3 things we learned and 3 questions we have after Nebraska football pummels Purdue

The Nebraska football team defeated Purdue 28-10 on Saturday with a dominating second half performance. Nebraska accomplished three of my four keys to victory in my game preview, including the Blackshirt defense getting back to basics and playing smart, hard, and fast.

The Huskers are 4-1, their best record to start a season in eight years. Here are three things we know and three questions we still have after this weekend's game.

Three things we know about Nebraska football

1. Nebraska's kicking game is a dumpster fire

Kicker John Hohl was 0fer on three field goals, with two blocked, in the first half. More than that, the snaps were atrocious, which threw off the timing of the hold and the kick. Nebraska switched long snappers after halftime--the snaps on the four PATs they kicked in the second half were much better.

But even with good snaps, Nebraska hasn't found a kicker in a few years who can make gimme field goals.

2. Dylan Raiola is (still) the real deal

Granted Ross-Ade Stadium isn't the most intimidating environment, and half the stadium was filled with Nebraska fans, but the Husker quarterback is one, cool cat. He simply doesn't rush or play tight. Whatever woes the offense has at times, Raiola certainly doesn't seem to be the one to blame.

There will be tougher environments this year--Ohio State tops the list--but the early returns on Raiola remind us why he was the number one overall recruit coming out of high school.

3. The Blackshirts can still play swarming defense

Purdue came into the game with a decent rushing attack--Devin Mockobee and Reggie Love III are both averaging over six yards per carry this year. But Tony White's unit made Purdue one-dimensional as they held them to 50 yards rushing and 1.6 yards per carry. Purdue had 224 total yards (including their garbage time touchdown drive at the end of the game).

This defensive performance was everything you could ask for after last week's game against Illinois.

Three questions we still have about the Cornhuskers

1. How much will Emmett Johnson's role in Nebraska's offense increase?

Increasing Johnson's involvement was one of my keys to victory for this game. (I'm glad Marcus Satterfield took my advice). Johnson had 10 touches for 85 yards. He has the best vision of all of Nebraska's running backs and has a knack for the big play.

Emmett was simply money today in key moments. Does this performance move him up the depth chart?

2. When will the Big Ten get serious about their referees?

Nebraska's offense struggled in the first half. But they had a touchdown taken off the board because of a phantom offensive pass interference called on Thomas Fidone. It was a beautiful play call. As Fidone ran his route, he ran around a Purdue linebacker running to cover Rahmir Johnson. Fidone missed the defender, the defender stumbled as Johnson caught the ball and ran into the end zone for a touchdown.

Of course, that wasn't the only call that went against the Huskers. Numerous holds on Purdue's offensive line weren't called and a few holding calls against Nebraska's offense were suspect. At one point, Matt Rhule was so frustrated he was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

It's not just Nebraska who's frustrated with Big Ten officials, by the way. In the Penn State-Illinois game, both James Franklin and Bret Bielema were jawing at officials in the first half.

Every team in the Big Ten deserves elite officiating. Will the conference do anything in the offseason to improve referee performance?

3. Is Nebraska ready for a Big Ten brawl with Rutgers?

Rutgers comes to Lincoln this Friday riding high at 4-0 after their win against Washington. They aren't invincible, and Nebraska can certainly beat them. But they play a hard-nosed brand of football. And in a Big Ten game with two strong defenses, Nebraska will need to do the little things right: win third down, limit penalties, win the turnover battle, and, yes, make field goals.

Nebraska football knows what it needs to do. Will it be able to do it?