Greg Sharpe Talks Purdue Match-up for Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nearly two months into the 2013 football season and something very different for the Nebraska Cornhuskers this weekend - their first road game.
Nebraska plays at Purdue Saturday, after five straight home games - and four wins - to start the year.
Win number four came in the Big Ten opener against Illinois last weekend, as the Huskers jumped in front 17-0 and beat the Illini 39-19.
I asked the 'Voice of the Cornhuskers' Greg Sharpe if it felt like a classic, get-on-top-early-and-dominate kind of game for Nebraska:
The match-up with the Illini was one of the Huskers top defensive performances of 2013, as Nebraska forced a pair of turnovers and limited Illinois to 4-15 on third down:
The offensive star of the day for Nebraska was running back Ameer Abdullah, who ran for a career-high 225 yards and two touchdowns, as the Huksers amassed 521 yards of total offense:
The only real 'hiccup' for Nebraska came right before halftime when Imani Cross was tackled in the end zone for a safety.
The score was the result of two Nebraska mistakes, special teams penalty, and a questionable play call:
This weekend against the Boilermakers, Tommy Armstrong gets his third straight start at quarterback in place of Taylor Martinez, who's still slowed with a toe injury.
The injury itself might not be enough to keep Martinez out, but the combination of a sub par opponent and another bye week next weekend, all factor into the decision to rest him Saturday:
As for Purdue, they are 1-4 and very inconsistent, barely beating Indiana State and almost knocking off Notre Dame. Things have gotten so bad for the Boilermakers, they've benched their starting quarterback Rob Henry:
This will be the first road test of the year for a very young Nebraska team, when they travel to Ross-Ade Stadium Saturday morning. It will be interesting to see how this group handles being away from Lincoln for the first time in a long time:
Kickoff is 11:00am Saturday from West Lafayette.
You can listen to the game live on your home for Cornhusker football in the Sioux Empire, ESPN 99.1.