Opponent Preview: Purdue

Purdue enters Saturday's game with a 3-5 overall record, including a 1-3 mark in Big Ten Conference play. The Boilermakers were off last week, giving them two weeks to prepare for today’s matchup.

Purdue is facing a ranked opponent for the third time this season. The Boilermakers have fared well in their two previous matchups against ranked teams, despite losing both games. Purdue led then-No. 11 Notre Dame late in the second quarter, but the Fighting Irish scored the game’s final 20 points in a 30-14 victory. A month later, the Boilermakers faced a top-10 Michigan State squad coming off a victory over Nebraska. Purdue put up 31 points against the Spartans and trailed by seven with the ball in the final three minutes before Michigan State sealed a 45-31 victory with an interception return for a touchdown.

Dual-threat quarterback Austin Appleby has been a big boost for a Boilermaker offense that ranks 99th nationally in total offense and 76th in scoring offense. Appleby has started Purdue’s last three games under center, and the Boilermakers are averaging 447 yards of total offense and 35.7 points per game during that stretch. In the first five games of the season, Purdue averaged just 312 yards of total offense and 23.8 points per game.

Appleby has averaged 205 passing yards and 45 rushing yards per game in his three starts, despite rushing for minus-20 yards against MSU.

Purdue’s running backs have benefitted from a dual-threat quarterback. With Appleby as the starting quarterback, Purdue has averaged nearly 260 rushing yards per game. Akeem Hunt leads the team with 640 yards and five touchdowns, and he has rushed for 376 yards in Appleby’s three starts. Raheem Mostert is averaging 6.1 yards per carry and in Appleby’s three starts, Mostert has carried the ball 10 times for 173 yards.

Defensively, Purdue is allowing 429 yards and 31.3 points per game, including 255.5 passing yards and 173.8 rushing yards per game. The Boilermakers have also allowed the 22nd-most first downs of any team in the country. Purdue allows opponents to convert 49.2 percent of the time on third down, a total that ranks 119th nationally.

Series History
The all-time series between Nebraska and Purdue is tied 1-1. The teams are meeting in Lincoln for the first time, as each of the previous two meetings were in West Lafayette. Purdue shut out the Huskers, 28-0, in the first meeting in 1958. In the first meeting as conference foes last season, Nebraska beat the Boilermakers, 44-7.

Purdue Head Coach Darrell Hazell
Darrell Hazell is in his second year of a rebuilding project at Purdue, where he has guided the Boilermakers to a 4-16 record, including a 1-11 mark in Big Ten play. Hazell earned his first Big Ten victory at Illinois on Sept. 27.

Prior to coming to Purdue, Hazell was the head coach at Kent State in 2011 and 2012. He compiled a 16-10 record with the Golden Flashes. In his final season at Kent State, Hazell was named the MAC Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Flashes to an 11-3 record. The 11 wins were a school record.

Before becoming a head coach, Hazell spent more than 20 years as a collegiate assistant at Ohio State (2004-10), Rutgers (2001-03), West Virginia (1999-2000), Army (1997-98), Pennsylvania (199-94), Oberlin College (1986-87; 1989-91) and Eastern Illinois (1988).