Nebraska Opponent Spring Review: Purdue
The Nebraska Cornhuskers will travel to West Lafayette on Sept. 28 to take on Purdue for their first road trip of 2024.
The Boilermakers are coming off a tough first season under head coach Ryan Walters and hope to take a step forward in 2024. To get more insight on Purdue coming out of the spring, we caught up with veteran writer Tom Dienhart of Gold & Black to get his thoughts on the Boilermakers.
Previous Opponent Spring Reviews: UTEP | Colorado | Northern Iowa | Illinois |
Spring overview
It was Ryan Walters’s first season at Purdue, an up-and-down one, but the Boilermakers bounced back, winning two of their final three games against Minnesota and Indiana to finish 4-8. However, things will not be easy in 2024 with a schedule featuring both Oregon State and Notre Dame in the non-conference.
They return four starters on both offense and defense. The offense has a solid group to build around with quarterback Hudson Card, center Gus Hartwig, running back Devin Mockobee and tight end Max Klare. They also get back Jahmal Edrine from injury, who was projected to be Purdue’s top wide-out in 2023.
They added Illinois transfer running back Reggie Love to compete against Mockobee, who has 1,779 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns over the last two seasons.
Purdue brought in four offensive linemen from the transfer portal, and two are expected to start – Corey Stewart (Ball State) and DJ Wingfield (New Mexico).
Defensively, the story is what they lost. The Boilermakers lost arguably the best pass rusher in the league in Nic Scourton to Texas A&M. The Aggies essentially went into West Lafayette and bought him. In the meantime, they also moved Kydran Jenkins from the edge to linebacker.
Safety Dillon Thieneman, who was the top freshman in the Big Ten a year ago, will lead this defense in the back end. This is a Purdue defense that finished last in the Big Ten, allowing 30.4 points per game.
Hudson Card vs. Iowa; Oct. 7, 2023 (Chad Krockover)
Offensive star: QB Hudson Card
Purdue quarterback Hudson Card completed 215-of-365 passes for 2,387 yards, 15 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in 2023. He also had 203 yards rushing and five scores on the ground.
Card will begin his second season as the Boilermaker’s starter at quarterback, and he should have much more to work with. Purdue returns playmakers at running back, wide receiver and tight end, so do not be surprised if you see Card make a big jump this season.
We saw Card play his best ball late in the season, completing 38-of-59 passes for 526 yards and six touchdowns in wins against Minnesota and Indiana.
Dillon Thieneman was freshman sensation (Chad Krockover)
Defensive star: DB Dillon Thieneman
Defensive back Dillon Thieneman was named the Thompson-Randle El Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He was also named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.
As a freshman, Thieneman had 106 total tackles and six interceptions. He was far and away the most productive freshman at any position in the Big Ten last season.
Many early draft boards already list Thieneman as a top prospect for 2026 based on his accomplishments in his first season at Purdue. He’ll lead Walters’s defense.
Biggest question: Where does the pass rush come from?
With Jenkins moving to more of a true linebacker, his pass rush production won’t be the same as a year ago. PFF credited Jenkins with 50 quarterback pressures, including nine sacks, 15 QB hits and 26 hurries.
They also lost Scourton in the portal, who had 42 quarterback pressures, including eight sacks and 28 hurries.
Walters’s biggest question right now is where his defense’s pass rush will come in 2024. Defensive tackle Jeffrey M’Ba is the only returning player with a pass rush stat line, with 10 quarterback pressures plays in 2023.
Key newcomer/transfer: WR Jahmal Edrine
Florida Atlantic wide receiver transfer Jahmal Edrine was supposed to be Purdue’s best wide receiver in 2023 until he suffered a season-ending knee injury during fall camp.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Edrine is the big-bodied target Card was missing a year ago, and he’ll immediately slot back into Purdue’s No. 1 wide receiver spot in 2024.
Early outlook on Nebraska vs. Purdue
Dienhart: “This is one of those four or five toss-up games for Purdue. Nebraska thinks they can win. Purdue thinks they can win. It’s at Purdue, and they could be 1-2 and in really desperate need of a win at that point. I’d say Vegas will make that game a pick’em, or Nebraska is a slight 1 or 2-point favorite.
“The early outlook is this is two teams kind of in the crossroads with second-year head coaches still with a lot to prove. This is an early season Big Ten game for two teams with a lot to prove. Nebraska has not been to a bowl game since 2016. Nebraska wants to get a winning record again, and for Purdue, this is a huge game. Purdue has got to win this game if they want to go to a bowl game. You have win at home against teams like Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota.
“You will probably laugh at me saying this, but Purdue has been a purer program than Nebraska for the last seven years. Nebraska will eventually get it together, but right now, at least from my vantage point, they are still kind of a work in progress.”
2024 win-loss expectations
Dienhart: “I think the ceiling is 5-7. I feel like getting to 6 wins may be out of the question with this schedule. I think 5-7, which would be a one-game improvement from last year. Would fans be happy? They wouldn’t be thrilled. The key I think is going to be if they are competitive with these other schools. Are they not getting blown out? I think a lot of it is going to be in the eyeball test as well. It could be tough sledding here.”
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