Abdullah hurt, No. 17 Nebraska beats Purdue 35-14
LINCOLN, Neb. - Imani Cross ran for two short touchdowns after Heisman Trophy hopeful Ameer Abdullah left the game with a mild sprain to his left knee, and No. 17 Nebraska defeated Purdue 35-14 on Saturday to take sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West.
The Cornhuskers (8-1, 4-1, No. 15 CFP) are a half-game ahead of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin after their third straight win. Purdue (3-6, 1-4) lost its third in a row.
Tommy Armstrong Jr. ran for 70 yards and a touchdown and passed for another score. Cross carried 20 times for 66 yards. Akeem Hunt led Purdue with 66 yards on 21 carries.
Abdullah, who came into the game third nationally in rushing at 156 yards a game, injured his left knee on the Huskers' second possession while recovering Armstrong's fumbled snap at the Purdue 1-yard line. Abdullah returned to carry one more time, losing 5 yards, and didn't return.
The senior has run for at least 200 yards in a nation-leading four games and has 1,250 for the season.
With Abdullah out, Nebraska continued to pound away with the run as winds gusting to 30 mph made it tough to pass.
The Huskers had a season-low 297 total yards after playing much of the game on a short field. Their average starting field position was their 49.
Purdue converted only 2 of 16 third downs, but stayed in the game into the fourth quarter.
Austin Appleby hit Cameron Posey for a 23-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-14, and the Boilers were set up in Nebraska territory again when Landon Feichter intercepted his second pass of the game. But Purdue turned the ball over on downs.
Nebraska tacked on a touchdown on Terrell Newby's 7-yard run after Purdue failed to convert on fourth down for the fourth of five times in the second half.
The Boilers had scored 31 or more points in three straight games with Appleby as the starting quarterback. But, he was 18 of 46 for 216 yards as he struggled with a defense that sacked him three times and had nine hurries. Armstrong was 8 of 21 for 118 yards. Each was intercepted twice.
The Huskers started their first three drives at the Purdue 17, 16 and 31, but came away with only seven points.
Two plays after Kieron Williams blocked Thomas Meadows' punt, Armstrong threw a 17-yard pass to De'Mornay Pierson-El.
Pierson-El ran back Meadows' next punt 42 yards, and the Huskers had first-and-goal at the Purdue 4 but couldn't punch it in. Armstrong fumbled the snap on fourth down at the 1, with Abdullah getting hurt in the scrum for the ball.
The Huskers were held scoreless after getting another short field when Drew Brown pushed his 46-yard field-goal try wide right for his third straight miss.
Appleby broke a 25-yard run to pull Purdue into a 7-all tie early in the second quarter. Nebraska responded with a 65-yard march that Cross finished with a 2-yard run.
Brandon Reilly partially blocked Meadows' next punt to set up the Huskers at midfield, and Armstrong went 29-yards to put the Huskers up 21-7. Cross scored from the 1 to make it a three-touchdown game in the third quarter.