Game Rewind: Gangwish provides ray of light

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - There was a lot of negativity emanating from Ross-Ade Stadium Saturday. Nebraska is searching desperately for answers and can't seem to find any. The defense was run over by one of the Big Ten's worst offenses, the Huskers shot themselves with turnovers and the injuries continue to pile up.

But there will be plenty of time to focus on the dark stuff. Here's a ray of positivity poking through the gray rainclouds in West Lafayette.

As the final gun sounded, most of the shell-shocked Huskers bee-lined it for the locker room. A few stuck around to shake hands with the Boilermakers or participate in the postgame prayer.

But Jack Gangwish went another direction. As he does after every away game, Gangwish ventured into the stands behind Nebraska's bench and said thank you to a group of fans before departing the field.

Jack Gangwish immediately went into crowd after game and thanked fans for coming. #Huskers pic.twitter.com/hMlKDRdcxk- Robin Washut (@RobinWashut) October 31, 2015

"As a captain of this team and a member of Nebraska football, I feel it's my responsibility to show appreciation for our fans and what they do," Gangwish said. "Some people made a long trip to come out here and we have some fans out here too. I just wanted to say thanks and we appreciate what they do.

"I think it's the least we can do for those people that come so far and put so much effort into supporting us."

I don't want to be too sappy here, but that's seriously impressive. After an embarrassing performance against arguably the worst team in the Big Ten, I'm sure the last thing Gangwish wanted to do was interact with fans. He probably wanted to escape to the secluded confines of the locker room where he wouldn't have to face those the Huskers had disappointed.

But he didn't take that route. He put himself out there and made a dark day for a few Nebraska fans just a little bit brighter. That's integrity and that's some serious leadership.

But as awesome as Gangwish's ritual is, it won't win Nebraska any football games, and that's ultimately what this team is judged by. At 3-6 the Huskers are almost a lock to miss a bowl game for the first time since 2007, and Nebraska found a new low point in getting blown out by a bad Purdue team.

It's impossible not to wonder about the team's mentality at the moment. To their credit several players faced the music and met with the media after the game, something that isn't always the case. They swear this is a team of fighters that will continue clawing until the bitter end, whenever that comes.

But those are just words, and there wasn't a lot of fight shown in the third quarter as Purdue ran off 21 straight points to essentially put the game on ice. The Huskers didn't give up and a nice job of at least making the score look competitive, but ultimately they were never able to close the gap within single digits.

"Right now all we can do is trust in our leadership and show up to work," Gangwish said. "We're all here because we love to play football, so you don't have to worry about us not showing up for that. We're probably lucky in that sense, that we have guys that love the sport and love what we do. No matter what these guys are going to show up and put their hand in the dirt and go hard."

The team's mental fortitude will truly be tested in the coming weeks. They might simply be playing out the string at this point, and Michigan State and Iowa still have trips to Lincoln. There's no getting around it - this is a dark moment for the program.

For one group of fans at least, Gangwish provided some light. But it's going to take more than some handshakes and high fives to quiet an increasingly frustrated fan base.

On with the rest of the Rewind...

Three defining moments

Yancey's long score: Things already looked dire as Nebraska trailed 28-16 midway through the third quarter. David Blough heaved a 50-50 ball up for DeAngelo Yancey, who not only beat Daniel Davie for the catch, but broke Davie's tackle and sprinted into the end zone for an 83-yard touchdown, the Boilermakers' longest play of the season. Any remaining hope vanished at that point.

Fyfe's fumble: Facing a third-and-five situation at Purdue's 33-yard line near the end of the first quarter, Ryne Reeves snapped the ball high to Ryker Fyfe, who bobbled the ball and failed to fall on it. Purdue's Garrett Hudson recovered and rumbled 27 yards before Alex Lewis made a touchdown-saving tackle. That just delayed the inevitable - Purdue scored five plays later to take a 14-3 lead.

Pierson-El gets injured: Even one of Nebraska's few bright spots came with heartbreak - Stanley Morgan made a great play in the second quarter, catching a short pass, breaking a tackle and finding the end zone from 20 yards out. But De'Mornay Pierson-El went down while running alongside Morgan after the play and had to be carted off the field. The injury appears serious, and the Huskers could again be robbed of their top playmaker for some time.

Game balls

Wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp: Dealing with shoulder injuries that knocked him out of the game a few times, Westerkamp caught nine passes for a season-high 123 yards and found the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Safety Aaron Williams: The true freshman was far from perfect, but he showed some real potential in his first start. Williams made seven tackles, including one for loss, and showcased good instincts on several plays. Even when he was beaten on a touchdown by Danny Anthrop, he was in good position and just missed making a play. That will come with more experience.

By the numbers

82: Rushing yards for Blough, a career high. He had a total of five rushing yards this season entering the game.

-12: Nebraska's turnover margin in its six losses this year. The Huskers had five turnovers without forcing any Saturday.

3: Purdue's victories over FBS schools in the past three years. The others are Western Michigan and Illinois.

3: Plays of 15+ yards for Purdue. The Huskers have been hurt by the big play in the past, but the Boilermakers were able to methodically grind NU down.

They said it

"Yeah, it probably would have helped. He could have told me some stuff. But he's got to do what he's got to do to get healthy. He can do what he wants."

Fyfe on if having Tommy Armstrong on the sidelines would have helped him. Riley said Armstrong didn't travel with the team because he would have counted against the 70 roster spots.

"We don't play this game because it's easy. We don't go out there expecting to start drives on the 20 (yard line) every drive. It doesn't really change our outlook when we don't start with good field position. It's still our job and it's what we're here to do."

Gangwish on the defense's reaction to being put in several bad situations by offensive turnovers

"It's pretty bad. There's nothing really you can say about a loss like this. Give Purdue the credit, but we didn't play very well offensively, defensively or special teams-wise. It was really bad on our part and we have a lot we need to fix."

Kicker Drew Brown on the mood in the locker room

Biggest question/concern: What happened to the special teams?

Nebraska's special teams greatly improved in all facets last year, and things figured to only improve with the addition of special teams coordinator Bruce Read. But things have gone in the opposite direction - NU was again outplayed on special teams Saturday, something that's become a common occurrence this season. Morgan did have one nice kick return, but the Huskers, last in the country in returns entering the game, were mostly bottled up. Purdue blocked a point and Nebraska had a mind-boggling four offsides penalties on special teams plays. Pierson-El's injuries have hurt the punt-return units and Sam Foltz has been very good all season. But the rest of the special teams have been uneven at best and awful at worst, which doesn't bode well for the full-time coach of the unit.