Nebraska defensive lineman Ben Stille (95) pressures Purdue quarterback Jack Plummer during the second quarter Dec. 5, 2020 in West Lafayette, Ind.
Associated Press file photo
Brenden Jaimes (left) and Adrian Martinez (center) celebrate Martinez's first-half touchdown during Saturday's game against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue Athletics
Nebraska senior running back Dedrick Mills picks up yards during Saturday's game against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Nebraska football coaches have talked extensively this year about playing “complementary football,” or when the offense, defense and special teams are each working and they help each other out.
The conversation, mind you, has not been about copious amounts of complementary football, but rather the lack of it and the need for more if the program was to overcome a 1-4 start to the season and finish 2020 with positive strides.
The Huskers began Saturday’s outing at Ross-Ade Stadium with about as fine a performance as you could imagine in that department.
Sure, sure, it got a little bit squirrelly as the game progressed. This was nowhere near a perfect outing.
But Nebraska did enough — powered by a blocked punt and two touchdowns in the opening 4 minutes, 56 seconds, and 27 first-half points overall — to knock off Purdue 37-27.
The victory is NU’s second of the season and its first against the Boilermakers in three tries since coach Scott Frost took over in Lincoln three years ago.
“You’ve got to play well in all three phases to win every week,” Frost said after the game. “The blocked punt, I thought, really set the tone. The defense, we talked about knocking out the rush so we could focus on the passing game, and I can’t say enough about that and the way we held them down in the run game. …
“We got good things in all three phases, still things we need to clean up in all three.”
Certainly, the victory didn’t come easily after the game looked like it was trending toward a blowout early on.
Nebraska built a 21-point lead in the second half, but Purdue closed within seven points early in the fourth quarter when David Bell rose up over two Nebraska defenders and came down with a ball, scampering 89 yards for a touchdown as both Cam Taylor-Britt and Marquel Dismuke hit the turf hurting. After hardly surrendering a big play through three quarters, that one allowed the Boilermakers within 34-27 with 12:16 remaining.
On this day, though, both Nebraska’s offense and defense responded. Junior quarterback Adrian Martinez, who played his best overall game to date this season, led a 79-yard march that took 5:12 off the clock and ended in a field goal that pushed the lead back out to two scores.
It was a bit of a wild ride, considering the teams combined for seven penalties the ensuing kickoff and Husker possession. Nebraska, for example, had back-to-back holding calls that backed it up to second-and-21 deep in its own territory, only to have Purdue get flagged for an illegal hit on freshman receiver Zavier Betts.
Later in the drive, an illegal chop block penalty on junior Nebraska tight end Austin Allen caused the Huskers to stall out, but Connor Culp knocked in a 32-yard field goal and NU pushed the lead back to 10 points in addition to the work it did on the clock.
“That was one of the weirdest drives I’ve ever seen, watching or coaching football,” Frost said.
Martinez was most proud that the drive didn’t rattle his guys.
“It was definitely bizarre, but a point of emphasis for us this week was focus,” said Martinez, who finished the game 23-of-30 passing for 242 yards and a touchdown, and added two more scores on the ground. “We weren’t going to let it slip, regardless of any penalties, whether it was on us or on them. I kept encouraging the guys; I know the offensive line was talking to each other, our receivers were into it. Continuing to stay the course regardless of any penalties or whatever. Let’s dial in, let’s continue to be efficient and find a way to score points.”
The Huskers did just that when Culp hit his third field goal of the day. He also connected from 25 and 49 yards, which was his longest on the season by 10 yards. The LSU graduate transfer walk-on has now hit 12 of 13 field-goal attempts this season and has made nine straight since a miss Nov. 7 against Northwestern.
From there, the Blackshirts surrendered nothing. Less, even. The Boilermakers’ final two drives: Seven plays for a total of minus-8 yards. Overall, the Huskers held Purdue to minus-2 rushing yards on 17 tries and 332 yards overall.
Even that number is a little bit deceiving, considering more than a quarter of it came on the one big hit to Bell.
“We just preached through the whole week to finish,” said junior defensive back Taylor-Britt, who finished with six tackles and a pair of breakups, including a high-flying deflection against Bell late in the game.
Nebraska could hardly have started the game any faster.
The Blackshirts forced a punt after Purdue managed one first down, and wide receiver Levi Falck ripped through and blocked it, setting up Nebraska first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Senior Dedrick Mills, playing for the first time since Nov. 14 against Penn State due to a right knee injury, punched in a scoring run on NU’s first play from scrimmage.
A three-and-out and a 27-yard punt return by Taylor-Britt, compounded by a 15-yard Purdue penalty, set up the Huskers’ second drive at the Purdue 17. This time, it took three plays, capped by a 13-yard touchdown run on third-and-7 from Martinez.
Four plays, 18 offensive yards, 14 points thanks almost equally to the offense, defense and special teams.
Of course, it didn’t all go smoothly from there. NU gave up a big return of its own, committed a penalty of its own and had one of its own punts blocked, all by halftime.
Even so, Martinez was sharp in his second consecutive start, completing 13 of his first 16 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown — a career first for walk-on wide receiver Wyatt Liewer in the second quarter to cap a pretty six-play, 56-yard drive that went as the Huskers’ longest in the first half — and the visitors scored on each of their first five drives in building a 27-13 halftime lead.
Purdue went to the air heavily, throwing it 47 times compared to 17 rush attempts. Star wide receivers Bell and Rondale Moore combined for 23 catches, but Nebraska did a good job of rallying and tackling overall.
Really, though, defensive coordinator Erik Chinander’s group showed signs of continuing to grow into a reliable unit. On this day, the Blackshirts didn’t force any turnovers, but they stopped Purdue on 10 of 13 third-down chances. They gave up yards through the air, but none on the ground.
In one key midgame stretch, the Boilermakers took four straight drives into Nebraska territory but walked away with just three points.
It looked considerably different than last year when Purdue seemed to make every big play just when it needed it, including a late, game-winning touchdown drive.
“We’ve been in that moment a ton of times, we’ve been in a ton of close games, and I don’t think it fazes our team, or defense especially,” senior defensive lineman Ben Stille said. “We’ve got a lot of veteran guys on defense and they’ve played a lot of football. Nobody blinked.”
So, the question becomes whether this win launches Nebraska into its final two games — and perhaps a bowl berth with another victory or two — or if it proves to be the same kind of stumbling block that a 30-23 win over Penn State back on Nov. 14 turned into.
“It’s one win, that’s all it is, but (it has a chance to) be bigger than that,” said Frost, whose postgame news conference was at times broken up and eventually cut short due to technical difficulties with the Zoom stream. “I’ve been saying for a while, I think the team is ready to take off and propel itself, but we’ve got to experience some good things, develop the confidence. If I had to point to two things our team has been lacking, it’s experience because we’re young, and confidence because good things (haven’t happened yet.)
“We were able to (finish one and I think) we’ll be able to grow.”
Photos: Huskers end two-game losing skid with 37-27 win against Purdue
Brenden Jaimes (left) and Adrian Martinez (center) celebrate Martinez's first-half touchdown during Saturday's game against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.