When Nebraska takes the field against Purdue Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, it will be as the first place team in the Big Ten's West Division, thanks to the Huskers 42-24 win over Rutgers last weekend and Illinois' upset win at home over a Minnesota team that hadn't lost a league game in 2014.

Rutgers v Nebraska
LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 25: Running back Ameer Abdullah #8 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers outruns the Rutgers Scarlet Knights defense during the game at Memorial Stadium on October 25, 2014 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska defeated Rutgers 42-24. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images)
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Against the Scarlet Knights last weekend, the Cornhuskers pulled away after a 7-7 first quarter thanks, in no small part, to Ameer Abdullah's record setting day, amassing more all-purpose yards than any other Nebraska player ever.

Despite the convincing win, a lot of people inside and outside of the Husker locker room, thought the home team could have executed better against Rutgers.

I asked the 'Voice of the Huskers', Greg Sharpe, about those concerns:

Purdue v Notre Dame
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 13: Head coach Darrell Hazell of the Purdue Boilermakers watches the action on the sidelines during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 13, 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
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Saturday in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers welcome Purdue for their first trip ever to Memorial Stadium.

The Boilermakers are 3-5 under second-year head coach Darrell Hazell, and have made big strides on the offensive side of the ball with a dual threat quarterback and a pair of running backs each capable of rushing for 100 yards a game.

Defensively it's been a struggle lately for the Boilermakers, who have allowed more than 600 yards in total offense in each of the last two games.

Nebraska is a three-touchdown favorite Saturday.  I asked Greg if that could potentially hurt the Huskers' focus on the Boilermakers:

Kickoff is 2:30pm CDT Saturday in Lincoln.

Nebraska has a bye next week and plays at Wisconsin November 15th.

I asked Greg if he thought having next week off would help the Huskers players keep from looking ahead to the match-up with the Badgers in two weeks:

Catch all of the Cornhusker action all season long on ESPN 99.1.

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