to prepare for is never going to be a bad thing either. At the same time, if he’s not fully healthy, and the Huskers are able to move the ball without him, we should all hope he’s used sparingly. We’re going to need him next week even more against Wisconsin.

Oct 1, 2016; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers cornerback Joshua Kalu (10) celebrates in the final moments against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska won 31-16. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Can The Huskers Play Four Quarters?

Despite the fact that the Nebraska football team is 6-0, there have been a number of games where the team has gone long stretches where they just haven’t looked that good. This was especially the case last week against Indiana.

The Cornhuskers opened up a 17-0 lead that had them looking as good as they had looked all year in the first quarter last week. They then failed to find the end zone again until the 4th quarter. Illinois was one of several games where it felt like it took a while for the offense to start running on all cylinders.

As the Nebraska football team gets into the heart of its schedule, with the next five games all being against teams at .500 or better, it’s officially time to start putting together a full four quarters. The Purdue defense is bad enough that the Huskers should be able to move the ball. The Boilermakers are mistake-prone enough that they should also be able to force mistakes.

The Huskers are 24 point favorites. That’s one of the biggest point spreads NU has seen all season. This should be a big win and one that moves the team to 7-0, but no one saw the loss last year coming either.