It’s a testament to the Matt Rhule era of Nebraska football that off the field, the program has been relatively drama free. However, bature abhores a vacuum and that might be there has been one soap opera around this team this fall and that’s been the “will he or won’t be” of Micah Mazzccua sticking on the roster for the entire season.

Earlier this weekend, it seemed as if the conclusion was that he was already off the team. There were people seeing him taking a flight going in the opposite direction of the rest of the Huskers. When that’s happening the day before game day, it’s never seen as a good thing.

However, after the Nebraska football team’s 28-10 win over Purdue on Saturday, head coach Matt Rhule said in no uncertain terms that Mazzccua is not off the team. While that was an interesting nugget, it’s likely just going to keep the soap opera going. At least for one more day.

Rhule added he’ll shed more light on the situation during his Monday afternoon press conference. Adding once again he’s not off the team, he also said the transfer offensive lineman is “not with them” right now.

All of this new drama comes a week after things with Mazzccua seemed very fluid. He was ruled out of the Northern Iowa game at the last minute. Then Rhule made it clear he wasn’t hurt.

After that game, he said the former Florida Gator and Baylor Bear would not play against Illinois. Something then changed and he was available but not starting. He was seen warming up against Illinois but didn’t get in the game.

Hopefully, when Monday rolls around, this particular situation will make some more sense and it won’t be the talk of Nebraska football every single week.

In a very tight national election, seemingly, every electoral vote is necessary to secure the win for presidency in November. Perhaps that’s the reason for the Harris campaign to spend amounts of money not seen since Obama’s 2008 campaign in Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district- notably including Omaha.

Kamala Harris and Democratic groups have spent more than $5 million in the district since she entered the race on July 23, and have more than $6 million in ad time reserved through Election Day, Nov. 5, according to the media-tracking firm AdImpact. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign, on the other hand, had spent only about $95,000 on advertising in the state and had reserved roughly $6,800 through Nov. 5.

Trump and Republican allies had sought another route to victory, namely to persuade the Republican-dominated Legislature to make Nebraska a winner-take-all contest instead of awarding its Electoral College votes by congressional district. Maine is the only other state that awards its votes that way. 

Lacking the votes in Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature however, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said he would not call a special session to attempt the change.

For Nebraska’s 2nd District to break the tie in the race for the winning majority of 270 Electoral College votes, Trump would have to win all Republican-leaning states plus Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. He would also have to win Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which he won in 2020, while losing the state overall.

On a cool and cloudy day in West Lafayette, the Nebraska Cornhuskers rebounded from an anemic first half to soundly defeat the Purdue Boilermakers 28-10 and move to 4-1 on the season. It was an unusually ugly first half as the two teams combined for four missed or blocked field goals, seven punts, going 1 for 12 on third down conversions and committing 129 yards in penalties. In fact, at intermission, Purdue had 90 yards in penalties and just 89 yards of total offense. They had four punts to go with just five pass completions. The Huskers crossed the Purdue 40-yard line on all six first half possessions and racked up 210 yards of offense without scoring a point. Including the end of the Illinois game, it was eight straight possessions by Nebraska inside the other team’s 40 without points. It was a game that deserved to be on Peacock so that a limited viewership had to witness the ineptitude.

The second half began with Purdue consuming 8:08 of the third quarter clock before John Bullock made an impressive stop on third and short to force a Boiler trey. The Huskers then scored on their next three possessions on touchdown drives of 70, 63, and 57 yards, while the defense forced two 3 and outs with Purdue netting -7 and then -1 yards. Purdue’s next drive resulted in a 29-yard pick six by Bullock and at 28-3, the rout was on. It was the Colorado game in reverse in that the Huskers scored all their points after intermission instead of before.

The teams combined for 24 penalties totaling 259 yards. Purdue compiled 165 yards in penalties with every defensive penalty being at least 10 yards. They committed five pass interference penalties as they could not contain Isaiah Neyor, Jahmal Banks, or Heinrich Haarberg. Nebraska had its share of the laundry as well, including an absolutely atrocious offensive pass interference penalty on Thomas Fidone who actually avoided contact with the defender. The flag wiped out a 22-yard touchdown by Rahmir Johnson in the second quarter. The nonsense finally culminated with a fourth quarter 10-yard holding penalty on Jahmal Banks that prompted Matt Rhule to slam his headset to the ground incurring an additional 15-yard personal foul. At that point, I didn’t blame Coach Rhule as the Big Ten officials make middle school referees look like professionals. Facing 2nd and 29, Dylan Raiola completed a pass to Emmett Johnson that picked up 27 yards plus another 15 tacked on for a facemask. The Huskers scored two plays later.

The Blackshirts held the Boilers to 50 yards rushing and 174 yards passing. Purdue managed a consolation touchdown against reserves with 1:29 left in the game, but the defense has now held four of five opponents to 10 points or less this season. Nebraska totaled five sacks in the victory, its second-highest total of the season (six vs. Colorado) and recorded nine tackles for loss. Saturday was the second opponent Nebraska has held scoreless in the first half (Colorado) and the defenders have allowed just three points in the second quarter this season. Nebraska is one of only seven teams who has not allowed a rushing touchdown this season and including last season, the Huskers have not allowed a rushing touchdown in 10 of their past 12 games.

Ceyair Wright, filling in for Tommi Hill, had another outstanding game co-leading the defense with five tackles and two pass breakups. Mikai Gbayor also had five stops in the game. James Williams with 2 sacks and M.J. Sherman with 1.5 sacks both set career highs in that category on Saturday. Williams’ two sacks are the most by a Husker this season and the most since Nash Hutmacher had 2.5 sacks against Northwestern last season. Ty Robinson added another sack and Kai Wallin shared a sack with Sherman. Bullock, Mario Buford, Jimari Butler, and Keona Davis all chipped in with tackles for loss. The pick-six by Bullock was his first career interception and was heartily celebrated by his teammates as the pick was a just reward for a guy who has been working his butt off on defense.  It marked Nebraska’s second interception for a touchdown this season (Tommi Hill vs. Colorado) and it marks the first time since 2017 that Nebraska has had two pick-six TDs in a season. In finishing +1 in turnovers Saturday, Nebraska improves to +5 on the season with the Huskers outscoring opponents 31-0 in points off turnovers.

Dylan Raiola finished 17-of-27 for 257 yards and a touchdown, as he connected with eight different receivers. He has also thrown at one touchdown pass in all five games this season. He was sacked just once as the Huskers started their third string left tackle, Gunnar Gottula, following the injury to Turner Corcoran last week. The offensive line generally gave Raiola plenty of time in pass protection but struggled in the first half with run blocking as the Huskers only had 49 yards rushing on 13 attempts. They seemed to improve as the game wore on, though, finishing with 161 yards on the ground on 31 carries yielding two touchdowns.

Senior receiver Jahmal Banks caught a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter for Nebraska’s first points. It marked his second touchdown of 2024 (UTEP) and his 15th career receiving touchdown. Banks finished the day with five catches for 82 yards and has 13 receptions the past two weeks. Thomas Fidone had 3 catches for 39 yards and Jaylen Lloyd nabbed one grab for 25 yards.

Jacory Barney Jr. led Nebraska with 66 yards rushing on four carries, including a career-high 31-yard run and a 25-yard touchdown run. Barney entered the game with 38 yards rushing. He also had two catches for 28 yards. His speed is electric and has to be a challenge to defend. Emmett Johnson totaled 98 all-purpose yards (50 rushing, 48 passing) on just 10 touches. Johnson’s 48 receiving yards were a career high (43 vs. UNI) while his 27-yard reception was also career long. Johnson seems to spark the team when he enters the game as he has a wiggle and a burst that nets solid gains. Dante Dowdell (9 carries for 21 yards) was stuffed more often than not but got a 1-yard fourth down fourth quarter touchdown to put the Huskers up 14-3. The play was aided by a great block by Barret Liebentrit who nailed two defenders on the edge.

Special teams were a disaster and if not improved will cost the Huskers at least a game or two down the stretch. With Tristan Alvano still nursing a groin injury, back-up kicker John Hohl missed his first field goal attempt from 42-yards. The second and third attempts were blocked after bad snaps that holder Brian Buschini barely got set. Camden Witucki replaced Aidan Flege as the snapper after the first block, and at least managed decent snaps on four subsequent extra point attempts. The errant snaps may have cost us the game last week and must be maddening for a coaching staff that has to consider keeping the offense on the field no matter the fourth down yardage. Blockers on punt returns are whiffing on blocks and gunners on punt coverage are getting lost in the end zone rather than downing punts inside the 5-yard line. Punter Brian Buschini did manage to get two of three punts inside the 20 and had touchbacks on four of five kickoffs while making three tackles on punt and kick coverage.

After last week’s gut punch loss that had presented so many opportunities to win, you take any road win you can get in the Big Ten. The Huskers likely gained a bit of confidence with their second half performance against a mediocre Purdue team as Nebraska has yet to play a four-quarter game. In his presser, Coach Matt Rhule stated, “It might not be for everybody, but we are just a growing team.” He has continued to stress the long game of growth and maturity. Kids make mistakes. It’s up to the coaches to help them learn and develop. It will certainly help if the Huskers find that four-quarter game next Saturday as the undefeated and likely ranked Scarlet Knights from Rutgers make their appearance in Memorial Stadium. Hopefully, the team can take the next step toward bowl eligibility. Go Big Red!!!

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