Instant take: Nebraska 37, Purdue 27
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Here are some quick takes and reactions following Nebraska's 37-27 win over Purdue on Saturday.
Nebraska saw blood in the water and they stuck early
A year ago Nebraska had a chance to finish Purdue off early, and only jumped up 10-0. That ended up coming to bite them in the end.
On Saturday, it was a completely different story. The Boilermakers gifted NU 17 easy points out of the gates, mainly off special teams blunders.
The Huskers did exactly what they needed to do. They saw blood in the water and they jumped up on Purdue.
They also didn't try to get cute in the red zone early. I thought the Adrian Martinez's13 yard touchdown run on third down to make it 14-0 really set the tone. It was not a pretty day for the NU offense at times, but they were very efficient and did what they needed to do.
The defensive front has another strong day
Nebraska's defense set the tone early as well. They controlled the line of scrimmage and they did not let Purdue running back Zander Horvath become a factor.
It also helped that Purdue got down by so much because it forced them to go away from a ball-control offense with 4-yard type runs from Horvath.
The Huskers got three sacks on keys situations from Ben Stille and Garrett Nelson. These were moments in the game where Purdue was showing signs of potential life and the Blackshirts shut them down.
I also thought the sequence before halftime where the Boilermakers faced a second-and-1 and NU shut them down three straight plays was one of the better defensive stands we've seen all season from Nebraska.
Then the Blackshirts finished the day off with some great pass coverage by Cam Taylor-Britt and a sack.
All of a sudden this season has taken on a different feel
It's amazing what one win can do, but the tone of the season all of a sudden takes a different feel.
Now the Huskers sit at 2-4 and will most likely enter their home finale as a favorite to beat Minnesota, who has not played a game the last two weeks.
If the Big Red can get to 3-4 next week at home, who knows what Week 9 will bring?
More than likely a match-up against either Michigan or Michigan State could be coming in Week 9, but a bowl game is still very much in the cards if the Big Red can get a win next week.