Nebraska suffers deflating second half in demoralizing 28-23 loss to Purdue | Football

The first half didn’t go perfectly, but Nebraska did come out of intermission Saturday with a three-point lead and a chance to extend it. 

Instead of taking control, though, Scott Frost’s team deflated in the second half in front of its home crowd and suffered a demoralizing 28-23 loss to Purdue. 

Junior quarterback Adrian Martinez, who had thrown just three interceptions over the Huskers’ first eight games, threw four against the Boilermakers, including three in the second half. 

Nebraska started the second half with a 17-14 lead and the ball, but went three-and-out on the first possession. Still, the offense got good field position thanks to a 62-yard William Przystup punt and a strong opening series from the Blackshirts.

Instead of capitalizing on a drive that started from the Purdue 41, though, the Huskers’ veteran quarterback made a big mistake.

Martinez, pressured on a second-and-14 by Purdue star defensive end George Karlaftis, tried to backhand flip the ball to a receiver. Jalen Graham came away with his second interception of the day.

The Boilermakers didn’t get points, but the gaffe switched the field position and the game’s momentum, and after Nebraska went three-and-out again on its third trip of the quarter, Purdue finally cashed in a 48-yard scoring drive and took its first lead of the game, 21-17, at the 2:47 mark of the third quarter.

On the following drive, Nebraska mustered just one first down and punted again, only to watch Jeff Brohm’s team march 75 yards in 14 methodical plays. Aidan O’Connell hit Jackson Anthrop for a first down on third-and-8, then again on third-and-goal from the 9 for a touchdown that put the Boilermakers up 28-17 with 10:05 remaining. 

Nebraska’s Rahmir Johnson snared a 12-yard touchdown to trim Purdue’s lead to 28-23 with 1:30 remaining in the game. Nebraska nearly recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Purdue came out of the pile with the ball and sealed the outcome with three straight kneel downs.

Nebraska’s first six second-half drives went like this: punt, interception, punt, punt, punt, interception. There was only one first down.

The Huskers had moved the ball to the tune of 237 yards in the first half, but even then flirted with disaster. Nebraska narrowly avoided a pick six on its first drive of the afternoon. The Huskers turned that into an 82-yard touchdown drive, but Purdue’s defense did score a touchdown for the second straight week later in the first half, though, when Graham read Martinez’s eyes and intercepted a pass to Martinez’s left, returning it 45 yards for the Boilermakers’ first points of the day.

Purdue’s offense had relative success moving the ball in the first half, rushing for 78 yards and generating 195 overall in the first 30 minutes. PU had averaged just 48 rushing per Big Ten game and 73.9 per game on the ground overall.

They came up short on a second-quarter drive that ended in a missed field goal, then turned the ball over on downs with 20 seconds remaining in the first half, though, squandering a pair of opportunities around a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended in a short Zander Horvath scoring run.

The Huskers put a field goal on the board late in the half after Martinez hit Levi Falck for 43 yards to flip the field, but missed a chance for another touchdown just before the break when a deep ball grazed Samori Toure’s outstretched fingertips.

The Huskers scored on three of their first possessions — including a 12-play, 82-yard march on their first trip after the Blackshirts forced a punt to start the game — though they also allowed seven on the interception returned for a touchdown.

Nebraska’s second scoring drive featured two chunk runs from No. 2 running back Jaquez Yant, who ripped off 33 on the first play and then 18 more down to the 1-yard line two plays later. Martinez, under center on first-and-goal from the 1, fumbled the snap, but recovered and then extended the second-down play and ran it in himself to his left to put NU up 14-7.

Check back for updates to this story and more photos