Nebraska had a stressful day early in West Lafayette, but things eventually cleared up.

After a scoreless first half, Nebraska took control against Purdue to win 28-10 on the road and move to 4-1 on the season. The defense played lights out the entire game, allowing the Huskers to work through some first-half offensive issues.

Here are 3 takeaways from the game.

Blackshirts blast Boilers

Purdue faced a ton of third downs, never got the ground game going, and never really threatened down the field in the pass game. Give the game ball to the Blackshirts. As Nebraska’s offense stumbled its way through a frustrating first half, the defense kept Purdue from developing any rhythm and the game went to half with zeroes on the scoreboard.

If Purdue was going to beat the Huskers, it needed to start strong. If Purdue was going to get that kind of performance from Nebraska’s offense in the opening half, it needed to make Nebraska pay.

Quarterback Dylan Raiola was in a groove in the second half, the ground game found some chunk runs, and Nebraska pulled away in the fourth. The Huskers had the luxury of finding their footing on the road. The Blackshirts were unyielding.

Nebraska ran 6 possessions in the first half, all of which crossed the Purdue 40 at one point, none of which resulted in points. (Inside the opponent’s 40 is defined as a scoring opportunity. Zero points per scoring opportunity is not very optimal. #Analytics)

On the other side, Purdue got 5 first-half possessions. One of them crossed midfield, and that one ended with a missed field goal. Nebraska forced a trio of 3-and-outs on Purdue’s first 4 drives. The Huskers got 2 more 3-and-outs in the third and fourth quarters and then John Bullock jumped a pass and took it to the house to put the bow on the performance.

Purdue finished the game with 224 yards of offense, outgained nearly 2-to-1. Nebraska allowed only 4 yards per play. Purdue finished 7-for-15 on third down with an average of 8.3 yards to gain. The Huskers won the early downs against Purdue’s offense and then killed things off with 5 sacks and 9 tackles for loss.

Jacory Barney Jr. goes crazy

The freshman receiver had 3 rushing attempts through Nebraska’s first 4 games. He had a 10-yard touchdown against Northern Iowa and a 21-yard end-around against Colorado.

Against the Boilermakers, he led the Huskers in rushing. On four carries, he gained 66 yards. He had a 31-yarder on a jet sweep and then in the fourth quarter scored on a 25-yarder around the edge.

Dante Dowdell had just 21 yards on 9 carries. Rahmir Johnson had 9 yards on 5 carries. Emmett Johnson had a fine day with 50 yards on 8 carries, including a 16-yarder. Maybe he takes a larger role within the ground game going forward. The Huskers needed Barney’s production on Saturday.

Field goal unit has to walk home

Nebraska missed 3 first-half field goals. Two of them were blocked. Matt Rhule didn’t need to call on the field goal unit in the second half, but he might not have rolled with the unit had the option presented itself. The Huskers have missed 4 straight field goals going back to the Illinois game. With Tristan Alvano injured, Rhule will have to adjust going forward. This unit is unreliable. That means altering how you call things when you’re off-schedule, and that carries a little more risk.