After watching the game tape, we take a more detailed look at certain aspects of Purdue's 42-28 win at Nebraska.

Part of the answer to why coaches watch hours of film was reflected in D.J. Knox's 42-yard touchdown, as the Boilermakers answered Nebraska's opening drive with a scoring possession of their own.

Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said his staff believed much of what Michigan did to Nebraska's first and second levels of defense was something they could replicate. The zone blocking on these two touchdown runs highlight what Brohm is talking about. Both runs include the offensive guards getting on the perimeter to secure a pair of seals to create the tunnel for the tailback to get to the sideline. The only difference is Michigan's two-back variation of the pistol formation; Purdue uses a single-back version of the pistol to create a play-action element for David Blough.

On the Michigan touchdown run, the wide receiver and tight end get out on the perimeter along with pulling offensive linemen to create the crease toward the sideline, setting the table for the score.

On the Purdue touchdown run, it should be no surprise that the Boilermakers ran this play off toff left tackle Grant Hermanns. According to Pro Football Focus data, Purdue is getting 6.5 yards per carry on runs this season either around the left side or off left tackle. You'll also be able to see Shane Evans and Dennis Edwards get out on the perimeter and execute a textbook pulling block on two Nebraska linebackers. Finally, in this two-tight end set, both Cole Herdman and Brycen Hopkins throw key blocks, including Herdman standing up Cornhusker linebacker Luke Gifford. Initially after the run occurred, it looked like Knox slipped Dedrick Young's tackle, but the film clearly shows Hopkins, who is still developing as a run and pass blocker, is part of a double-team block with Hermanns, but then gets to the second level to engage Young several yards downfield. This Hopkins block on Young, while it was only for a few seconds, forces the Nebraska linebacker to take a poor diagonal angle to the ball while Knox is already getting downhill at full speed. These two plays were perfect examples of offensive linemen making athletic plays and tight ends executing their blocking assignments and the tailback hitting the hole at full speed.

With Purdue getting 9.2 yards off left tackle with Knox, expect a version of this play to be used in the future.

Derrick Barnes didn't get any credit on the stat sheet for either of Purdue's sacks but it's a safe assumption he'll get credit in Nick Holt's film review, and he will in this one as well.

In two distinctly different assignments, the sophomore linebacker does his job properly to confuse Nebraska's freshman quarterback, Adrian Martinez. On the first sack, shown at the top, Barnes and Jacob Thieneman come on a blitz up the middle that Holt changed a bit from his previous middle rushes by both Barnes and junior linebacker Markus Bailey. Nebraska's interior offensive linemen all try to cut block, which works fine against defensive tackles Lorenzo Neal and Anthony Watts but is essentially a designed whiff against Thieneman and Barnes as they have plenty of time to navigate the cut attempts. It should also be noted that Kai Higgins does a very smart thing by staying on the edge instead of trying to beat the chip block by the tailback. If Higgins simply runs past the tailback, Martinez might have a check-down receiver option as Purdue is in man-to-man coverage behind this blitz. This sack is another example of Holt's insistence that they must get more aggressive with their blitz schemes and quarterback pressures when given the opportunity and this field position was the perfect time to dial up this call.

On the second sack, shown below, Martinez is confused by the excellent chemistry between Barnes and Bailey. Barnes begins this second-down play as a stand-up pass-rusher but sees the tailback leak out into the boundary and immediately switches into coverage. At the snap, Bailey appears to initially shuffle his feet sideways as he sees the Nebraska tailback go uncovered but instead of having the Purdue linebacker try to race him down from the hashmark to the sideline, Barnes takes him and allows Bailey to blitz and/or play Martinez's shadow in case the QB chose to immediately take off running. Bailey gets the sack because the check-down option is covered and Nebraska's 300-pound sophomore left tackle, Brenden Jaimes, has shifted toward his left and kicked his hips outside so he can't rotate and pick up Bailey, who is on a straight-line sprint toward the quarterback. If Barnes doesn't shift his responsibility on this play, this is an easy check-down completion and a possible big play if the difficult tackle near the sideline is missed by Bailey.

- Add another game where the starting offensive line played every snap (88 total) in a game. And why not? The Purdue offensive line allowed just four quarterback hurries on 52 drop-backs Saturday and helped the Boilermaker running game average 5.6 yards per attempt.

- The injury to Cole Herdman in the second half likely played a role in this but Purdue's success in its two-tight end package also allowed Brycen Hopkins to get 65 snaps of action and that included 29 snaps of designed run plays. Hopkins ended the game with five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.

- Purdue only used the five-wide, no-backs formation eight times Saturday as Knox and Markell Jones got a combined 80 snaps of action, but were the only two tailbacks used on offense. Alexander Horvath was used as a fullback on 11 snaps.

- Purdue hit Rondale Moore on eight of his nine targets in the game as Nebraska insisted on using bracketed coverage with a linebacker and a safety throughout the game.

- While he didn't start, Kenneth Major played 72 of the 84 defensive snaps and received the second-highest coverage grade by the PFF metrics. Nebraska only completed two passes in seven attempts targets on Major's side of the field.

- Lorenzo Neal played a season-high 76 snaps Saturday and 49 of them were in passing situations. This could be a direct reflection of Purdue being unable to substitute against Nebraska's tempo offense but once again, a reflection of how the 315-pound junior has improved his conditioning.

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