Post-game nuggets from Nebraska's win over Purdue

Here are some quick notes to pass along from Nebraska’s post-game press conference following Saturday’s 27-14 win over Purdue…

***Head coach Mike Riley said that while Purdue “came to play”, Nebraska “struggled in a lot of ways” on Saturday. He said he was happy with the way his team stuck with it, including the defense really settling down after a rough first quarter.

However, Riley said the offense “was hit or miss all day and not enough consistency.”

***Riley said the decision to play Nick Gates “was talked about as late as this morning.” Gates missed most of last week with an ankle injury.

***Riley declined to go into too much detail about the injury situation of the offensive line, because he said they expect the unit to play better than they did no matter who is out there. Riley said he hopes the o-line can get healthier going forward, but they would have to really evaluate some guys going forward.

***One guy who will be evaluated as much as any lineman is David Knevel, who had to leave the game for the second week in a row with his foot injury.

***Riley said the biggest issue with the running game was the ineffectiveness on first down. By only getting one or zero yards on first downs, it “hurts the formula” for success that NU has used all season.

***Riley said that the intent in the original game plan was not necessarily run the ball more, but run it better. Riley said “there is no rhythm” to the offense right now. “There was nothing that we could say, ‘OK, this is something that we can rely on.’”

***Riley said overall he thought the special teams played great, but with one big exception on that last punt of the game. He said the fact that the final punt was almost blocked because of some protection confusion before the snap “really bothers me… I just hated seeing that.”

***Kieron Williams said the 88-yard touchdown Purdue had in the first quarter was a result of “busted coverage”, and once the defense looked at it and figured out what happened, they were able to settle down and play much better the next three quarters.

***Williams said his first interception on the opening play happened despite him being in the wrong spot in coverage. “I don’t know how good that’s going to go over tomorrow (in film).”

***Williams said Purdue’s offensive game plan was about what they expected, with the exception of a few trick plays and lots of deep passes off play action.

***Tommy Armstrong downplayed next week’s big showdown with No. 10 Wisconsin. “It’s on our schedule, so we have to play it regardless. It’s like any other game.”

***Asked if there was one thing he wants to improve upon going into Wisconsin, Armstrong answered: “Everything.”

***Josh Banderas said he thinks Nebraska will learn a lot about itself over the next two weeks at Wisconsin and Ohio State: “I think we’re going to learn how strong our will to win is… We’re going to find that our will to win is up there with the best in the country.”

***De’Morany Pierson-El admitted he thought about the season-ending injury he suffered against Purdue last year, but he had to block that out and just play his game. He was definitely relieved to finally reach the end zone on his 40-yard score, his first touchdown in nearly a full calendar year.

***Nebraska improved to 7-0 with today’s victory over Purdue. This is Nebraska’s first 7-0 start since beginning the 2001 season with an 11-0 record.

***NU has won eight straight games overall, marking the Huskers’ longest win streak since winning 13 straight games spanning the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

***The 7-0 start marks the first of Mike Riley’s college coaching career and the eight straight victories mark the longest win streak of Riley’s college career.

***Nebraska improved to 4-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since the Huskers joined the conference. Overall, it is Nebraska’s first 4-0 start in conference play since beginning 7-0 in Big 12 play in 2001.

***Nebraska took a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series with Purdue, including 2-0 at Memorial Stadium. ***Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 303 yards of total offense, including 51 rushing yards and 252 passing yards. The output leaves Armstrong with 9,989 yards of total offense in his career. He is 11 yards from becoming the 11th player in Big Ten history with 10,000 yards of career total offense.

***Armstrong is 245 yards from the Nebraska career record for total offense. The current record of 10,233 yards is held by Taylor Martinez.

***Today marked Armstrong’s school-record 13th game with 300 yards or more of total offense.

***Armstrong completed 17 passes to increase his career total to 577, setting a Nebraska record for completions. The previous record of 575 completions was held by Martinez.

***Today marked Armstrong’s fifth game of the season with at least one passing and one rushing touchdown. ***Nebraska scored a touchdown just 16 seconds into today’s game on a 22-yard touchdown run by Tommy Armstrong Jr. The score 16 seconds into the game was the quickest by Nebraska since scoring on a 50-yard run at Colorado in 1999, after just 15 seconds had expired in the game.

***The school record for the quickest score into a game by Nebraska was a fumble return for a touchdown by Terrell Farley seven seconds into the game at Texas Tech in 1996.

***Armstrong’s touchdown run marked the first time Nebraska scored on its first offensive play since a 66-yard run by Roy Helu Jr. against Missouri in 2010. Helu’s TD run occurred with 1:04 elapsed in the game. ***Armstrong connected on a 40-yard touchdown pass with De’Mornay Pierson-El in the third quarter. The 40-yard touchdown reception was Pierson-El’s longest reception since his freshman season, when he caught a career-long 46 yard pass at Northwestern in 2014.

***Pierson-El had three receptions for a season-high 69 receiving yards. ***Junior kicker Drew Brown connected on a career-long 51-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, bettering his 50-yard field goal against Southern Miss in 2015.

***Brown also connected on a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter and missed a 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. He is now 7-of-9 on the season and has 42 career field goals made. ***Nebraska junior safety Kieron Williams had a pair of interceptions in today’s game, pushing Nebraska’s season total to 13 interceptions. Nebraska had 10 interceptions in 13 games last season.

***Williams had an interception on the first play of the game and a pick in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. His four interceptions lead the Huskers, one better than both Aaron Williams and Chris Jones. ***Nebraska out-scored Purdue 10-0 in the fourth quarter of today’s game and now has a 98-13 advantage in the fourth quarter this season. The +85 point fourth-quarter differential leads the nation.

***Nebraska ran for 74 yards in the fourth quarter on 16 carries, including 65 yards from Terrell Newby on 10 carries. The Huskers are outrushing opponents by 458 yards on the season and are averaging better than 65 yards rushing in the fourth quarter.

***Nebraska trailed 14-10 at halftime today before rallying for a victory. Today marked the third halftime deficit Nebraska has overcome to win in 2016, also coming from behind for home victories over Oregon and Illinois.

***Senior receiver Brandon Reilly set season highs with four receptions for 73 yards. Reilly is now averaging 23.0 yards on his 10 receptions this season.

***Senior receiver Alonzo Moore had a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give NU a 24-14 lead. The 24-yard run tied his career long, matching a 24-yard run against Fresno State. Moore’s touchdown run was the second by a Husker receiver this season, including Jordan Westerkamp’s 10-yard touchdown run at Northwestern.

***Senior linebacker Josh Banderas recorded a season-high 13 tackles in today’s game, one shy of matching his career high against USC in the 2014 Holiday Bowl.

***Freshman Tre Bryant had a 59-yard kickoff return to open the second half. The 59-yard return was a season-long for Nebraska and the longest by a Husker since Ameer Abdullah had a 76-yard kickoff return against Rutgers in 2014.

***Freshman punter Caleb Lightbourn averaged 43.0 yards on four punts, with a season-high three punts downed inside the 20, with all three inside the Boilermaker 10-yard line.

***Purdue’s 88-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter was the third-longest touchdown pass in school history against Nebraska and the longest since 1998.

***Purdue scored a first-quarter touchdown marking just the second score in the first quarter by a Nebraska opponent this season. Oregon scored a first-quarter touchdown against Nebraska.