Purdue @ Nebraska preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 28, 2017 ) Nebraska 25, Purdue 24

Purdue broke through with a resounding victory over a ranked team last weekend after a series of heartbreaking losses, while Nebraska was reminded how much better it has to get in order to challenge a top-25 foe. Coming off their most impressive win in almost 20 years, the Boilermakers will try to avenge one of their most devastating defeats from last season when they visit Nebraska on Saturday.

Following three straight home losses by a combined eight points to begin the season, David Blough threw for three touchdowns and Purdue forced four turnovers to race out to a 23-point advantage and beat previously undefeated Boston College 30-13 for its largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent since 1999. "It's always tough and no fun when you lose. You want to feel bad. You want to be ticked off and angry, and you want (losing) to cause you to say we're not going to do this anymore. (Today) was just a great overall effort," Boilermakers coach Jeff Brohm said. The Cornhuskers dropped a pair of five-point decisions at home to begin the Scott Frost era before getting outclassed in every phase of the game during a 56-10 rout at No. 15 Michigan. Nebraska, which is 0-3 for the first time since 1945 and has lost seven in a row for the first time since 1957, managed only 17 total yards of offense in the first half and entered the break trailing 39-0.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network. LINE: Purdue -3.5.

ABOUT PURDUE (1-3, 0-1 Big Ten): Blough ranks second in the conference in passing yards (990) and quarterback rating (164.2) and clearly has the respect of the Nebraska coaching staff, which believes he is the best signal-caller the team will have faced to this point of the season. "I think he's an exceptional passer, and he's an adequate runner. He can maybe not run it as well as some other guys that are quote-unquote "dual threat" but he can throw it as well as anybody in the league," Cornhuskers defensive coordinator Erik Chinander told the Lincoln Journal Star. Freshman receiver Rondale Moore ranks fifth in FBS with a Big-Ten best 732 all-purpose yards and sixth in the country with a conference-best 33 receptions for 372 yards and four touchdowns.

ABOUT NEBRASKA (0-3, 0-1): Adrian Martinez returned from a one-game absence due to the knee injury, but the true freshman quarterback was consistently under pressure (four sacks in just over a half of action) and finished with only 10 yards of total offense against Michigan. Stanley Morgan Jr. (132 career catches) produced 61 yards on three receptions to extend his streak of catching at least three passes to 15 straight contests; he is five receptions shy of moving into the top five on the school's all-time list. Sophomore cornerback Dicaprio Bootle finished with five pass breakups at Michigan - a total that stands as the third-most in a single game in school history and is tied for the most by a Nebraska player in a Big Ten Conference game.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Nebraska rallied from a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win 25-24 against Purdue last year. It's the program's only victory in the last 10 contests.

2. Boilermakers sophomore LB Cornel Jones ranks ninth nationally with a Big Ten-best eight tackles for loss.

3. The Cornhuskers added Bethune-Cookman to their schedule (Oct. 27) this week to replace their cancelled game against Akron on Sept. 1.

PREDICTION: Purdue 34, Nebraska 28