WEST LAFAYETTE − Nebraska was once the hated rival for Ryan Walters.

The Purdue football coach grew up in Colorado and in the 1990s, Colorado and Nebraska was must see TV. Then Walters went on to play for Colorado, like his father.

Now it’s Nebraska that Walters needs to beat to stop a sinking ship.

Purdue is trying to avoid a third straight loss and also hoping to resurrect an offense and defense that have drifted into the Big Ten abyss the past two games.

The Huskers visit Ross-Ade Stadium for their first road game of the season and the Boilermakers hope that a raucous Homecoming environment can help rattle Nebraska and freshman sensation quarterback Dylan Raiola.

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Raiola was one of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 recruiting class and he’s shown why. The Nebraska signal caller is second in the Big Ten with eight touchdown passes and has thrown for almost 1,000 yards in four games.

Nebraska won its first three games with relative ease before losing to Illinois in overtime last week.

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Raiola’s top target has been Isaiah Neyor, a transfer from Texas and a former teammate of Purdue QB Hudson Card with the Longhorns. Neyor’s four touchdown receptions are fourth most in the league. How much does the return of Nyland Green help Purdue’s defense?

Nebraska’s defense averages six tackles for loss and 2.8 sacks per game, led by senior linebacker John Bullock (25 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks).

Purdue football QB Hudson Card, ‘Still a lot of belief in this team’

Heard what Boilermaker quarterback Hudson Card said about Purdue’s 1-2 start and Saturday’s game vs. Nebraska.

How does Purdue’s offense match up with Blackshirts

Nebraska’s defense, known as the Blackshirts, will be a tough unit for the Boilermakers to try to rectify a struggling passing attack.

Purdue did run the ball well at Oregon State, which has proven struggles against the run this season. Devin Mockobee did become the 12th player to join Purdue’s 2,000-yard club after rushing for 168 yards last Saturday. He needs 40 yards to pass Purdue legend Leroy Keyes for 11th most in school history.

It’ll be tough to do that against the Cornhuskers, who are allowing just 94.3 rushing yards per game and just 12.8 points per game. Purdue averages 354.7 yards of offense, which ranks 95th in the country and 13th in the Big Ten, with 583 yards against Indiana State doing the heavy lifting to support that average. Over the last two weeks, that average is 240.5 yards.

“After the Notre Dame game, I think that Notre Dame was extremely physical, played really, really hard and we challenged our guys as a team and obviously as an offensive unit, the physicality has to be there,” offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said. “If we’re going to be successful, then we have to be physical.”

Prediction: Nebraska 30, Purdue football 20

The Boilermakers bounce back in terms of competitiveness, but there’s three games of data (or four in Nebraska’s case) saying these teams are not playing at the same level right now.

Until Purdue’s defense shows it can set the edge and not get gashed for chunk plays running outside the tackles, it’s hard to believe the Boilers will beat anyone. If it’s more of the same Saturday, Nebraska’s run game, which isn’t a strength, could get a boost.

The Boilermakers also need to show some semblance of a passing game against a secondary that’s been pretty good against. Purdue’s best bet is to keep it close and hope for a chance at the end. That starts with not falling behind early, which has happened the past two weeks.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.