Finally, a rushing attack.

Purdue had slogged for weeks trying to manufacture a ground game to give its offense run-pass balance. And, it finally happened in last Saturday's 28-23 win at Nebraska that improved the Boilermakers to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten with a big visit from No. 5 Michigan State (8-0/5-0) looming this Saturday.

At Nebraska, Purdue finished with 116 yards rushing on 41 carries with a TD, the offense's most rushing yards since notching 187 at UConn in the second game of the season on Sept. 11. It also was the most vs. a Power Five foe in 2021. The previous high vs. a Big Ten opponent? It was 86 at Iowa.

The return of Zander Horvath was key. The fifth-year senior had been out since the aforementioned UConn game, when he broke his left fibula. How much has the ground game struggled? It was second-to-last in the nation entering last week (73.9 ypg).

"Well, it was great to have him back," said Jeff Brohm. "He's a big, physical back. You feel comfortable giving him the ball that even if there's not a whole lot of yards there, he's going to knock some people back and fall forward and do a good job with it. I think he'll continue to improve, and he definitely was a boost to our running game.

Horvath looked solid in his return, running 11 times for 24 yards with a TD. And, best of all, he came out of the game healthy to face a Michigan State run defense that is No. 5 in the Big Ten (122.6 ypg).

"Zander was just a little bit sore and we'll try to take care of him this week and get him ready for the game," said Brohm. "I think he'll be ready to go."

Another key Saturday was a new wrinkle: Purdue used wideout Jackson Anthrop in the backfield. The super senior had seen some action this season as a ball carrier. But, it was more pronounced at Nebraska, as he rushed five times for 25 yards in addition to making six catches for 43 yards and a score.

"I thought for the most part, he did a really good job and we were able to hand it to him, throw it to him out of the backfield and still get him some balls at receiver and use him in the kicking game, so he was a very, very valuable piece to the puzzle this past week," said Brohm.

Horvath and Anthrop were complements to King Doerue, who rushed for a team-high 74 yards on 17 totes vs. the Cornhuskers.

Does the return of Horvath and option of using Anthrop as a running back mean the offense no longer will lean on quarterbacks Jack Plummer and Austin Burton as occasional runners?

"We want a mix of that, and like I said, sometimes situationally when there's a lot of guys up in the box, having an athletic quarterback to do a couple different things and still have the ability to throw on the edge can be beneficial," said Brohm.

"We normally carry quite a bit in that, it's just a matter of getting it called and trusting that it's going to work and making the right call."

For the first time this season last week, Purdue had to start a different offensive line configuration, as No. 1 left tackle Greg Long was in concussion protocol. That caused a shuffle, with No. 1 right tackle Eric Miller moving to Long's spot and Cam Craig coming off the bench to start at right tackle.

"We're going to try to get him back," said Brohm of Long. "He's still in the protocol. So how that comes out, we'll see. But we're hopeful to get him back."

Brohm updated other injured players: TE Garrett Miller, DE DaMarcus Mitchell, CB Jamari Brown, TE Payne Durham and DE Kydran Jenkins.

• "Garrett, we're going to try to get back and DaMarcus we're going to try to get back," said Brohm. "I'm not optimistic, but we'll continue to get that done."

• "Jamari Brown has been nicked up and he was able to come back in the second half even though he missed some action in the first, but we're going to have to be careful with him this week."

• "Payne Durham got nicked up, so we've got to get him as healthy as we can."

• "Kydran Jenkins, I'm not for sure what will happen this week, but we'll see where he stands at the end of the week."

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2021. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.