The Nebraska Cornhuskers have officially hit rock bottom after a stunning loss at the hands of the Purdue Boilermakers.
Next: 50 Greatest College Football Rivalries of All-Time
Nebraska has suffered some brutal losses in the first year under head coach Mike Riley but Saturday’s 55-44 loss to the 1-6 Purdue Boilermakers is easily the worst of the year and arguably one of the worst regular season losses in program history.
The Huskers have been victimized late in games this year with five losses decided by a total of 13 points, but there was no last-second collapse against Purdue as Nebraska was out of it from the start and didn’t show any motivation or desire to be on the same field with the perennial cellar-dweller of the conference.
Bo Pelini was made to be the scapegoat when he was fired in the offseason after a 9-4 year, something he made routine during his time in Lincoln, but secret recordings of a profanity-laced tirade and a sour working relationship with the university administration sealed his fate.
Think Nebraska has any regrets about that decision after what’s transpired this year and the latest example being a 1-6 Purdue team lighting up one of the best programs in college football history?
How far has Nebraska fallen?
They’re not a viable contender in the Big Ten West and are on par with the likes of Minnesota in their own division and behind teams like Wisconsin, Iowa and even Northwestern.
On a national scale, they can’t recruit the state of Texas like they could when they were in the Big 12 and don’t have a fertile recruiting area in the state to pluck four and five-star recruits to build the roster. They’re resembling the teams Riley had at Oregon State that went 93-80 during his 14 years, including a 29-33 mark the last five years.
Hats off to Purdue. Unlike the Huskers they got fight in them today.
— Tommie Frazier & Co (@TouchdownTommie) October 31, 2015
Nebraska replaced a guy who won nine games a year for a coach who will struggle to go .500 and can’t recruit. He’s a world-class guy, but being a nice guy doesn’t cut it when you’re in danger of going 4-8 at a place like Nebraska.
And former Nebraska All-American quarterback and College Football Hall of Famer, Tommie Frazier is taking notice of the poor product on the field and had some damaging comments on Twitter, which reflects poorly on Riley.
Riley didn’t have his team ready to play and that’s failing to do the one thing he absolutely has to do. In his defense he played without the starting quarterback Tommy Armstrong and lost starting running back Terrell Newby to injury during the game, but there’s no excuse for today’s showing.
More from Saturday Blitz
- Michigan State vs. Maryland: Location, time, prediction, and more
- ACC Power Rankings: Can #4 FSU overthrow Clemson at Death Valley East?
- Most heartwarming social media reactions to Nick Chubb’s injury
- Ranking college football’s top 10 quarterbacks after Week 3
- Things are going to get much darker for the Houston Cougars
He didn’t do enough to put Nebraska in position to beat a 1-6 Purdue team that has two FBS wins in the last two years. Purdue scored four touchdowns off five Nebraska turnovers and allowed true freshman quarterback David Blough to throw for four touchdowns and run for another.
Nebraska has to beat No. 6 Michigan State, Rutgers and No. 10 Iowa to make it to a bowl game. Since 1969, Nebraska has only missed a bowl game in 2004 and 2007 when Bill Callahan, but it’s likely you can add 2015 to that list. They’re not relevant anymore and they’re not going to be a part of bowl season.
That’s something that should never happen at Nebraska, but the administration and Riley let it come to this point where Purdue made Nebraska look like Purdue.