GBMWolverine Staff Predictions: Nebraska at Michigan

Posted at 5:45am — 11/19/2011

GBMWolverine Staff Predictions: Nebraska at Michigan

After reading our predictions for the Nebraska game come to our message board and make your prediction and comment on what you believe will happen Saturday afternoon.

Reminder special day at Michigan Stadium. First time Nebraska as a Big Ten member to come to the “Big House” and Coach Carr honored for entering the College Football Hall of Fame, along with a Military Day with a flyover with 4 F-16’s and a American Flag card stunt that will have 40,000 cards for the fans on the south end of the stadium.

CoachBt:

This game is much closer than I figured it would be.

Nebraska losing Crick as huge blow.

For Michigan to win Denard Robinson needs to have his best game throwing/passing.

In the end Nebraska’s power running game wins the day.

Nebraska 27
Michigan 21

Doc4Blu:

Michigan short yardage against Nebraska defense is a bad match-up. Protection the edge in the option is also a problem. If Michigan wins this will be a big step forward.

Prediction is for a close game in the 20’s. Michigan will play hard but must play well as well. This will be another big, physical team that is better than Iowa or Illinois. I cannot see how UM is favored, even with the struggles road teams have demonstrated. Nebraska was ambushed once at Northwestern and the huskers will be ready. Borges needs to have some solutions for UM to have a good chance.

Nebraska 24
Michigan 20

ErocWolverine:

Well Michigan is back home and they have played a lot better in front of the “Big House” crowd this year and look for them to continue this Saturday against Nebraska.

Been looking forward to this match-up since Nebraska was announced they was entering the Big Ten conference. They will bring a lot of “Red” to town and make their way into the stadium for this game. Their fans support their football program just like Michigan fans support theirs. As the PA announce says “Good Morning and Welcome to the Big House”.

Big day on Saturday and probably a pretty emotional even before the kick-off with Coach Carr being honored for being elected into the College Football Hall of Fame like Desmond Howard was honored earlier this season against Notre Dame. Hopefully we see similar results and crowd reaction. Along with that Michigan is honoring the Military with “Military Day” with a special card stunt with 40,000 cards on the south end of the stadium that will represent a flag during the National Anthem and 4 F-16’s flying over afterwards.

Now to the game.

A few weeks ago I wasn’t that excited for this game because I thought Nebraska was going to be very tough to beat. Well after watching them the past couple of games especially on the road and also their loss at home to Northwestern.

They are a very physical team that will try and pound the ball with some power football along with trying to make it easy for Taylor Martinez to get on a roll and get Michigan’s defense trying to stop the run so much that it will open up the passing game.

Nebraska’s defense has taken a few hits this year with injuries and Michigan needs to capitalize on it and get “Fitz” into the running game early and often. Need to get him on a roll early so Michigan doesn’t have to rely on Denard to do everything or make it seem like the offense is Denard or nothing.

Nebraska has struggled against mobile quarterbacks this season and this could be a big factor in the outcome of the game on Saturday. Can Nebraska stop Denard with only rushing four or will they have to crowd the line of scrimmage and force Denard to beat them scrambling and also passing the ball. Mobile quarterbacks have done well this year and Denard is by far the fastest and most dynamic mobile quarterback they will face this season.

Denard needs to have a good game no question about it. He will need to get on target early with some short passes to get his confidence going and that will also open up the running game a little bit and if that is effective that can open up deeper routes which Denard and the receivers need to connect on.

Michigan defense needs to realize this isn’t Illinois offensive line either this weekend and we will find out early how Nebraska will try and move the ball on the defense. Michigan will likely key on the running game and try and stop Rex Burkhead and if they can limit him along with containing Martinez that will force Nebraska into the pass game and the Nebraska fans are less confident in their passing game than Michigan fans are right now of their passing game. Coach Mattison has stated from the very beginning, the first practice we watched this spring, the first time we heard speak that the key is to stop the run first. Well this is the game to do it on and make them into a one-dimensional football team this Saturday.

Michigan needs to start fast to get things going, get the crowd behind them early and score when they get opportunities. To many times the past couple of weeks Michigan has left a lot of points on the field especially in the red-zone area and that is an area that Michigan really needs to improve on Saturday if they want to win the game against Nebraska.

A very close game that might come down to the last series, last play of the game in the “Big House”. I am expecting a very good game and Michigan finding some of that magic to get the win this Saturday and start getting ready for “THE GAME” next Saturday.

Nebraska 21
Michigan 24

MaizeMan:

No prediction this week.

Mike Fitzpatrick:

Here we go! In my mind this will be the signature win that solidifies the beginning of the Hoke era, and signals the return of Michigan as a serious national program. Optimistic? Dreaming? Delusional? Probably! But I just have a feeling we are going to see a progression from last week on both sides of the ball. Confidence is a funny thing! That is what I think we gained last week in Champaign. Coming home to the Big House, Lloyd’s ceremony, and of course the first visit from Nebraska, sets the stage for what I think will be a classic day.

Game Keys: Offense – we must continue to run the ball effectively between the tackles (Hello Fitz Toussaint). It will also be important to spread this Nebraska defense out and get Denard some short safe completions early. Rythem! Denard is a rythem player. If we do this, and don’t turn the ball over, especially in the red zone, we will have success.

Game Keys: Defense – Plug the middle, hold contain on the edges, and make Martinez stay in the pocket. Yes, that is easier said than done. We must do those things to slow this offense down. We know the defense has made great strides this year, but Saturday’s game will go along way in revealing how close we are to being a MICHIGAN defense again.

Frank Beckman, Michigan’s play by play voice, said something about Denard a couple of weeks ago that bears repeating. He said “Denard has a very short memory”. Meaning he doesn’t let mistakes or snafu’s linger in his mind. That is a rare quality in any young athlete, especially a quarterback. This is why I think Denard is going to explode on Saturday. We are concerned about his turnovers, lack of accuracy, and interceptions, but he has left them behind and moved forward. I love that about him. I’ve said it all year, but it bears repeating. Our big advantage in any game is that “we have Denard”! So…I think Saturday 114,000 fans (including a few wearing red) are going to be saying, “that Denard Robinson is amazing”. I could be wrong, but my little voice is telling me this is our welcome back game. Of course we need to put the exclamation point on that next Saturday, but we’ll address that in next weeks predictions. GO BLUE!

Nebraska 17
Michigan 31

WerlsWolverine:

Nebraska 28
Michigan 27

Yostmeister:

Nebraska views this game as another one of their red letter “must have” conference games. Michigan is a Big Ten pillar and would be another significant victim in their inaugural Big Ten season, along with OSU, MSU and Penn State. They didn’t plan on losing at home to N’western, or getting blown out at Wisconsin, but just the same this would cap off (if you consider a win over Iowa a given) their regular season. It also still gives them a shot at the division, even though MSU has to lose at least once- and could on the road at N’western.

Michigan is looking for their first significant win of the season, a victory that would signal to the conference that the program is awakening after a long slumber. The MSU and Iowa losses on the road are blemishes to an otherwise nice bounce back season. Get this win and it propels Michigan into next week’s showdown with a huge dose of respect. Suffer a loss in another pivotal clash and the program will still wear the recent label that it is unable to beat a good program and is still not relative as a conference, yet alone a national power.(Well, some feel that this is the case either way- until Michigan wins the Big Ten outright again.)

If the defense can stop Nebraska’s two headed running attack and force turnovers, Michigan should win. If the offense can do the opposite and score in the redzone, likewise, they should win.

In the end, though, Nebraska’s ability to stop Michigan and their ability to score just enough will be a bitter pill for Michigan fans.

Nebraska 24
Michigan 20

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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