Following the Illinois game in which the defense - and for that matter, the offensive line in overtime - got out-physicalled in the crunch, the Huskers played a reeling Purdue team which has gone 5-11 since Ryan Walters replaced Jeff Brohm as head coach. A win was expected, but how they won was going to be looked at closely by both fans and coaches.
After a 4-0 start, the loss coupled by a previous inability to get Northern Iowa off the field caused some to question the defense, including myself last week. I ran a poll for a sense of the concern level and the majority were with me:
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I felt there was a reason for concern, but it was too soon for snap judgments.