Probably not; but I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to make a pun on Will Perdue’s name. As a matter of fact, the No. 8 Nebraska Cornhuskers are the NCAA football betting favorites to beat the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday, October 22nd at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The following are the online sportsbook odds for the game:
Purdue Boilermakers +24 (-110) 61½ (-110) +1400
Nebraska Cornhuskers -24 (-110) 61½ (-110) -2500
The Boilermakers (3-3) – who are the very definition of hit-and-miss, not being able to win back-to-back games under head coach Darrell Hazell – lost 35-49 to the Iowa Hawkeyes last Saturday. Purdue QB David Blough threw 30 of 59 for 458 yards with five TD passes, including a 25-yarder to tight end Brycen Hopkins, and a 53-yard one to Cole Herdman to close the gap to 14-35, and another couple of scoring pass to Bilal Marshall and DeAngelo Yancey made it 42-28.
However, Blough’s one interception was returned for a TD with 1:44 left on the clock rendered Purdue’s final touchdown mute. In fact, NCAA football betting experts might argue that Blough’s entire impressive performance was moot to begin with, seeing as how the Boilermakers are 0-9 in the next game after a win during Hazell’s four-season tenure.
The Cornhuskers escaped Memorial Stadium (not their Memorial Stadium but the Indiana Hoosiers’ Memorial Stadium) with a hard fought 27-22 win against an Indiana team that just would not die. Like zombies. And like zombies, they weren’t very coordinated; two Hoosiers safeties ran into each other and allowed Nebraska wide receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. to make a 72-yard touchdown catch.
Still, NCAA football betting fans gotta give it to Indiana; they were harder to put away than Rasputin. It took a little help from the officials and the replay booth after Terrell Newby almost lost a fumble; a 39-yard field goal with 45 seconds remaining to force the Hoosiers to drive for a TD; and an interception on Indiana’s last series. The outcome was well worth it, though; the Cornhuskers are 6-0 for the first time in a decade and a half.
The good news for the Boilermakers is that their days of always losing after a win with coach Hazell are over. Athletic director Mike Bobinski gave Hazell his walking papers on Sunday, so that Purdue can now go on to losing after a win with interim coach Gerard Parker. Or in this case, lose after a loss. Nebraska is riding high on their best start since 2001, and their highest ranking (No. 8) since 2011.
The Cornhuskers look like they can do no wrong. Then again, looks can be deceiving. QB Tommy Armstrong completed only 38.5% of his passes against Indiana, was picked off twice, and ran for only 36 yards. On the other hand, one of the few games Purdue won with Hazell was against Nebraska last season, and Blough played like a man possessed against the Iowa. The Huskers, though, are simply superior in offense, defense, special teams, and coaching.