Nebraska at Purdue Preview and Prediction (CollegeFootballNews.com)

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Nebraska at Purdue Prediction, Game Preview
by Pete Fiutak, CollegeFootballNews.com

Purdue is having a rough time.

It got obliterated by Notre Dame, pounded on by Oregon State, and it's going to be tough finding a win the rest of the way -- the team will almost certainly be the underdog in their last nine games.

Purdue has to figure out how to jump all over Nebraska right away.

This is the first road game of the season for the Huskers, but they have to get over yet another close loss -- this time to Illinois -- that's slowed the roll of the jacked up Nebraska fans.

Nebraska (3-1, 0-1) at Purdue (1-2, 0-0)
Saturday, September 28 - 12:00 PM (ET) - Peacock

Why Nebraska Will Win
There was a time not all that terribly long ago when Nebraska had the most fearsome rushing attack in all of college football.

The Big Red Machine steamrolled over everything in its path, Husker running backs were superstars, and the brutally methodical way it all worked made the program a superpower among superpowers.

If Nebraska decides to give that a try, it'll look like that this week.

It's hard to keep running when you have a quarterback like Dylan Raiola under center, but the Huskers pounded away 47 times in the opener over UTEP.

It got away from the the ground game, only ran for 48 yards against Illinois in last week's loss, and ......

......Purdue has allowed 703 rushing yards over the last two weeks to Notre Dame and Oregon State. Give #15 the day off by letting him hand off.

Why Purdue Will Win
For all of the issues and concerns with the Boilermakers, the plays in the backfield are there.

They have a decent pass rush, and they come up with tackles for loss -- they just can't hold up against the run on a consistent basis. But with the Huskers it's more than that.

It's the first Nebraska road game of the season. As much as they all like to say the past is the past, what did the team do last week?

It dropped a close game.

The first three -- including the win over Colorado -- were breathers. If Purdue can get a little bit of the time of possession back on its side, keep this close, the later it gets that Husker collar will get........

What Will Happen
......there won't be any problems for Nebraska.

It'll run, but it'll come up with a good offensive mix to offset a few Purdue first half scoring drives.

There will be moments when Purdue will have a shot to take over in the second half and make this a game, but will stall.

The Nebraska running game will take over from there.

Prediction
Nebraska 34, Purdue 17

Spread
Nebraska is favored on the road by 10 points. The over/under is set at 47.5 points.

 

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Other CFN Big Ten picks for Week #5

BYE WEEK
Cockeye
Northwestern

ILLINOIS at PENN STATE (-18)
Illinois really is a good, tough team that will be a tough out. The lines will hold up, the defense will get to Drew Allar a bit, and it'll be a fight for a full 60 minutes. But Penn State's newfound explosion will show up when needed to take over the game in the second half. Even with the flash, it'll be the third down, move-the-chains, boring plays that get this done. Penn State 31, Illinois 16

MARYLAND at INDIANA (-7)
Maryland is a huge step up for the Hoosiers, but the run defense has been a brick wall -- remember, this is James Madison of last year in the Big Ten -- and to keep going with this, Kurtis Rourke has been wonderful. Indiana has been a cute story so far. It's now about to be a thing. Indiana 27, Maryland 23

MINNESOTA at MICHIGAN (-9.5)
Minnesota is overdue for one of those games under P.J. Fleck when the team plays two steps above its pay grade. No, the Michigan defense isn't what it was last year, but it'll hold down the Gopher offense, the ground game will rumble, and the Little Brown Jug will stay in Ann Arbor. Michigan 30, Minnesota 16

OHIO STATE (-23.5) at MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State will hold up for a bit, but the dam will eventually break. To go Prime, oh it's comin', but the Spartans aren't there yet. They'll come up with something special in a game or two this season, but Ohio State is just too complete. The Buckeyes are at a whole other level. Call this a teachable moment in the rebuild under Jonathan Smith. Ohio State 38, Michigan State 13

OREGON (-25.5) at UCLA
UCLA just can't move the ball with any sort of consistency. There's no running game, so there's no control on third downs to get into a groove. Oregon will start slow, and then a big second quarter will let everyone on the East Coast get to bed before Sunday starts. Oregon 41, UCLA 16

WASHINGTON at RUTGERS (-2.5)
This is a moment for Rutgers football. It has a very good team at home in a game it should win. The problem, though, is that Washington doesn't screw up, either. It doesn't have turnover problems, and the penalties haven't been bad except for all 16 of them in the loss to Washington State. As long as the Huskies avoid getting flagged enough to blink in the stare-down this will be, it'll get out with a tough win. Washington 24, Rutgers 20

WISCONSIN at USC (-15.5)
It'll be another fun Big Ten moment when the Badgers go into Los Angeles -- the crowd mix will be fascinating -- but the Trojans will own this stadium and the game midway through the second quarter. Wisconsin will come up with good drives in its first two efforts, and then USC will take over from there. The Trojans will bounce back quickly. USC 34, Wisconsin 16