The Nebraska Cornhuskers head to Ross-Ade Stadium to square off against the Purdue Boilermakers this week. This game is equally important for Purdue (1-6) and Nebraska (3-5), as they both go into this contest desperate for a victory. The game starts at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct 31 and will be available on ESPU.
In its last game before the bye, Purdue lost to Wisconsin 24-7. Shane Mikesky had a quality performance in the loss, pulling in three receptions for 27 yards. Nebraska also came up short, suffering a narrow defeat against Northwestern 30-28. Tommy Armstrong had a solid performance through the air for the Cornhuskers, connecting on 24 of 48 pass attempts for 291 yards, one TD and one interception. Brandon Reilly also had a great game with 83 receiving yards and a TD on four catches.
The Cornhuskers take on the Boilermakers as a 10-point favorite this week. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is unavailable currently.
Sitting at 1-6 Straight Up (SU) and 3-4 Against The Spread (ATS), the Boilermakers will look to improve heading into Week 9. In their five most recent matchups, the Boilermakers went 0-5 SU and 2-3 ATS. The Boilermakers love to throw, ranking 25th in the country with 37.9 throwing attempts per game. During their last five games, the Boilermakers have improved their pass coverage, giving up an average of 235.6 passing yards. On average, the Cornhuskers earn 8.2 flags each game, one of the worst rates in the nation. Such errors could be beneficial for the Boilermakers if they persist into this week’s game.
As for their opponent, the Cornhuskers head into Week 9 with records of 4-4 ATS and 3-5 SU. Over their last five games, the Cornhuskers have a SU and ATS record of 2-3 for those betting with them. Other teams have a high success rate running the ball against the Boilermakers. It may be in Nebraska’s game plan to take advantage of the home team’s inability to stop the run, 101st in the nation at 4.8 yards per carry. Moving on to the Nebraska defense, there are certain areas where it measures up well against the Boilermakers. The Nebraska defense has given opposing running backs trouble this season. Opponents average just 99.1 rushing yards per game against this terrifying bunch. Purdue needs to keep its intensity through the fourth quarter against the Cornhuskers, who average 10 points in the final 15 minutes of regulation. The Cornhuskers may have no trouble keeping Purdue’s offense off the field. This season, the Boilermakers have had an average time of possession of 27:45 per game, ranking them 107th in the country.
Predictions: SU Winner – Nebraska, ATS Winner – Nebraska
Notes
Purdue is 3-7-1 ATS in its last 11 games.
Purdue is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Purdue’s last 6 games.
Purdue is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
Nebraska is 3-2 SU when leading at the half this season. Purdue is 1-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Remarkably, Nebraska is only 1-5 SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, yet undefeated (2-0 SU) when losing the turnover battle.
Purdue has provoked an average of 8.0 penalties on opponents this season. Nebraska is only 1-3 SU when penalized at least eight times in a game.
Nationally, the Purdue passing attack is ranked 76th, while the Nebraska pass defense is only ranked 126th. The Cornhuskers passing game is ranked 36th, compared to the 73rd-ranked pass defense of the Boilermakers.
