10 things we learned from Nebraska's win over Purdue

It was no surprise that Nebraska’s offensive line had its share of issues on Saturday given the fact that the unit has been beaten up all year on the injury front.

What wasn’t expected was just how bad the Huskers were up front against one of the worst defenses in all of college football.

Facing a unit that ranked dead last in both total defense and rushing defense, Nebraska couldn’t establish a semblance of rhythm or consistency all game aside from a handful clutch big plays.

What’s most concerning is that the competition is going to kick up in a major way starting next week, and there’s not much reason to think the offensive line is suddenly going to get any healthier in time for No. 10 Wisconsin.

For the Huskers to have any chance over the next two weeks vs. the Badgers and No. 2 Ohio State, the o-line is going to have to find a way to significantly improve across the board.

“We're pretty thin there right now, but we're not going to talk about that too much because when we go out there we expect to look better than that and play better than that as a group,” head coach Mike Riley said. “We need to have some more consistency. I'm hoping that we will feel better and get healthier as we go. We'll have to look at it closely.”

This was one of those wins that isn’t going to leave many Nebraska fans overly thrilled with the overall performance, but when all was said and done, the Huskers still accomplished their most important goal.

Now a perfect 7-0 overall and 4-0 in Big Ten Conference play, NU remains in full control of its destiny in terms of winning the Big Ten West and punching its ticket to the conference championship game.

Yes, the Huskers have numerous warts they must address in a hurry, but the fact remains that they’re now off to their best start to a season since 2001 and the best start ever in Riley’s collegiate head coaching career.

On top of that, Nebraska is now 4-0 in league play for the first time since ’01. With a two-game lead over Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern, next week’s showdown in Madison could end up being pivotal towards determining who emerges out of the West.

"We're ready for anything," senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong said. "You've got Wisconsin and Ohio State, and playing more teams after that. We have to treat it like any other week and look at it as being a big game as any other game. We prepare each week to win. We are going to prepare as much as we can and go out and try to get a win."

The good news for Nebraska is that once again it managed to play its best football in the fourth quarter, and it ended up being the difference between victory and defeat.

That ability to close out games is certainly valuable, but there’s no question that the Huskers must find a way to improve their play earlier in games, especially in the second and third quarters.

Nebraska has now been outscored 64-37 in the second quarter on the season. Since the start of Big Ten play, NU has been out-scored 28-6 in the second quarter.

The Huskers have also managed just seven points and have been out-scored 10-7 over the past four third quarters.

That simply will not fly going forward, especially next week. Wisconsin owns a 46-29 edge in the second quarter and a 55-31 advantage in the third quarter this season.

Offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf mentioned earlier this week that one of the things he was most disappointed about in the Indiana game was Nebraska’s lack of productivity on first downs.

The Huskers only averaged roughly one yard per play on first downs against the Hoosiers, which led to an overall rough game for the offense. That didn’t get much better on Saturday.

While NU ended up averaging 6.1 yards on 32 total first down plays, that number was padded by five plays of 20 yards or longer that helped make up for 18 plays that produced two yards or less.

The third quarter was the worst in that regard, as Nebraska averaged just 1.14 yards on eight first down plays, with their longest such play only gaining six yards.

"I think that it really hurts what has been kind of the formula, the recipe for this team when we gain one yard or none on the first down,” Riley said. “If you can gain five or six yards on first down, it changes the opportunity a lot more to be a better third down team. It just looks better. We were always just struggling today, it felt like to me.”

As Nebraska continues to wait for Jordan Westerkamp to return from the back injury that has kept him out the past two games, it’s needed other receivers to step and answer the call in his absence.

On Saturday, that was Brandon Reilly.

The senior wide out ended up leading the team and setting personal season highs with four receptions for 73 yards in the victory. But more impressive than the final numbers was how clutch each of those catches were.

All four of Reilly’s grabs went for first downs, including three that converted third-and-long attempts. His last two catches were the best of them all.

Facing a third-and-9 midway through the third quarter, Reilly came down with a 28-yard reception along the sideline to extend the drive. That led to the Huskers’ go-ahead touchdown that made it 17-14.

He then caught a 24-yard ball over the middle on a third-and-16 in the fourth quarter. That led to Alonzo Moore’s touchdown run that all but put the game away.

On top of that, Reilly also made the tackle after Purdue’s interception in the final seconds of the first half that helped prevent a potential field goal try.

Last Halloween in West Lafayette, Ind., was one of the darkest days of De’Mornay Pierson-El’s career.

Not only did Nebraska fall to Purdue 55-45 in a stunning upset, the star receiver and return man suffered a gruesome season-ending knee injury in the process.

Well, the junior got his revenge this time around. Pierson-El caught three passes for 69 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown that put NU up 17-14 in the third and provided a huge life to the entire team.

"A little bit going into the game,” Pierson-El said when asked if he had thought about last year’s game vs. Purdue this week. “But I couldn't do nothing but play my game. It didn't matter who it was against. So I got out there, played as hard as I could."

The first three quarters were certainly nothing to write home about for Terrell Newby and Nebraska’s running game.

The Huskers had rushed for just 83 yards on 21 carries by the end of the third, and there was no sign of the that getting any better with NU leading by three going into the final quarter.

But just as he’d done the previous four weeks, Newby took his game to another level for the last 15 minutes. The senior rushed 10 times for 65 yards in the fourth quarter, finishing with a team-high 22 carries for 82 yards.

“Terrell was running hard and running physical,” Armstrong said. “He got loose a few times and just opened up a lot for us."

There was a point on Saturday when star cornerback Chris Jones had to leave the game for a handful of plays with minor injuries.

In his place, true freshman Lamar Jackson came in and was matched up one-on-one with Purdue’s No. 1 wide receiver, DeAngelo Yancey.

Jackson more than held his own, helping hold Yancey - who beat Jones for a one-yard touchdown catch and an 88-yard score in the first half - to just two receptions for 11 yards in the second half.

One of his best plays on the day came in the fourth quarter, as he played perfect downfield coverage on a deep pass to Yancey that ended up getting intercepted by safety Kieron Williams.

Nebraska’s offense was downright bad for most the game against Purdue, so it was definitely a good thing that punter Caleb Lightbourn had one of his best outings yet as a Husker.

The true freshman averaged 43.0 yards on his four punts and pinned three inside the Boilermaker 20-yard line. His best kick came on a rugby-style punt that rolled its way 56 yards (a career long) all the way down to the PU 2.

In fact, of the three punts Lightbourn downed inside the 20, all ended up inside the Purdue 10-yard line. The one punt that didn’t count “inside the 20” went out of bounds exactly at the Boilermaker 20.

The day was nearly spoiled on his final punt attempt of the game, however, as some confusion on the protection allowed Purdue to partially block Lightbourn’s kick (it was credited as a team punt).

The ball still bounced out at the Boilermaker 21, but the result could have been much, much worse.

No matter what it’s looked like, Nebraska has done what it was supposed to do in order to get to 7-0 and put itself in first place in the Big Ten West.

However, what happens over the course of the next month, especially the next two weeks, will ultimately define the 2016 season.

The Huskers will be showcased in a primetime, nationally televised contest at Wisconsin next week with a chance to take a huge step towards locking up the West Division.

Are they ready for by far the biggest challenge of the season? Will the Badgers be able to rise up once again coming off a brutal four-game stretch?

One thing is for sure, a lot will be learned about Nebraska over the next couple of weeks, for better or worse.