Matt Rhule identifies biggest challenges Purdue presents

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule will face another first-year head coach this week in Purdue leader Ryan Walters. It is the second-straight week that Rhule will face a head coach in not only his first year at a school but his first year ever as a head coach.

Rhule gave a breakdown of what to expect from the Boilermakers during his Thursday press conference and some of the biggest challenges Purdue presents.

“I think they’re ranked right now the sixth-best offense,” Rhule said. “They’re the fourth-best passing offense. They can score points. They’re explosive. Listening to coach, it sounds like they’re healthy. I wouldn’t have known that they weren’t healthy but those types of teams have kind of bothered us at times. That spread, tempo, run-this-way, double slant, backside, throw-the-ball-up. Those things have you know those things have lat Tech you know move the ball against us. They move the ball against a lot of people. We beat Illinois. We were excited. They beat them 44-19 so that offense is scary. The return game, the returners are scary. They have (Tyrone Terry Jr.) back now so he’s obviously going to be in the mix. They have dynamic players in those area.”

Purdue enters the game on a two-game losing streak with a 2-5 record and 1-3 mark in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers had their open week last weekend, which came on the heels of a 41-7 loss to Ohio State.

The offense is quarterbacked by Hudson Card, who has 1,617 passing yards, seven touchdowns and five picks on the season. The unit is averaging 23.00 points per game while the defense is allowing 29.86 points per game.

“On defense, coach Walters I mean they’re going to get off the bus and they’re going to play man and they’re going to pressure us and they’re going to blitz us,” Rhule said. “We’re going to have to make some plays and pick those things up with a new group on the offensive line. It’s an even matchup. This is a great game. This should be a great game. It should be a great game right down the wire. We’ll just try to play our best to get to the fourth quarter, try to make one more play than the opponent and hope that we win the game.”

Purdue and Nebraska have played each other every year since 2013. No team has won the game three years in a row. The Boilermakers have won the past two years.